Posts Tagged ‘flow’

Going with the Flow

Monday, December 7th, 2009

Someone responded to my blog yesterday “I usually let it go with the flow……or better……where the flow takes us……….”    And it made me realise that what sounds rather like a bit of a hippy cliché in fact contains some really serious keys to successful change.  Change is organic; it comes from within.  Attempts to impose it from the outside (the usual method in most businesses) is almost doomed to fail.  We need to encourage and enable people to change, not force it. 

Working with the currents of ‘What Is’,   rather than what we would like to be, uses the same principles as sailing, which forces the sailor to shift his course to take account of the wind, tides and weather rather than merely following an arbitrary plotted route.

Understanding this simple lesson is perhaps the key to Change

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”  Lao-Tzu

“Every flow has its ebb.”   French Proverb

 

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The best laid plans…

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

Often go astray wrote Robbie Burns, and I had just such a start to my week.  I had a long list of things  I wanted to do this week, but on Sunday I contrived to put my back out so had to take things very easily yesterday.  Today, I had to attend to some family chauffeuring first thing that kept me from having the early start I had wanted.  It then took me several / hours just to clear through the mail and make a couple of calls.  Suddenly it was gone 1pm and I hadn’t stopped.  A useful morning but hardly the one I’d hoped to have.

I find I need to clear my desk (both literal and electronic) before I can start one creating something new.  I know that I could then have ‘begun’ my day, but by that stage it felt as if the metaphorical tide was out.  I know that sometimes one simply has to do what needs doing but increasingly, I find that I try to follow the flow of the energy.  I know some of my time management expert friends out there will have another perspective on this but doing things at the right time seems to have a value.

Plans are valuable and vital, but there is a less talked about skill of working with what comes up, and finding the middle path between these two approaches is a key success factor.

“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men
Gang aft agley,”  Robbie Burns

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Going with the Flow, or should you be a little boulder?

Thursday, July 10th, 2008

We have all heard of the expression “Go with the Flow”, it suggests aligning your self with the energy and allowing it to carry you along. I think there is much wisdom in this philosophy particularly when it is the Universal Energy you align with. Doing this can take you where you should be, bring you what need, support you and energise you.

However, it has a second usage and that is suggesting going along with the people around you, not making waves, being one of the gang. Now I’m sure there are times when this is a good thing too, but if they aren’t going where you need to be, or doing things that support you and align with your values and principles, then perhaps it is better to be a little boulder / bolder and do what is right for you. This takes courage and strength of character but it is crucial to know when to just say “No thanks!”

So if today finds you in a quandary whether to go along or stay where you are, take a moment to dial into whether it feels right for you. Taking a little time, finding a little silence allows us to find our inner guidance and wisdom.

“Everything in the universe has a purpose. Indeed, the invisible intelligence that flows through everything in a purposeful fashion is also flowing through you.” Wayne Dyer

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” Lao-Tzu

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