Sunday Sunshine: Flow with the Winds of Change

Change - that annoying, exhilarating thing that always seems to be present in our lives. Even when we think that nothing much is new or is changing very much, change is still happening--be it slow, subtle or even outside of our direct notice. 

Sometimes change is fun. We've instigated it so we feel the fruits of our labors when things happen. 

At other times, change is exciting because it comes as a pleasant, unexpected surprise--a gift to disrupt the humdrum predictability of life.

And then, there are those times when change is so unwelcome that we'd like to swiftly close the door on it and prevent it from happening.

It's during those rough spots with change that we need to re-frame our thinking. When we flow with the winds of change, even those winds that feel like a gale or a tornado or a hurricane, we can maneuver the change with greater ease. You may end up somewhere new--perhaps not geographically, but through the way you see things or through the people you meet.

Think about how you respond to change and how you might alter your ways to navigate change's winds more positively.

Today, this week: Flow with the winds of change. They may very well take you to great, new places.

Blow Me Down

Lately, we've had sunshine, rain and even a few snowflakes on our faces, but one recent evening, it was so windy that I was nearly blown down a couple of times and my hat wanted to take flight by the big gusts.  The wind must be ushering in some weather pattern or another.  Perhaps the wind is simply bringing November with it, moving us from the vibrant beauty and warm afternoons of October into the harsh realities of winter.  At any rate, I sit in my reading chair, curled up and covered with my quilt, listening to the gusts swirling around, causing the wind chimes to sing outside of our kitchen windows.  I'm grateful to be tucked inside where it's warm and dry, and I pray for those who are struggling to find shelter on this windy night that they will be blessed with a safe, comfortable place to rest their heads.  As winter approaches, we all need shelter from the storm.

The Answer, My Friend

It's that time of year when the wind kicks up and the land begins its transition from frozen to ready for new growth.  We had a "blowin' in the wind" type of day recently when I could hear it moaning around our home, tree branches dancing and the wind chime outside of our kitchen window responding to the gusts.  The sun shone brightly and everything seemed alive and energetic.  It's on days like that one when I recall Mom anticipating that first spring day when she could hang freshly washed clothing and sheets out on the clothesline to dry. There was nothing like having a bed made with fresh linens that had been dried outside on the line.  Our towels and clothes might have been a tad stiff from the experience but they always smelled so good that we didn't care.  Mom would begin by wiping a damp rag along the clothesline to remove any dirt.  Then, she'd hoist the wicker basket of damp clothes outside, along with a heavy vinyl bag of clothespins. As a little girl, my job was to hand Mom the wooden clothespins as she clamped the clothes onto the line.  Sometimes, Mom and I would paint little faces on the ball-like heads of those clothespins and make clothes to put on their straight, wooden little bodies.  The types of clothespins with the spring clips were handy but not nearly as interesting to my little-girl imagination. Our backyard neighbor, an active woman in her 90s, still hangs her clothes and linens out on the line, and I welcome the sight.  While we know that we'll still have some late-winter storms of one kind or another, our recent bright and breezy day was truly a breath of fresh air, heralding the warm, delightful days of spring ahead.