Plus 7 Tips to ensure you keeping flowing in the right direction
Today you have the opportunity to flow like water…🌊
You can be resilient, strong, and powerful. 💪🏽
AND
You can be gentil, compassionate, and graceful. 🙏🏼
You have the opportunity today to flow like water, and become a force of complete balance and harmony.
You need to have strength in order to push through adversity. But, you also need love to conquer all.
Bruce Lee once said
“Be Water, My Friend.
Empty your mind.
Be formless, shapeless, like water.
You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup.
You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle.
You put it into a teapot, it becomes the teapot.
Now water can flow or it can crash.
Be water, my friend."
Understand the beauty behind flowing like water…
Be as in-tune with yourself today as you can, and understand the principles of being like water.
Your ability to be strong yet soft, will be the difference in how transparent and powerful you can be by expressing yourself honestly.
In life you have two options, flow with the way your heart and mind desire, or try to swim upstream and really go no where. One will feel effortless and free, while the other will feel tedious and tiresome.
However, the issue is the upstream path will be pursued by many friends, peers, family members, and many in society, so it only seems right to follow their flow. But, realistically if you followed your own path you would feel so much happier and in-tune with yourself as well everything else in your life. Now, going with the flow brings you to much bigger ponds, and presents much more opportunities to grow, but it also creates a higher risk of losing your friends and family along the way in the pursuit of becoming a bigger and stronger fish.
Now, the bigger the pond, the bigger the predators and challenges. So, you also have to stay sharp and in-tune with yourself and your surroundings or else you may get lost or bit along the way. It is always safer to be upstream and far away from danger. But, staying in that stagnant paralyzing stream, will just end up hurting you in the long run anyways. Wouldn't it be better to just grow and take the risk of becoming who you're truly meant to be? Regret is much worse than failure, and regret is much worse than going no where to just end up dying prematurely anyways.
Danger is real... Fear is an illusion. Remove the fear and you will end up in the most fertile and prosperous stream you ever dreamed of. You'll get to actually enjoy the journey, and still reap the rewards of a hard working life. Being comfortable in uncomfortable situations creates growth and strength to reveal the characteristics that you never knew you had.
Too many people are focused on "looking busy" and consistently keep fooling themselves that they're being "productive" or even on track to be "successful" Yet, no matter how hard they work and work it seems like nothing really goes their way. Some people like to eat soup with a fork, they stay very busy, but barely achieve anything. And some understand the principles of life and just logically use a spoon. This is a slower way of living, but the tortoise always beats the hare. Patience is a virtue...
When you are walking through the journey of life, you have many experiences and connections that lead you to believing a certain path is right for you. However, no one can show you your true path, they can only give you an idea of what kind of path you'd like to create. When a river flows it erodes all the rock and sediment on it's path, and over thousands of years has sculpted mountains...
The power of water is immense, and we can learn how to tap into this power when we learn to go with the flow. What ever life throws at you, hit it in the direction it's pitched from, and sometimes life even throws curve balls, but you need to just learn how to sit back and hit it the other way.
Salmon swim upstream because they will spawn and lay their eggs to create the next generation of life, which is a part of nature. However, after their very rigorous experience the salmon die and only whatever eggs survive will become the next breed of salmon to repeat this process. This is necessary for life to continue, even if it means risking their own lives to make sure their off spring survive. They swim upstream so predators won't eat their eggs. And they make the ultimate sacrifice by giving up their lives in the process.
How many people are swimming upstream just to provide a house, a car, enough food, an education and opportunities for others. Typically after they complete this harsh process, they ruin their quality of living from all that stress and agony along the way. Eventually, this leads to very poor health choices, bad mental health, and negative habits that take a harsh toll on the body. Pretty much they're speeding up their own death... This doesn't mean that flowing with the river will not take focus, work ethic and attention to details, because many side streams will present themselves, and being aware and conscious will guide your intuition to the safest stream.
But, if you just go with the flow and have no sense of direction, you may end up in a much bigger pond, with much bigger fish. And if you're not ready to defend yourself and stay growing to become a bigger fish, you will get eaten by the others. Therefore, never giving you the opportunity to lay your eggs and follow the purpose of life. For life to continue on... The fittest of the fittest survive... So learn to grow, flow, let it show, and then create the next generation to be better than you were.
