Go with the Flow, Even When Tides Turn

Ever been caught in a riptide? The impulse is to swim straight for shore but no matter how hard you try, the beach never gets closer.

The key is to stay calm and stop fighting the current. Let it carry you along, parallel to the shoreline. You'll emerge far from where you left your towel on the sand, but it won't involve a lifeguard rescue.

It's the same in life: We set goals and intentions. We strategize, make plans and take intentional action. All unfolds accordingly...until something unexpected sparks the realization that we're caught in the grip of mighty forces beyond our control.

Our most common impulse is to resist and fight to regain control. It rarely works. In my experience, it helps to imagine the forces pushing me off course as the power of grace or divine order. The thought helps me let go of any personal agenda or expectations (even subconscious). Then, instead of resisting, I relax and begin to perceive how to work with the currents instead of opposing them.

"This creative flow has produced you...and you belong to and in it," beloved author Eric Butterworth writes. "It's not just that you inherit it. You are its expression."

When the waters in which we swim turn treacherous, the course carrying us safely back to shore is a co-creative endeavor between us and the mighty forces of the unseen.

Question is, are you swimming with the currents or fighting them?