Go with the flow

I couldn't decide which image so why not a few - so many rivers !!...

Go with the flow - I’ve heard this a few times and in my own way thought I did.  My own way meaning up stream really!! Me - go with the river!!  Why would I do that and make life simple and easy for myself!  Way more challenging to fight the current and go against the tide, and I like to make life harder than it needs to be (DOH).

The thing is, it’s quite tiring to do that..

Over the last year really, I don’t feel I am going up stream as much - now more sort of across it, creating challenges for myself that aren’t necessary, because … well life is meant to be hard, isn’t it?

I had a coaching session the other day, and this all came up.  Going upstream - getting angry, not allowing things to happen or be.  I loved the use of the word 'allowing' rather than accepting - something magical for me in it.

What does downstream look like for me? Why do I want to go up or across?

Boring - not achieving anything - no drive to do stuff…

Interesting said coach…

Do I want to continue my life fighting and pushing and going against life…?

Erm not really.

I now have a new way to see the river - flow down it and look about and notice what’s going on and what takes my interest.  Take a swim over in that direction and look closer - stay for a while, or not then carry on down.  Something else catches my eye so I take a wander over there - how long to stay this time?.  Along the way there might be some rocks and turbulent waters to negotiate, all the time though I carry on moving on down the river.

Wow I went - going with the flow doesn’t have to mean dull and boring and no fun and passive.  It means exploration and curiosity whilst all the time being calm and chill about life and then pausing on the way down to have some amazing experiences.  

It made so much sense !!!

Life can be hard in so many ways - expectations of family, partners, society, culture, what we think life is meant to look like and we try to live to something that might not be what we want, swimming upstream… Pleasing other people and not ourselves, doing things we feel negatively obligated to do, not being who we want to be…

Time to follow the flow of my river - allowing my life to be easy and uncomplicated and fun even when I get caught in a whirl pool!!…