7 Tips to ensure you keeping flowing in the right direction
1) Take things with a grain of salt
Life has become very complicated in terms of what information to believe, and who you should truly listen too. Because of the rapid advancements in technology and the vast amount information at your finger tips, many people have become way too overly focused on thinking that they "know" something, instead of just trying to "learn" and soak in as many perspectives and understandings that they can. It is very easy to allow your cup to fill up quickly, and begin to continuously over flow. Just because google says somethings is a "fact", doesn't mean it is anything more than a highly educated guess... Even a scientist will tell you that they never truly "know" something". Even gravity is a theory, even though we feel it everyday... The education system is definitely a big problem for this conditioning and mindset since they try to force mandatory "knowledge" down your throats in the pursuit of telling you to believe these so called "facts". As well, they try to indoctrinate information as "knowledge" that could be interpreted as just "stuff" if not applied with practicality. This leads to you believing the more you go to school the more intelligent you'll become. More like the easiest way to put yourself in a lot of debt... As, they make it very expensive to pursue post-secondary knowledge, since they know people will pursue it, in the hope of becoming more intelligent. Which is why the work force see diplomas as a "necessity" in order to get a job. However, some of the brightest minds have actually dropped out of school because they knew it had no purpose for their highest path. This doesn't mean an engineer shouldn't take years to learn concepts, specific formulas, and information. But, typically the real world experiences and theoretical information, can be very un-aligned or skewed with the reality of putting that knowledge into practice. So, having the power to filter through information with an objective and open mindset, is crucial to becoming more intelligent, yet still maintaining a common sense approach to life. If you've experienced something, or practically have applied a concept or "knowledge" in the real world, than that is much more valuable than what a textbook or google has told you. That doesn't mean not to hear out those perspectives, but always follow your own intuition or "gut instinct" to guide you through whatever feels right from wrong. Again, you never truly know anything, and you can never know everything, you just learn to collect experiences and information along the journey to help you make smarter and wiser decisions in the present.
2) Let yourself be vulnerable and transparent with others
One of the hardest things you'll ever do in your life is let your guard down and open up to other people. Allowing people to hear your weaknesses or short comings is truly courageous and brave, as it can lead to being scorned or resented. But, opening up about these flaws or issues will create room for real opportunities of growth. When you allow others to see you are "human" it gives them the sense that you're genuine, real, and grounded in your own reality. The more you can be honest with yourself and face the truths in your life, the easier you will flow in life. Honesty, is one of the biggest traits we admire in any other individual. But, if you want others to be honest with you, you must be first be honest with yourself. The universe is just a reflection of what you project into it. The things that annoy you, are typically an issue within yourself. So, if you want to feel free, relaxed and at ease with yourself and everyone around you, focus on yourself, and you will start to ignore others flaws or issues as they are not aligning with your own insecurities in your sub-conscious. Your mind is powerful, and when it's trying to send you a coded message, it points it out through others to shine light on what you actually need to fix within yourself. Transparency allows you to feel comfortable in your own skin, and feel "real" and genuine about your authenticity. It is much nicer to walk around worry free, and not caring about other peoples' opinions or insecurities that they're trying to force onto you. Feeling insecure within yourself is just another way to start creating a bigger mental health issue. How many people walk into a room and start thinking that everyone is judging them or focused on their imperfections. Unfortunately, this is a narcissistic mindset that society has created from setting standards of what is "perfect", whatever the current trends are, whatever the latest fad is, and whatever society says is "cool". This in the long run creates a mental sickness, that leads people to focusing on other people's opinions instead of their own about themselves. Most people didn't even notice you or really care anything about you. So, why should you have this paralyzing fear that just leads you too a negative mindset and an unfulfilled fearful life. Be open, be honest, be truthful to yourself, and understand that you are opening up and sharing something, by doing this you could lead to someone else feeling empowered to follow the same path. Before you know it, this could create a great friendship or an amazing marriage with the true love of your life.
3) Be willing to try something new
Stepping out of your comfort zone is one of the best ways to find new things that you like and could actually be good at. But, if you never tried it, how would you ever know? It is easy to just keep doing the things that you're great at, but this keeps you comfortable, and will never help expand your horizons towards higher potentials and new possibilities. Taking a step out of your comfort zone is very brave and courageous, but it is necessary to grow and become the best version of yourself. Having an open mindset towards adventures, challenges, and adversity, are all ways to live a fulfilled and wholesome experience you call life. The journey should have spontaneity and uncomfortable situations to reveal the characteristics within yourself, that you might not have ever realized were waiting to shine. Now take it with a grain of salt when it comes to pushing your own boundaries and being a so called "daredevil" in your opportunities. Staying within a healthy limit is going to ensure you reach your highest potential and maintain longevity on your journey. Know your limit, play within it. This means understand what is realistic for yourself, and only push boundaries with small steps to ensure you don't hurt yourself or end up regretting over doing something you truly weren't prepared for. Pick up a new hobby, play a new sport, eat something different, and just be open to experiencing something new all the time.
