Surviving life’s storms

A guide to enjoying the turbulence

Calm. Photo by author.

It will come out of nowhere. At the precise moment when you finally get your brain to accept that your life isn’t the one from your dreams, but that it’s okay. It’s good enough. You can relax. Exactly in that moment, when you tell yourself — enjoy it. When you start feeling comfortable.

You will go out with your friends, in that new dress you bought, the one that doesn’t reveal too much, but is at the same time a little bit flirty, so that you can feel girly when you spin. Walking along the beach, on a late September evening, you will feel a light breeze on your thighs, and the modest dress will lift a little bit. You will push it down, unaware it is just a beginning of something new. Unaware that the breeze will soon turn into something stronger. Life feels perfect.

But the next thing you know, you have sand in your eyes and you can’t find your friends. You hear the waves crashing onto the beach and feel cold drops of water on your skin.

The wind is now overpowering. It’s the only thing you must focus on in order to survive. You know you have to walk away from the beach, but it’s not letting you. “Slowly,” you tell yourself. “Step by step.”

You start devising strategies. How to breathe in, when to make a break, when to continue walking. How to…