What Does it Mean to Go with the Flow?

“If I try to push the wave, I get drowned under, but if I surf the wave and my goal is to ride with the flow of nature, then I go places I didn’t know I was going to go… It opens up in the realm of miracles and unforeseen opportunities and magnificent surprises.”
— Dr Lisa Miller

We have a dream…

Layne and I have a vision for our life and we are very close to making it happen.

But in order for this dream to become a reality, there are a couple of critical elements that are entirely out of our control. Last night we got some news about one of those elements that felt very much like a setback. But this morning I remembered yoga (again).

According to Dr Lisa Miller, “We are an open system in dialogue with a living universe, a living world.” Yoga helps us to connect with ourselves as part of that living world; to look more deeply and ask “What is life showing me here?” or “What is life asking of me now?” When we have faith in the order in the way life moves, we can make the choice to go, or not to go with its flow.

So what is going with the flow?

Going with the flow means that we loosen our grip on our agenda and notice what’s happening around us.  When we can sense the direction of the flow of life and move with it, we are in collaboration with life and the journey is easier.

A choice to go with the flow doesn’t mean that we don’t know where we’re going, it simply means that we are open to more than one way of getting there.

When we go with the flow, we work with the current rather than pushing against it. This is not aimless wandering, and it doesn’t mean that we just let life happen to us. Going with the flow is a co-creative act that requires consciousness, presence, and more than a little trust.

Going with the flow is being open to shifting your course when it’s necessary or useful.  When we go with the flow, we make space for situations that we could not have planned, and often they unexpectedly surprise and delight us. When we go with the flow we can adjust to our circumstances and to other people as they change and grow.
When we cling to a concept of what we think should be rather than what’s actually happening, we cut off the flow of life and miss out on opportunities, and joy. But when can we look at what life is showing us, it’s a sign that despite the uncertainty, we’re aligned with the flow of life.

© Julie Smerdon 2023