By Christopher Emmanuel
The seasons come and go naturally. Seeds fall off trees and become trees themselves. An old man passes away and a child is born. The tide comes in and goes out with the passing of the full moon. Night and day balance each other continually. There is a natural flow to life and when we can follow it life becomes effortless. You find the perfect job, your home is peaceful, you get the right service everywhere you go, and life is an endless stream of happy endings. Nothing seems to bother you.
Everyone lives in the flow of life to some extent. To what extent is the important question, for the more one is in the flow, the more life is magical and adventurous – not a problem, or a series of problems that can’t be solved.
The flow can be likened to a river, the river of life. Everyone swims in it, moving toward a more peaceful state of awareness. This state is brought about by experiences, each containing one or more lesson to be learned. Going with the flow is the natural occurrences of life and you are being strengthened by the knowledge gained when you fall out of flow. The challenge of life is how to stay in flow and get back to it when problems arise. Below are some ideas to help keep you going with the flow:
Give up your need to control: Make a conscious effort to allow others to do what they feel they must do. Surrender your ideas of how things should be and let it be as it is. It means taking a second to stop yourself on the spot before you make judgments. Think of your need to control as a signal that your ego-mind might be in the process of trying to control everything in your life. Just keep in your mind that all is working for the best and let go.
Be impartial to others opinions: When you come against judgments from other people, keep an internal dialogue that “this is only their opinion and it does not make it real.” Remind yourself unless you believe what they say is true, it is only words and truth is far from what people say. Doing this you keep your emotional energy away from being disrupted as you follow your personal life path.
Listen to your intuition: Intuition is: A message or feeling coming from your deepest self, as a form of guidance. If you do not follow this guidance, you end up ‘paying for it’ in some way. Develop your personal guide by spending time alone listening to what your heart tells you to do. Within each of us is a quiet voice that can help us when it seems that now one cares about our concerns. Tune into your intuition and make better choices in all your situations.
Be adaptable: Make plans, but be flexible enough to do what you fell when the time arrives. Do something only if it feels right. Stop immediately if it doesn’t.
Stay in truth: Be honest with yourself and others. Nothing makes you fall out of flow more than relaying false information. One untruth can lead to disruption and regrets for years to come and can affect your relationships beyond repair. Tell the truth no matter how hard it may seem and you will create better friendship and lasting inner peace.
Practice non-attachment: All anger, impatience, greed, and insensitivity, are things that take you away from the center of the flow. These feelings can be traced to attachments of some kind. As you become aware, let them go, apologize as quickly as you are able to for your inappropriate behavior, and move back to the flow, where you are happy and feeling more alive and well.
When you are in flow, enjoy the ride and don’t second-guess your life. Realize that it is natural to have things this way. Simply let everything come and everything go.
Books by Christopher Emmanuel can be purchased at his Art Gallery in The Sunbreeze Hotel , Art of Touch, Pages Book Store, Black orchid Spa and Sol Spa.
