Flow

One of the big misunderstandings of spiritual growth and personal development is the statement “go with the flow.” It is really a big bad myth. When most people just go with their flow, they are going to get pulled over a cliff and crash into the rocks below, or flow right into an eddy, get caught in a tree or rock, and get flipped upside down and drown. Or they will just drift aimlessly, wherever life takes them.

The idea of “go with the flow” is that you are in alignment with the Universe and things are easy. Sometimes this is true, and often it is not. Most of your life is the journey, not the destination. A lot of the journey is going to be challenging and growth producing. Sometimes growth is difficult. Expect that. How many times did you fall down when you were learning to walk? Were you going with the flow? Many people interpret hard or difficult as a sign from the Universe you’re not supposed to do this task. No, that’s not it. Most of the time it is a sign that you are at a threshold and on the verge of real growth. Don’t stop – just keep doing it anyway. Don’t listen to that inner voice that says “It’s too hard” or “I don’t feel like doing it” or “I don’t have the energy” or “This is not my priority at the moment, I can do it later”.

I encourage you to become aware that many growth tasks are going to be hard, and that is okay. It is going to be challenging. You can do hard. You were designed for it. You’re going to feel overwhelmed at times or confused. You’re going to have experiences where you feel like you shouldn’t do this, why did you decide you wanted to do this, this just isn’t working, I don’t have the time for this, I could do this later, or whatever. This is all part of the normal human state of things. However, there are great rewards for pushing through, especially increased confidence and self-esteem. Usually when you push through and master the growth, you will be back “in the flow” and may never have to think about it again (such as walking).

When you are up against your threshold, and you push beyond it, that is where the growth happens. If you work out and can do twelve reps, where does the growth happen? The first rep? The twelfth rep? No. The growth actually happens at rep thirteen and beyond. If you keep working out and doing only two or five or ten reps and stopping, because it starts getting really hard, or it feels impossible, it will take you much longer to achieve your goal or your goal will drift away into the ethers.

Sometimes we reach plateaus or we need a rest, and it is really nice when things seem to flow easily. Just remember that even though things seem difficult that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be doing them.