The wind and the tree and sort of kind of me

Stop trying to do so much so that you won't feel lost.

Dare to lose yourself.

Lose yourself in love -- and fear will slip away.

These are little nuggets of soul CPR that I just received in a newsletter.

I was feeling anxious because it is really, really, REALLY windy here. Like, when some gusts were coming through the window, I physically held my breath and cringed ... waiting. For what? The house to blow away?

The whistling through the screen and the ultimate force almost felt as though it needed to be reckoned with. But what could I do? I can't control the wind. (Or can I?!!!!) I walked around the house and made sure everything that could potentially fly away was secured. Dogs seemed to be able to withstand it. In fact, they weren't even lifting their heads when the world around them seemed ready to take flight like the wisps of some plant detritus that swirled by.

There is a tree in my front yard that is huge. And when a wind like this comes through -- the branches go up and down and back and forth (not at the same time) and it almost seems as though it is going to uproot itself and take off.

But if you look straight at the base, at the solid trunk of the tree, it never wavers. Not even the slightest whisper of movement interrupts its steady hold to the planet.

Life is kind of like that, if you think of it. You shake your arms and nod your head back and forth and up and down and even your feet and legs go this way and that. But the core -- the center of your body -- it remains pretty still no matter what you do to it. We are that core, if we take the time to still the extraneous parts of our bodies. We can be as solid as that tree out there -- which doesn't shiver in the onslaught of crazy winds. Its job is to nourish itself so that it remains strong enough to keep those branches from flying off due to weakness or instability.

It's really the only job we all have.

Stop trying to do so much that you won't feel lost. You are already found. You always have been. You just let the wind push you around.

It's funny. The wind has calmed down.

And so have I.