Got Wind?

This morning God blessed me with a message from a friend here at Family Talk.  She asked the questions, "What do you do when you feel you have lost the wind in your sail?" and "What do you do when you feel there is too much wind?"  Those questions struck me to the core because lately it has been exactly those questions leading my days.  Some days I feel as if there is no wind moving me along and motivating me to do the next right thing whereas other days there is too much wind and I struggle to keep up.

So what do you do when you feel you have lost the wind in your sail and you just can't find a reason to keep on going?  Surely the feeling will not last and you will more than likely find yourself okay again...right?  Well for some, yes this is the case.  For some it may not go away that simply.  So what do I do?  Well, unfortunately I do not have a grand testimony of my fervent prayer life or that my instinct is to run to God.  Truthfully my instinct is to hide my head under the covers and try to forget that the feeling is even occurring. What keeps me going in those times?  I can undoubtedly say that my son keeps me going.  He gives me the motivation to get up and move along day-to-day.  Is that a healthy reason? I can't say for sure if it's healthy because I do believe God will use people as instruments for motivation, however I know that my son should not be my sole or even first reason.  It is in these times that I need to reconnect with the Lord even if every ounce of me wants to hide under my covers.  Playing praise music, reading the scriptures, and praying even if I just sit silent are the ways that I find a healthy recovery from these times of feeling like I can't take one more step.  In those times God helps me to refocus on my priorities and the true meaning of everything I am engaged in.

How about the times when you have too much wind in your sail?  As a single parent there are many hats that you wear.  For me, the busyness of my career as well as handling a full time school schedule and being the primary parent in my son's life has quite exhausted me by the end of my day.  Some days I can say that I literally never stopped once to even take a deep breath.  In these times I find that I do typically turn to God.  In those moments I am required to make a decision. Either I will let the situations take hold of me, or I will give them to God and do the best I can.  I find that when I turn them over to God and take a deep breath, He blesses me in confirming ways. Just this morning, I had to make that choice on my way into work.  Running late and taking a different route could be a deal breaker for a good start to my day.  I handed it over to the Lord and was blessed by the visions in my unplanned route and reminders of how big my God really is but yet, He cares for me and my situations.

How do you find the happy medium? Sometimes the size of the wind is in your control and it's a matter of downsizing the load you bear.  Most of the times however the power of the gusts in your sails have nothing to do with your decisions.  This is simply, life.  Learning how to cope in both situations and how to rise above them are key.

How do you adjust your sails when the winds change?