4) Be in the present as much as possible
The gift of life is being present and enjoying the people, place or things at the current time to their fullest. It's literally called the "present" because it truly is a gift that we get to experience everyday. Whenever you've experienced things that were the most heartfelt, you were fully invested in the moment. Where else should you be anyways? The thief of your ultimate experience is your own mind. If you are too focused on what's next, your anxiety will lead you to miss the beauty of what's first to come, and the opportunities that will create the future you're actually trying to focus on. Living in the past will just lead to depression, causing you to forget the sun is shinning and that you have so much new to accomplish and experience today! New and better perspectives should lead you to less worrying or doubts about whatever has happened in the past. Those experiences and hardships are only apart of your journey, and they are there to help you grow and become the best version of yourself. You experience time relatively based on your own focus and perspective towards life. If you are grateful, enjoying the process, and loving the journey, then it will become very easy to stay conscious, aware and in-tune with the divine speed of life. Having no rush towards getting to that end destination is vital in remaining cool, calm, and collected at all times in your life. If you just ended up at the finish line, but you never got to experience the challenges, small wins and speed bumps along the road, would it feel as gratifying? Whenever something is just handed to you, did you truly appreciate it? Think of all the privileged spoiled kids who were never taught the value about the things they received. Don't we call them ungrateful? So, trying to reach the destination without actually working hard and valuing the process is actually being ungrateful, and impatient for the things that take years of dedication in order to achieve them. Because, if those kids really knew how hard their parents had to work in order to provide them whatever they were given, they might of had a completely different perspective towards their toys, clothes, food, or anything that they were given. Enjoy the present, because that's all you ever have. The more you live in the present, the more mindful you become, the better you respond to the opportunities and challenges in the moment, and the better you will experience life. This will set you up for the best possible outcomes in the future. And if things don't go as planned, learn from it, make an adjustment, and just keep moving forward in a positive direction.
5) Find the joy in the little things, pay attention to the little details
People tend to get caught up on the big things in life like a house, a car, a career, the degree their working on and all these "things" that yes are a part of life, but also are a by-product of so many little things coming together. The bigger puzzle has those larger pictures within it, but it takes a lot of little pieces in order to get those pictures to align and manifest in reality. In order to have a house or a car you need money, in order to get money you need to have a passionate career, in order to have a passionate career you need to dive deep within yourself, and really try different things in order know what you actually like or even are good at, and this process keeps going deeper and deeper. Having a focus on the little details, ensures that you don't cut corners to success. When building a house, if the brick layers just tried to rush the process and get more houses built to make money faster, then eventually those houses will collapse and possibly hurt someone or even get them out of work for the future. Which then, they will have no money at all. The integrity of their work is what creates value for their time and effort. Rushing the process just to create quantity without quality, will lead to more heartache and headaches for everyone down the road. However, if they take their time and lay each brick as perfect as it can be placed, then they will build amazing houses and also create a standard of quality that others have to upkeep, or else people will never trust any other brick layers. It is very important to take your time and lay a strong foundation, so that whatever you build on top of it, can remain sturdy and stand tall through times of harsh weathering that life will throw at it. But, rush the process, and be forced to go back to square one, which will lead you to a lot of pain and agony, that may create such a bad experience, that you may never want to put the effort and energy into restarting the process again. The little things are what make you appreciate the big things in life. The more you maintain attention to the little details, the better you will create the bigger picture, and also give yourself the chance to create the best possible picture for your life. Be obsessed with the process and reap the rewards of being present and focused on what is happening in the moment. Sometimes the little things can be more beautiful than the big ones.
