With the Wind or Against It

One of my sons works as an entertainer on a cruise ship, so periodically my wife and I go on a cruise and take advantage of the significant discount we receive as his parents. I enjoy the peace of being at sea, far from the insistent ringing of telephones and other demands that are ever present at home.

For exercise I often walk around the decks of the ship, and in the process I notice the winds that blow around me. Between the breezes that naturally occur over the ocean and the motion of the ship, there is almost always some degree of wind.

One day, however, I noticed that while I stood on the top deck of the ship, there was no breeze at all, even though the ship was moving quickly. I checked out my impression at one of the ship’s computers, and I learned that there was a wind blowing 26.5 miles an hour at our backs, but the ship was moving at 26.5 miles per hour in the same direction. The net result was no breeze at all.

Several days later I stepped out onto the top deck and found a virtual storm around me. The wind and ship were moving at the same speed as before — 26.5 miles per hour each — but this time the ship was moving in exactly the opposite direction from the wind. The net effect was a 53 mile per hour wind in my face, which made reading or talking on deck quite impossible. Even walking was affected.

I have discovered that Real Love is a genuine power that moves around us all the time, much like the force of a wind. If we follow the rules that govern it—if we choose to be truthful, to avoid Getting and Protecting Behaviors, and to share whatever love we have with others—we find ourselves moving in the same direction as the flow of Real Love. We move with the wind, so to speak, which then propels us forward. Moreover, when we are moving with the wind, we feel much less resistance.

When we ignore the rules that govern Real Love, on the other hand—when we choose to be angry, defensive, and manipulative—we’re choosing to fight against the power that governs all relationships and the power that governs happiness in everything we do. When we get angry, for example, we’re choosing to struggle against the wind, to resist the power that could be propelling us forward.

All our lives we choose the direction of our course. We choose whether we’ll move with or against the power that determines our happiness. If we move against that power, we’re guaranteed to be exhausted and miserable. If we move with the flow, however, we feel the power and protection of Real Love. Our struggles become relatively insignificant, and we never feel alone. We become one with the wind, and that’s a great way to live.