Immersing yourself in the flow of the river.
As guilt is a part of parenthood, so struggle is a part of the human experience. Whether you are born in the ghetto or the gilded castle, you will inevitably encounter difficulty, distress, defeat and despair. It’s part of our lineage and our legacy, our happening and our history.
Sometimes in my life, I’ve caused myself more stress because I fought against the flow of the river of my life. Holding on to the bank out of fear, uncertain as to where the river will take me. Desiring to know the direction and the destination, I resisted where I was always going to inevitably be.
When I could have trusted, let go, floated free of my faithlessness, and just believed.
It’s not wrong to have goals, in fact it’s essential. Without a vision, a desired destination in the wilderness, you will wait forever to find a meaning in the maelstrom that encompasses our existence. You’ll achieve nothing in the course of your days, and recognize too late that you have wasted the priceless gift of the time that you have been given.
But sometimes you have to realize that what you want may not be who you are born to be. It may be that you might have to get what you always wanted to understand how little it could make you happy.
While there is peace in a calm pond, the power is out there where the waves are. The surfer knows that the wave will take them where they will go, all they have to do is enjoy the ride.
Life is a lot like that.
Once in a while you have to be willing to let the water carry you onwards. The biggest waves, the ones that force you to let go, are the waves that have the power to carry you to where you are supposed to be. You can fight them, fear them, stand against them, and fall before them.
In the end, you were always going to be swept toward your destiny. The ride could have been one of joy instead of sorrow; passion instead of pain.
My instincts and experience suggest to me that you already know the wave you need to ride. Maybe it’s following your heart, or removing yourself from a bad situation. Possibly it’s admitting something you’ve tried for so long to keep inside, or opening your heart to the truth you’ve been desperate to deny.
Wherever it’s going to take you, you know it’s a matter of time, rather than of possibility. If it needs to happen, and you know it’s right, I invite you to allow the water wash you, warm you, carry you and caress you.
Surrender to the flow of the river. Take the next step on your journey.
And believe.
-- Dr. Alan Barnes
@maddrbmusings