How to Go With The Flow in Life?

Close your eyes, kick off your shoes, and roll your pant-legs knee-high as you imagine walking along a pristine beach. Observe the flow and rhythm of the surf: how the tide pushes-in then pulls-out, over-and-over again.

On the surface, this push-and-pull seems unproductive; a zero-sum game. However, if you imagine what’s happening on a deeper level, you realize there’s a method in place: The tide circulates the sand and sea – filtering both in the process.

In like kind, there are significant tidal forces at play everywhere: trees drink-in the carbon dioxide we exhale, then process it to dispense the oxygen that sustains us. Life has an endless ebb-and-flow that nourishes all involved...if we allow it.

Against the Flow?

Whether physical or emotional, when we refuse to let life cycle through us, the process stalls. When we hold onto emotions like anger, loneliness or self-pity, the stress created dams-up our abilities to think clearly and behave appropriately: In essence, we become as toxic as a stagnant pool of water.

Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.

– Mark Twain

Living healthier involves allowing and accepting life’s ebb-and-flow. Practice cutting the anchoring thoughts that find you fighting the tide and, instead, allow challenging circumstances to cycle through you.

Trust that there is a deeper current at play: Your decision to stay present will allow you the flexibility to work with life’s ripples and waves, instead of being toppled by them.

They say “Hope floats” – So does an even-keeled attitude.