Fall has this way of beating us with beauty and then sending in the wind to knock it all down. In Oregon, this is when we start to lament the gray and rainy season coming. In Minnesota, we lament the fact that Winter is coming. 

The winds push in and pick up everything it can, sometimes we aren't prepared for that. We aren't ready for the predictable, unpredictable gusts of cold, blustery air. Yet we know it comes, every fall. Just as we know the cold comes, every winter. And here we stand at the beginning of the year, it too comes, predictably, every year.

We can plan for the predictably unpredictable. We may not know how strong the gusts of wind will be, but we know they will be there. We may not know what the year will bring, but we know the year will come.

What will you prepare for this year?

I am not a resolution girl, because I predictably break them. I make them and break them before the month is out. But I do plan for the year to come. I spend a day reflecting on where we have been as a family, and then I set a vision and plan for where we will go. It doesn't always go to plan. I did not plan on changing jobs and ultimately careers in 2017, but I did. I did not plan on flying to Oregon in December to say goodbye to my Uncle, but I did. I did not plan on writing another book, but I am.

I am predictably horrible with follow through when my interest wanes, so I have to plan for that within the plan. I have to find time to create, to try new things without any expectation of follow through, so the other things I am working on, that do need to be finished, will be.

What is your plan for when the winds rush in? How will you be prepared to stand in them so they do not blow you away? What pieces of your foundation do you need to build so when the winds of an unexpected travel or sickness or change ravage your body with spinning sand, you are ready for the gusts.