Just go with flow…
I get it, follow life where it leads you, right? I absolutely understand the sentiment. I’ve found myself so entangled in the way I think life should play out that I forget to let the God do His job.
But I have a problem with it too…
In spiritual circles we hear that if we come across obstacles, like a river flowing past a boulder, we too must let current carry us in the right direction. I’ve heard it said that if something isn’t coming easily, it must not be the way. I just don’t resonate fully with this idea. Maybe I’m not yet enough enlightened to fully embrace it. Successful people (enlightened or not) show the vital characteristics of perseverance and resilience that I think of when I read Robin Sharma’s quote.
Think for a minute about the swirling eddy that forms as the river parts around obstacles to its flow. Cultivating a resilient character creates a mindset that both allows for holding on to a dream, a direction, while at the same time following the current even if it isn’t flowing as we’d planned. In my mind, obstacles aren’t roadblocks as much as they are course adjusters. An openness to direction allows us our own unique dynamics to avoid the eddies of life.
Perhaps going with the flow is more about understanding that things taking a direction that is outside of our expectation reduces our rigidity of thinking, bringing us deeper perspective and greater ability to adapt and adjust. Maybe when our dreams seem to be at the abyss we just need to notice the current. Perhaps we then see what new possibilities arise to re-energize or even re-define our dreams. Either way, they never have to die inside of us.