Letter 2 - Could I Make Friends With The Wind?

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Hello Bregdan Woman,

11 years ago, in 2015, I was desperately trying to find an answer to a question…

I wasn’t convinced I could, but I was trying to believe the answer was YES.

Only time would tell…

The question? Was it possible for me to make friends with the wind?

Or was I truly going to do what I anticipated – go totally nuts?

In 2015, while I was writing Always Forward (book # 9 in The Bregdan Chronicles), I had rented a beach house in Florida.

There were many things I loved about living on the beach in St. Augustine. The wind was not one of them! I was grateful when the cloying heat retreated before the winter months but was more than a little alarmed by the force of the winds.

15 mph… 20 mph… 30 mph…

If you live in the Midwest, you’re used to endless winds. After 20+ years in the glory of the Pacific Northwest, I was NOT.

As the days of high winds rolled on, I kept checking the weather to find out when it was going to pass. Surely, there was just some kind of disturbance out to sea causing it. My heart sank as I saw high winds forecast for the 10-day forecast – EVERY day that I checked it.

Surely it wasn’t going to be like that all winter!

But what if it was? I knew I couldn’t take it. It would push me over the edge.

During a fabulous Thanksgiving celebration with friends, I asked my hostess (who had lived in St. Augustine for 20+ years) if the wind always blows.

Her reply? “Well, it doesn’t blow hard here in town, but there is always a stiff wind on the beach.”

I stared at her in dismay. “Always?”

“Does it bother you?” she asked with a smile.

“Yes!”

Why did it bother me so much? It didn’t take me long to figure that out. When I was sitting in my 3rd floor office overlooking the beach, it was completely disquieting to have the wind howling, and the windows quivering in their frames. There seemed to never be a moment of peace and quiet – something I crave.

Another thing is that I love biking on the beach. Having a 30 mph wind at your back is exhilarating as you fly down the hard packed sand, but at some point you have to turn around to come home. Riding into a 30 mph wind was not quite so much fun!

Ditto with a paddle board out in the waves… I hadn’t been biking or paddle boarding since the wind started blowing so hard.

Walking was not quite so daunting, though walking into a 30 mph wind isn’t really all that much fun either. I still did my 6 miles a day, but I had to put a bandana over my mouth and nose to keep from swallowing blowing sand, and don sunglasses to protect my eyes!

My poor dog got to the point where he refused to go, watching me with pity as I stepped into a sheet of blowing sand. I’m confident he was questioning my sanity.

He wasn’t the only one.

One day, a short squall came through. I watched in disbelief as 40 lb chairs were picked up and thrown around. Seriously??

But the biggest issue was never having a moment of quiet and calm. Not inside. Not outside.

So, what did I do? I was stuck there through the winter – until I finished my book.

As I sat outside one morning, watching the beautiful moon glisten on the water, being buffeted by winds… Sigh…

I realized I had to make friends with the wind. I could grumble… I could moan and complain… I could sigh… trust me, I was doing all those things… or I could simply accept that the wind was going to BLOW. Since I’m not really into being a victim and a martyr, the only other choice was to make friends with the wind.

I started by trying to focus on all the good things about the wind. Yeah, it took some stretching…

I pulled out a journal and began to write.

The wind kept any mosquitoes away (that’s actually a BIG one).

The wind made the sea oats on the dune in front of the house dance and sway all the time.

The wind made a cool rustling sound through the palm trees.

Once I’d written a few things down, it became easier to discover more.

The wind kept it from feeling as hot as it really was, and it dried my sweat as I was power-walking on the beach.

I’m not the only one who doesn’t like the wind, so the beaches weren’t as crowded as other places (that’s a BIG one, too!). I loved it when I had the beach all to myself.

I continued to stretch as I searched for gratitude…

I realized I had been forced into a place of conscious gratitude as I tried to come up with more good things about the wind.

The wind was great for kite flying (It was time to haul out my stunt kite)!

The wind brings out the kite surfers (that’s a BIG one, too, because I loved watching them soar through the air over the water – the brilliantly colored kites pulling them along.) I so want to do it!

I was forced to accept the truth.

There are good things about the wind. Since it was evidently not going to stop blowing for a very long time, I had the opportunity to practice conscious gratitude.

A LOT! I decided to be grateful for that.

You see, that’s what a Bregdan Woman does.

I have some questions for you. You might as well get used to questions, because there are going to be a lot of them. I’m not here to simply tell you things – I want you to think about what you’re hearing.

Here are your questions.

What do you need to make friends with?

What do you need to choose Conscious Gratitude for?

We all have things in our life that we simply have no control over. You and I both know the wind is not really a big deal in the scope of life. There are things in life we can’t control that are much bigger… The loss of a loved one. A painful divorce. Illness. Political upheaval. A major natural catastrophe that rips our world away. I know you can add to my list…

Lack of control is lack of control. It’s easy to allow it to consume us, to swallow us, and to steal our joy and peace.

But… It doesn’t have to be that way.

Bregdan Women can control how we respond to things… how they impact our life… how we choose to deal with things – no matter what it is.

It’s good to remind myself of this daily.

I’m going to keep making friends with the wind – and whatever else comes my way!

I encourage you to look at the things in your life that you need to make friends with – and begin to do it today!

Remember, your life will help determine the course of history. What will you do today? Who will you BE today?

What will you do today to impact history??

I’m on this journey with you…

Ginny

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