There is a Dutch word - uitwaaien - that means "to walk against the wind". I might interpret that to mean don't fight the Universe - or don't push the river and so on... just go with whatever comes.
Some days it seems no matter how hard we try, no matter how well-meaning we are, things just seem to go in opposite directions.... all higgeldy- piggeldy - things don't work the way we imagined. They get all snarled up in the day-to-day diligent dullness. Finding a way through that sticky web is quite a challenge - like walking against the wind.
A challenge we may decide is just too difficult. And sometimes it is easier just to get mired in that 'dang, things-never-work-out-for-me' thing that spirals into that helpless feeling that sucks the life from us and ruins whatever else may come along.
One of the things that works for me ( and work it is....) is being in the moment. If the rest of the day doesn't show much promise, or that whatever we are attempting seems insurmountable, perhaps the moment we are in - right now - is the best there is. For that 60 seconds, we can actually choose how to feel. Sure, I know that when life is pressing down hard, and our emotions just will not hold for one more hour, that a minute seems unreasonable long - interminable. But guess what? Those 60 seconds will pass no matter how we feel. We cannot change that, but we can change how we spend them.
And maybe, just maybe, we can push the 60 seconds to 90 .... then tomorrow? ....beyond.
Better yet, we could button up our coats and walk against the wind. There are days when even the doggies do not want to go out. But when we do, and the wind is howling, somehow all the day's issues seem to disappear - gusting away with the dust and leaves - as our only goal in that moment is to get around the corner. And when we do, there is an air of triumph - we did it ! Then, when we come in, we are exhilarated.... fresh and refreshed.
So walk against the winds that blow your way. Pick the ones to ignore and let blow through... but use the moments while you wait for the winds to change, to decide just how you will feel while you do and then get out there, button up and walk against that wind.
Make those moments count. They are the sum of our lives.
