SEEING WIND

He tied the last lace of his shoes, grabbed his backpack and headed out the door. His uncle stood in the yard as he walked by, "Now listen here, you be careful and you watch out for the wind, you hear?" The boy immediately started laughing before he could stop himself, "Uncle, the wind? What about storms? Mountain peaks? Rushing rivers and hidden thieves?" His Uncle simply replied in confidence, "Not a single one of 'em is as dangerous as the wind that moves the trees. Watch out for that wind. It's the most hidden thief of all." The boy left that day shaking his head, he was no fool. The wind was the least of his worries and certainly not his most fatal foe!

And so, his journey began with high hopes and great courage. Over valleys, through hills, climbing mountain tops, and crossing rivers. Oh, it was all adventurous and it was all dangerous. And oh! It was all worth the risk. The boy came more and more alive with each turn that the journey took, wherever it was indeed going. See, he didn't have a clue where he was actually going but he knew one day he would, so he followed wherever the days took him. He had climbed the tallest mountain he had ever seen despite the rocks, the height, or the impossibility. And he had climbed down, despite the valleys, crevices, and predictability. Yet it was time for something new, time for more than crossing rivers and navigating forests. So the journey took him down to the harbor of a village, calm and still a boat sat resting there for him. The boy jumped with excitement when he saw it; it was time to go to sea, it was time for farther shores! And so he hopped in and set out for the wide open space. As he did he felt a breeze, reminding him of his Uncle's words and he laughed again. The wind had been everywhere he had gone but it had been no threat. He had felt it on the tops of the mountains and even rushing into the valleys, it is what he had felt; Not what he had seen and known. The wind was strong but a mountain was indeed stronger, there was no need to fear something he only felt. It was a feeling and nothing more! Impossible to see!

Only on the seas things were different, it was what he couldn't see that moved him. The ship was pulled farther and farther from the shore and as the sun set, thats when the storm began... First the stirring of the waves, then the darkening skies, thunder beating to a rhythm he could not seem to keep. Lightning illuminating just how helpless the boy was in the midst of an ocean he could not control. He had done mighty things and conquered many more, but it was in the moments of the storm that he began to worry.. but not yet fear. Thunder could be endured and waves could be sailed, it was just a matter of making it through the night until morning's light. Or so he thought. The chaos churned, the night endured, and he became weary. And thats when he became afraid he could not do it. He began to feel that he was not capable. He saw the wind. He felt it stronger than he ever had before as his fear escalated. He couldn't do it! There was no way! It wasn't the tall, crashing waves, the roaring thunder, or his tiny boat in a seemingly endless ocean. None of those things scared him, he had seen the wind. And that's what moved his courage.

He let go of the wheel, shrinking back from the wind. Indeed it was only movement, not a foe he could see and yet it stole his courage in a way the impossible never had. It was his fear and not his actual circumstance that became the thief. He had seen the wind and he could not forget what he had seen! Eventually the night came to an end, the storm had indeed brought him to a farther shore. One with jungles he had yet to see, rivers he had yet to cross, and mountains he had yet to climb. But when the boy stepped off the boat he had no desire to explore. He only nervously looked around, ready in a moments notice to escape that dreadful wind if need be. He became so afraid of the wind he had seen that when a breeze came he began to shake, paralyzed by its presence.

The boy's journey ended that day. He headed home. He tried to warn people along the way, tried to make them understand. It didn't matter how tall the mountain was if the wind was there, there was no telling if even that would be moved! He tried to make them understand why he now sat inside the way he did, all the day long. They tried to make him understand that it had just been one storm, there were still adventures to be had! Always he would then point outside, "Don't you see it though? It's right there! The wind! I can see it from here!" They would follow his gaze and see nothing but the possibility of a beautiful day.

But he didn't see what they saw, he only saw the wind.

Wind is something one can never see, but one can always feel. And yet when it moves, all have a choice on how they allow it to; And where they will stand when it does indeed begin.