I used to think that “go with the flow” meant to be flexible…to have the ability to change on a dime and head in a different direction. That’s part of it, to be sure. But, I think it’s much more than just adapting to change. I think there is a current in life. A current of energies. Light and dark. And, I think we can plug into one or the other cognitively…purposefully.
When I am in tune with God’s will, I’m surfing the flow of light energy. It’s where enlightenment lives. It’s where intuition is like a gong being struck by the mighty hammer of the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t always show up in whispers. Sometimes He knocks you up the side of the head to get your attention and speaks in a loud voice.
I can always tell when I’m even two degrees off course. I get foggy, lazy…tempted. Tempted to overeat, oversleep, overspend. It’s not a good direction to take and I know from past experience, it doesn’t lead anywhere I am interested in going. So, I make corrections in my path. I put God first and foremost in front of me and keep Him in the center of everything.
I know when I am in “The Flow.” It’s when things are easier…lighter. It just feels like there’s a higher energy to everything. When it’s there and unmistakable, it’s a high like no other. However, what happens when you feel like you aren’t going in the direction you need to go and you can’t seem to change course? Those are really difficult times to go through and it’s easy to get down on yourself.
I’ve learned a lot of lessons in my nearly seventy years. Probably the most important lesson I’ve ever learned is to show myself some compassion. We are often quick to offer compassion and empathy to others when they are struggling, but we hang ourselves out to dry on a regular basis. We can be so mean and ugly to ourselves when we aren’t getting it right.
It really helps to know NO ONE gets it right. Oh, we can have fleeting episodes of what feels like greatness, but sustained “rightness” is next to impossible to attain. Showing some gentle compassion and forgiveness is one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves. To say, “I may have botched this one up, but that’s ok. Everyone messes up at one time or another and this just wasn’t my day. I’ll try again tomorrow.”
That’s an honorable way to live. To admit we aren’t perfect and neither is anyone else. When we can humbly admit our own faults, it allows us to take the log out of our own eye in order to help our neighbors with the speck in theirs. I think a lot of people have become confused. They’ve been convinced that their way is the ONLY way and that if others do not live their way, or believe their way, or look their way then they’re wrong. Bad. Evil.
This kind of thinking is separating us and I truly believe it has been done by design. There are foreign powers who are taking an entirely different approach to war. They’ve discovered how to create an environment of infighting that is creating havoc in the world. Intentionally. They know…without a shadow of a doubt…that divided we will fall and they don’t have to fire a shot to defeat us.
The enemy comes in myriad forms and he wants nothing more that to create chaos and hatred toward our fellow man. Then he sits back and laughs and watches us implode. We can change the world by changing our little corner of it. We can get back into the flow of goodness and light and beat back the darkness that threatens to overpower us. We just have to have the right ammunition. And what is that ammo, you ask?
Love.
The Bible tells us to love our enemies. It tells us to judge not lest we be judged. It says we need to love others as we love ourselves. Always, always, always it says to love. LOVE. Even when you don’t want to. Even when it seems impossible to. When I was going through a terribly painful divorce, I spent an inordinate amount of time sending daggers towards Hubby #2. I had hate in my heart and anger. SO much anger.
In the Netflix documentary, Stutz, Jonah Hill’s therapist tells him to close his eyes and picture the entire expanse of the universe filled to the brim with nothing but love. Love everywhere…in every space…in every thought. Start gathering every bit of that love and shoving it deep in your heart till it’s bursting at the seams. Then, concentrate on your “enemy” and shoot every ounce of that love straight into the heart of the one you’re hating on.
I practiced this when I got tired of getting sick from the poison I was trying to send to my ex. I started praying deeply and fervently for him. My prayers changed from “Lord, remove this burden of hate from me” to “Lord, I’m sending every ounce of love I have to this man. Please fill him with love and success and health and good fortune. Let him be happy….truly, truly happy.”
The results weren’t instantaneous. But before long, things started happening. I didn’t feel hatred toward him anymore. I felt compassion. I found I was the one becoming happy. And I found myself back to being in the flow with a current of light and positivity. We have to make course corrections all the time in this life. That’s how we grow and evolve. And without that, we cannot move forward and heal and neither will anyone else.
In order to heal others, we have to heal ourselves.
?
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.”
Proverbs 3:5-8 ESV