Creation Thoughts

Archive for October 10th, 2006

More on Being in Flow: Resistance or Acceptance?

Tuesday, October 10th, 2006

Leon posted a great question in the comments on my last post, The Ease of Being in Flow, and I want to expand on something he brought up:

“cool. I also enjoy the flow. but something bothers me about not striving, struggling, fighting. they say to always go with the stream and to accept. But as a person with foresight and intuition I know that sometimes the correct path lies upstream, so to speak. For instance, I wasn’t obligated to work during high school, but I did. And it sucked. I hated it, and all the grease and harsh cleaning chemicals damaged my health. But looking back I’m glad I did it. It’s added permanent flavor to my life. It’s given me some pretty unusual perspectives that I now value a great deal. anyway, I guess it’s a matter of integrity. if I simply say “yes” to everything then where are my morals and ideals? would you clarify that bit for me? I mean, how do you stay in flow and still reach your goals? or is the flow the goal for you?thanks for writing. I like your style and confidence :)”

I’m so glad you asked that Leon, because I really should have explained what I meant by resisting and fighting!

Certainly if something goes against our values, then we should do what our heart tells us to do. Like if we see a crime being committed, or someone is taking advantage of our trust, etc. I’m definitely NOT saying that we should just accept it and be happy about it!

When I wrote about fighting and resisting, I was referring more to the ways we make things harder on ourselves. Like for example, letting outside influences upset our inner peace. Or letting a grumpy boss erode our inner joy. Getting frustrated by not having enough money. Making unreasonable demands upon ourselves. And so on. The more we fight against situations like that, the more of them we attract! What we resist, persists!

By “being in flow” I was suggesting rising above annoyances like these and choosing to keep our emotions in a state of alignment. Focus on something better, something that makes us feel happy.

Now, certain situations are more extreme and we can’t help but be affected by them. The death of a loved one, for example. Ignoring our emotions and pretending to be happy won’t benefit us in that type of situation. Honoring our feelings and allowing ourselves to grieve is the way of least resistance.

I loved what Leon said about intuitively knowing that the correct path lies upstream sometimes! I know exactly what he means, and I’m not saying we should ignore that and take the easy way every time. Hard work can be good for us, and incredibly rewarding.

Being in flow doesn’t mean never working hard or striving for better circumstances - but our mindset needs to be in the right place. Are we in a place of resistance, or acceptance? Are we creating out of frustration and impatience, or from joy? Are we enjoying the process of deliberate creation in our lives, or are we just fed up with our current circumstances? (Actually, come to think of it, being fed up isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it can be very motivating!

In my own life just lately, I’ve been noticing that the more I focus on simply being in alignment (i.e. feeling good, happy, joyful, grateful, optimistic, etc.), the more easily things seem to flow to me. I still work hard, but at the same time, I know I don’t HAVE to work hard for abundance to come into my life. I don’t have to CREATE, I can simply ALLOW. (and allowing creates, ironically. LOL)

Does that make sense? Hope I’ve answered your questions Leon, and I thank you for giving me the opportunity to explain further!