Lean into the Wind

I love storms - the kind with whipping wind and heavy rainfall, darkening skies and booming thunder with the occasional crackle of lightning. I’ve been in hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes, and while I hate the destruction that comes with each, I always see something so wild, powerful, and beautiful in them. 

Have you ever walked in a storm like that? Where the wind actually pushes you back, so you have to pitch forward, and lean into it, just to keep walking forward? It’s hard, exhilarating, frustrating, and sometimes even scary. Life can often times feel like one of those storms, where we have to lean into the winds of life to keep moving forward. 

Thunderstorms in New York City are a glorious, movie-esque experience. There was no escaping it, unless I ran into the subway, but that was still a few blocks of sloshing in the rain and getting soaked. There was no running into my car, because I didn’t have one. There was no hiding from the storm – though on occasion I waited underneath a storefront awning in Manhattan with my umbrella held outward, shielding me from the pelting rain and hail, along with the water being splashed my way from the street. Usually, I never bothered trying to avoid the storms, though. I knew that no matter what I did, I would still be drenched, and honestly what better excuse to walk in the rain than, “It was my only way home.”

I happily walked home in countless thunder storms that looked like they came straight out of a movie. But there was one summer - the summer of 2008 - where it rained an icky, damp, and cold to your bones kind of rain, almost every day. After the first two weeks I became more than annoyed with my beloved rain.

Fighting the Wind

Nature’s storms are a great analogy for life. While I love a good thunderstorm, I still hate the storms of life. I’m constantly trying to fight the realities that don’t seem to be on my side, or the barrage of “one thing after another” that either drains me emotionally or financially. I’m the kind of person that would fight the wind, if I could. While I know how ridiculous that sounds, and believe me I laugh at myself plenty of times for this, I’m still in that learning curve of ‘accepting what is’, just like everyone else.

There are times when everything just seems to be falling on every one of our heads. There will always be times that we’re faced with the unexpected – unexpected bills, health issues, the passing of someone we love, sudden changes in our job or where we live, the feeling of losing everything, having to give up everything, or no matter how hard we work we feel like we’re just not winning. So we find ourselves overwhelmed and stressed. We feel disillusioned and discouraged, and we wonder how will I take the next step? The next breath? How I will overcome this? 

All very valid and very human questions.

When my fiancé died (many years ago), I didn’t know how I would breathe again, but the sun set and rose again, and my body continued to breathe. When I lost a great job in Manhattan because of the recession, I didn’t know if I would ever find work again, so I became a freelance journalist and private tutor, until I found a full-time job. When I had to move from NYC, my home, I didn’t know how I would ever adjust to a world so different from mine. Though I’m not sure I can ever truly adjust, I have found a great group of people who love and understand me for who I am and believe in what I can do. 

Fierce wind isn’t nature being vengeful, it’s just nature doing what it does. Life isn’t being vengeful either, it’s just life happening with us, not to us, when we want life to happen in a different way.

Life Moves Forward

Life always finds a way to move forward, our hearts always find a way to heal and move beyond the loss we feel, our minds always find a way to solve what seems unsolvable. I think back to those stormy, windy days in New York. I could’ve hailed a cab instead of walking in the storm, but honestly, that never once crossed my mind. Perhaps it was my stubborn nature telling the wind, in a very Spartan voice, “You cannot defeat me!” Or perhaps it was just my sense of necessity, of working the problem. So I learned to lean into the literal wind to keep walking forward. And every day for the past 20 years, I’ve chosen to lean into the storms of life to keep moving forward as well. But it's never been easy.

Even now as I face another unknown, another possible move, my instinct is to resist the change. I have to remind myself to lean into this metaphorical wind. Lean into this unknown, though the timing isn't what I hoped for.

Maybe you’re feeling like that now – like life is pelting you hard with the unexpected, raining everything down upon you at once and it’s piling up before you can even take your next breath.

Breathe anyway.

Remember the last time life threw everything at you? You beat it then. Even if you feel like you didn’t, you did - because you’re reading this right now. Lean into the frustration, the pain, the annoyance, the loss, the fear, the anger, the grief; lean into whatever you’re feeling as if you’re leaning into a fierce wind that’s come your way. Fierce wind isn’t nature being vengeful, it’s just nature doing what it does. Life isn’t being vengeful either, it’s just life happening with us, not to us, when we want life to happen in a different way. 

Stare what you feel in the face, and lean into the winds of life and refuse to be pushed back like the Gladiator you are. One step at a time. One day at a time. One idea at a time. Just keep moving forward!  

I promise you, you’ve got this. We've got this.

By: Saskia Lynge

*Saskia Lynge is an actress, writer, filmmaker, social media marketer, life coach, and an executive professional who believes in spreading hope and love to anyone who dives into her words.

[Blog originally published April 6, 2018. Edited July 25, 2019 for reposting.]