6) Always be kind, But take no sh*t
Just as water can be soft and gentil, it can also be hard and rough. It has the ability to take mold of anything it is placed in, but it can also erode everything it comes into contact with. This amazing balance that water has is something you can really learn from in how you interact and handle the people you encounter in your life. Everyone deserves kindness, compassion, and empathy. But, sometimes you need to be stern, rigid, and apathetic in order to protect yourself, and guide yourself away from those who disrespect or don't have your best intentions at heart. You should always respect others, and treat others how you want to be treated. However, if they decide to be harmful, unpleasant, or unappreciative of your kindness, then you must use logic in order to protect yourself from their bad intentions. Not everyone is going to like you, nor be a kind human being. Yet, this doesn't mean you need to lower yourself to their level. Instead kill them with kindness, and just remember to protect yourself from those who may want to hurt you. People will use sharp words, and they will have to deal with their own bad conscience. Keep yourself free from negativity, and just let it bounce off of you. "sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me" What a great reminder that people can talk all they want, but that's all they can ever do. Be the best version of yourself and let others decide their own fate. You can only control yourself, and if you want a pleasant and joyful life, don't let others bring you down by their own insecurities or issues that they're trying to mask onto you. They will have to deal with the consequences of a bad mindset. It always feels better to be kind to each other, and if you ever did treat someone wrong, I'm sure it didn't sit well inside of you, and possibly you even had to go apologize just to make yourself feel better. It wasn't for them, it was for your own conscience. You have a divine law within your mind. And if you break it, you will feel very guilty about your words or actions. So save yourself the grief, and just always treat others with kindness. This will ensure that you don't burn bridges, you'll create an energy that others crave to be around, and you'll allow others to desire in helping you continue flowing in a positive direction.
7) Keep your life in balance
Too much of anything is good for nothing... This statement is very true. If you drink too much water you will die. So, having moderation and balance to everything in life is going to keep you functioning at your maximum level, and be reassuring that you have longevity along the journey. If you work too hard and don't take breaks you will burn out. But, if you take too many breaks and don't put any valuable hard work in, then you'll never be productive either. Having a nice blend between working and playing is going to ensure you keep your psyche positive and your body in-tune with it's necessities. Some people try to work really hard, and then play even harder. This then can burn the candle from two ends, and it also will be harmful in the long run. So, having moderation with balance is going to create the best results for the longest amount of time possible. No matter what this principle is being applied too, wether it's eating, exercising, watching t.v, playing video games, spending time with others, or even spending time by yourself, everything needs moderation to make sure you stay happy and healthy. Creating a routine that has time to focus and get work done, but also having purposeful breaks and periods of relaxation, will create a smooth flow that helps you stay consistent and on track with whatever you're trying achieve in at the time. If you know you have a overly stimulating career or a fast paced life, take the time to slow down and de-stress, and really focus on your mindfulness. You can move very fast, while the mind remains very still. It is a matter of training the brain to be in control and having the discipline to remain in control. Outside stimuli will make it easy to lose perspective at times, and can easily force you to get sped up in your thinking or decisions to whatever life throws at you. Stay balanced in your approach to life and your daily routine, to ensure you don't end up uneven and potentially have an incident that requires you to fall backwards and end up even further from the desired results that you're trying very hard to achieve. Take things in baby steps, and focus on one task at a time. If you're at the office, be at the office, if you're at the beach, be at the beach... You can only be in one place doing one thing at a time. So pay attention to being present and having immaculate discipline to remaining in control and having balance within your life. This will prevent injuries, setbacks, and unnecessary hardships that could have easily been avoided if you just remained in-tune with your flow. The tortoise always beats the hare. Take this approach into your life, and remember life is a marathon not a sprint. Enjoy the journey and love the process. Listen to your body, and pay attention to the warning signs, especially if you're getting too close of being out of hand.
Conclusion
The flow of life is up to you in which direction you want to swim. You can go against the stream or you can flow with it. You can fight your way through life or you can take the logical approach and go with it. The universe wants you to understand the balance of work and play, but also the balance between hard and soft. If there wasn't any darkness, you couldn't see the stars shinning so bright every night. So, everything around you has this natural balance because they're created perfectly, unfortunately we are an imperfect perfect creation. So, you have the ability to miss the bigger picture if you are unconscious on how to flow. You need to apply the same principle to the way you flow in order be more aligned with living a "perfect" life. The beauty of water is no matter what obstacle it comes into contact with, it will always try to find the path of least resistance. If it can't find the best path, then it will over time wear down the roadblock until it flows free once again. So, take this understanding of flowing into account, and learn to take the paths of least resistance, and if there isn't one, then keep working hard to break down the road block that's trying to stop you from flowing. You always have the power to create any path you want to take. Plus, there are already paths built for it to make it easier to reach your best stream. Stay in the present, enjoy the little things in life, be open and transparent with who you are, take everything with a grain of salt, stay in balance and harmonious within your routine, and treat everyone how you want to be treated.
Stay strong, stay consistent, stay healthy & keep developing yourself
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Love ❤️
Team Mindset
