Howling Winds

The wind howled through last night with a vengeance so fierce it woke me up from a deep sleep and an idyllic Kenyan dream. I laid in bed snuggled with the comforter pulled over my face listening to the symphonic frenzy and wondering if the gigantic evergreen tree on our front lawn may topple onto the cars or our roof. I resisted the urge to leave my cosy cocoon to sneak a peek out the window.

Yesterday our mid winter was abruptly interrupted by unseasonal soaring temperatures of 10 degrees Celsius. It was like a perfect spring day with blue skies, brilliant sunshine and little streams of melting snow trickling down the sidewalks and roads. Spring out of nowhere! And then as fast as it arrived, it was gone in a flash - a fleeting opener for the windstorm.

Isn't that just like life? We expect the seasons of our life to be predictable and linear and then out of nowhere - a flash flood in winter or a random blizzard in springtime. Someone passes before we expect or who we deem to be too young; someone who is wealthy suddenly loses everything; an apparently perfect family breaks apart. Life serves up surprises that are out of our control and additionally, we detonate our own explosives by the choices we make.  Over time we learn it is moot to ask "why?" and settle on "why not?'. We channel our shock and awe to "how" ... how can I respond in a way that is productive? Experience teaches us that life is anything but linear, seasonal, or predictable, and to expect the unexpected. Change is not only inevitable - it is a certainty.

Note to self: So when the winds of change howl through the hallowed halls of your life, be brave enough to pull the covers down off your face, leave the comforts of your cocoon and take a peek out the window. Better yet, get out and face it head on. Sometimes it isn't as scary as it sounds.