You can feel it before you hear it.
The tone changes first.
Conversations get sharper.
Headlines get louder.
Friends start choosing sides before they finish listening.
The sky may still look clear, but something in the air shifts.
Primaries begin in twelve days.
After that, the long stretch toward the midterms moves into earnest motion.
Storms do not begin on Election Day.
They begin in posture.
They begin in the small daily decisions about how you react, what you repeat, what you amplify, and what you ignore.
The wind builds gradually.
One headline.
One rumor.
One clipped video.
One angry comment.
And before long, the rhythm changes.
Urgency replaces patience.
Volume replaces thought.
Speed replaces judgment.
If you wait until the wind is already pushing against you to find your footing, you are late.
Preparation happens in calm weather.
Farmers secure gates before clouds roll in.
Boats are tied before the tide turns.
Builders reinforce before the season shifts.
No one who understands storms waits for the first gust.
Before the wind picks up, you settle your ground.
It means becoming steadier.
You decide now how you will think.
You decide now how you will speak.
You decide now what you will not do.
You decide whether you will let fear set your cadence, or whether you will govern yourself.
Every election cycle claims it is the most important in history.
Every cycle insists this is the last chance.
Every cycle raises the emotional temperature on purpose.
They panic.
They overcorrect.
They chase every flying piece of debris.
That’s how storms knock people down — not with a single dramatic blast, but with imbalance.
Before the wind picks up, you widen your stance.
You narrow your focus to what you actually control.
You prepare to vote.
You prepare to think.
You prepare to show up.
Not as a performer.
As a citizen.
There is a difference.
Performance is loud.
Citizenship is disciplined.
Performance reacts instantly.
Citizenship considers.
Performance lives online.
Citizenship lives in real life — in booths, in ballots, in conversations at the kitchen table.
Twelve days.
That is enough time to check your footing.
Are you leaning on headlines?
Or on principle?
Are you borrowing outrage?
Or forming judgment?
Are you reacting to what is thrown in front of you?
Or are you reading beyond what is convenient?
The storm will not wait for your comfort.
The wind will not ask if you are ready.
It will simply arrive.
And when it does, you will move the way you have trained yourself to move.
If you have practiced speed, you will react.
If you have practiced discipline, you will decide.
Before the wind picks up, strengthen what holds.
Family conversations that remain civil.
Friendships that survive disagreement.
Faith that does not bend with polling numbers.
Commitments that are not conditional.
You do not have to fight every argument.
You do not have to answer every provocation.
You do not have to repost every rumor.
You do have to maintain your footing.
You do have to show up when it matters.
Primaries first.
Then November.
Nothing dramatic.
Nothing theatrical.
Just steady participation.
Storms feel overwhelming when we try to control the sky.
They feel manageable when we focus on our ground.
That is the difference.
You cannot calm the wind.
You can plant your feet.
You cannot silence every voice.
You can govern your own.
You cannot stop others from shouting.
You can refuse to join the panic.
Before the wind picks up, prepare your posture.
Lean into reality instead of leaning away from it.
Widen your stance by focusing on what is in front of you instead of what is thrown at you.
And hold onto something solid — something that does not move when the gusts do.
Because once the storm arrives, instinct takes over.
And instinct follows preparation.
The sky will darken.
The volume will rise.
The pressure will increase.
That is not new.
What matters is whether you are already standing where you meant to stand.
Before the wind picks up —
choose your ground.
micvicfaust@intelligent-people.org
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