On my morning bike ride yesterday I rode along a stream swollen by the remnants of winter and semi-regular blasts from thunderstorms. At one point I stopped at a bridge to enjoy the energy of the rushing water. There is something in my core that relates to water in noisy flow maybe it is because I am (we are) made up of something like 80% water. Or maybe it is that a stream is a metaphor for a life that is vibrant and alive. There is a book called Siddhartha written by Herman Hesse about a person's life journey in which a river is a great teacher.
This powerfully flowing stream stirred up in me a soothing and invigorating response that was uplifting. As I rode on and even as I write now many hours later I can still feel the influence of that moving body of water. Walking along the ocean has a similar affect in a less directed way. Streams are very focused and they just go where they are meant to go. There is no questioning direction, no self-doubt in a stream.
Maybe I am jealous of the easy clarity of the stream, which seems so sure where it is going. I too wish I was in an abundant flow of life. Maybe I am and don't appreciate it? (See the questioning that comes up never happens in a stream.) It just says lookout, here I come and if you get in my way I will just flow around you because I can't be stopped. There does seem to be that longing to flow freely in my life but without as much clarity and force as this stream has.
Sometimes I feel trapped in the confines of where I am at, yet the stream is fully alive within the boundaries of its banks. It is as if I am meandering too much and not getting to where I want to go. The stream meanders when it is less full but even then it is on point to where it headed.
If I could be just like a stream, I would flow as fast and full as I could toward the outcome I was seeking. I would not look back but instead always be anticipating the opportunities ahead. I would be sure of where I was heading and thereby less uncertain about what to do next. I would welcome the rich flow with no question of deserving.
What ways do you get in the way of your own flow? Do you find yourself looking too often in the rearview mirror of life? Is it ok for you to have strength, power and clarity?
Take the next few days and explore where the flow is in you and where is not. See where the stream of abundance and well-being is dammed and where it roars on through.