Harness the Wind…The Wonder of Choosing a Direction

5 of 45 Moments of Wonder

My son loves to sail. I don’t know if he loves the calm of it, or the challenge of it, or if he just really likes when he goes fast, but he loves sailing. I once asked him, while driving home from a sailing lesson, how he can make the boat go one way if the wind wants to take him another.

He told me, “You can go any direction, Mom. That’s what the sails are for.”

How wonderful that the direction we choose to go is not dictated by the direction of the wind. We can take any wind and go any direction.

Often in our lives we allow the circumstances around us to prevent us from going in the direction we want. “I can’t apply for that job until my children are out of the house (a valid choice by the way, as long as that is your choice) or “I will take that vacation after I lose 20 pounds.” or “I can’t write that book…who would read it?”

That is allowing the wind, the things we can’t control, to dictate what we do. What if, instead, we learned to harness the wind, to use whatever is happening around us to our advantage and to take us in whatever direction WE choose?

What a wonder it is that we can adjust our sails, our choices, and use the wind, the circumstances we are in, to motivate us, to make connections, to teach us or to push us in the direction we want to go.

Unemployed? What a great opportunity to train for the career you really want. In a job you don’t particularly love? Use the connections you have to network for the one you will love.

When my wife was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, our family made the choice to change the way we prepare and eat food. We quickly learned that many gluten free foods are very expensive and don’t taste all that great. Rather than complain about the circumstances – needing to eat gluten-free, she adjusted her sails and decided to take herself in a new direction. And now she is the owner of Bakeologee Baking Co., https://www.facebook.com/Bakeologee/ a growing, gluten-free bakery that makes and sells delicious gluten-free baking, which rivals any gluten filled treat I have ever tasted. I am so proud of how she took the wind and adjusted her sails to go in the direction she chose.

I wonder how I can take the winds of my life and use it to go in a direction I want to go. How can you? Let me know how you have harnessed the wind to take your life in a new direction.