Setting the Sails

Any Way the Wind Blows

“It is the set of the sails, not the direction of the wind that determines which way we go.”             Jim Rohn

         A strong wind is blowing from the south-east this morning. The wind-chimes on my porch sound more like a metalwork shop than music. Until the ‘year of the tornadoes’, I loved the wind—loved to stand in it and feel its strength and power. I remember my grandmother telling me, ‘when the leaves on the trees turn upside down, expect rain’. This morning, the sky is an eerie white and that stiff wind is blowing from the wrong direction; can’t be a good sign.

         Like everything else, wind is a metaphor for many other things in our lives. A soft, sweet zephyr is welcome, dreamy and romantic; adversity is portrayed as a strong wind, and a good, stiff breeze will fill our sails and take us quickly to our destination. I well remember the winds that blew down the channels of skyscrapers in New York; wind that turned an umbrella inside-out in seconds, and then blew horizontal rain into your face. I also remember the wind that blew through our botanical gardens a few years back and snapped all the trees off about twenty feet up. They looked like stumps in a giant’s field. Wind can behave like a scorned woman, throwing dishes, breaking the china.

         Sailors will tell you that a stiff wind is best of all; it means you have to pay attention, manage the sails and the rudder, and be prepared to hang your butt off the side to keep the boat upright, but the speed is pure joy. I don’t know about that butt-hanging part, but I get the speed delight. The lesson here is in managing the sails and the rudder. Once at Block Island, a family cousin took a small sailboat out alone—always a bad idea. We watched from a cliff above the Atlantic as a squall line formed in the north-east. The wind came up quickly, tangled the rigging and capsized the boat. Detachable parts floated up and thankfully, so did the cousin, but then she had to be rescued in a flailing sea in the midst of a squall. There’s a clue in there somewhere.

        

         Strong winds will blow through our lives, no doubt about it. Keeping a clear head, managing the sails and the rudder, and having a good friend close by will help us to weather the storm. Any sea-change can be managed when we know we’re not in it alone.

                                  Keeping it real,

                                  Jane