Lesson Learned: Go with the Flow
by Vanessa Crompton
One of the lessons I have learned in life is to "go with the flow", to try and recognize pathways pointing us in our life's direction. When I was in my twenties I would try to control everything. My life was full of schedules. I would live for the future and not for the now. I would wish away my life, thinking I wanted to achieve that goal and move onto the next one. Never satisfied with what I had as I was always focused on that distant point. I would strive to force my desires and goals to become a reality. I believed that my sheer force of will and determination would make things happen, and I would try and bend events to go the way that I intended to go. I was master of my destiny.
So what happened? It didn't work. I would not consult my intuition; I would instead try and force things to happen. Instead of working for me, it worked against me. Plans fell awry, businesses failed, and my timing was always off. I would see other people succeeding at things that I had tried earlier and failed at. I was unhappy and bitter with where I was in life and with myself. People would say to me as one door closes another will open which I would react with anger and frustration even though I knew they meant well. All I could see was my wasted efforts in not achieving my material goals.
What I have come to realize is that there is no time frame in spirit. You do not know how long it takes for another door to open. Additionally it may not be something that you expected, but a whole new direction in life.
The life I lead now is no way like the life I envisioned when I was twenty, but I am richer for my experiences. I now have learnt that although you may have your goals and ambitions, it is best to temper this by following your intuition. If doors are closing, and things aren't working then perhaps this is an indicator that you have taken a wrong turn.
These days, although I have my goals for my future, I enjoy the now, it is all we truly have. I make my plans but I look and observe to see if doors are opening for me. I observe the direction I am heading. I ask myself, is the road I am on smooth, or do I feel I am like a salmon swimming against the flow of life? If I do, then it is time to reassess what is happening and perhaps take another direction, or find another way, or wait for a more opportune time, thus postponing the goal until a more favourable time, or changing direction and moving towards new horizons.
If things have to be forced then perhaps they are not meant to be in your life direction. This is sometimes a difficult lesson to learn and accept. In refusing to follow the signs that life was giving me, I was compelled to make similar mistakes until I learnt this.
Wait and see what doors open, read the signs and be flexible, this will not only assist you in finding your direction in life, but it will give you a chance to get pleasure from the now as well as the future.