The River Of Life

There are times when I am speaking to a group that I choose to use a flowing river as a means of describing the ebb and flow of life and the living experience.

There are strong fast currents that demand your immediate attention and there are slower subtle currents that influence your path and will lead you astray if you are not aware of your direction.

When you go through the educational process to gain knowledge and get life experience you are learning how to swim and stay afloat against these currents. The more balanced and stable your knowledge and experience is the more prepared you are for the demands of the river of life.

Life has a definite flow and as you learn to go with this natural pattern you also discover how to travel through life almost effortlessly allowing the natural pattern to carry you along and empower your efforts even more.

Those who choose to go across the currents or even try to swim upstream against the flow find their living experience to be difficult and fraught with obstacles and distractions. They struggle and fret and eventually give up and let the flow of life take them on downstream.

Still others don't make any attempt to direct their lives at all and just give themselves to whatever currents they encounter. They get swept up in chaos and taken far away from the goals and desires they had for their life.

Another matter that is as critical as determining your own direction in the flow of life is attempting to take others along with you. It is enough to ask of any human to simply be responsible for them self, but when they assume the responsibility for the direction and security of someone else they put their own life in jeopardy.

Parents try to swim for their children instead of letting the child learn to swim on their own and grandparents assume the responsibility for grandchildren piling them onto their back and supporting them as they try to make their way through life.

Often these clingers don't make any effort to either learn how to survive in the flow of life on their own and they don't want to let go out of fear that they will sink into the unknown of challenges and demands. The burden slowly pulls the supporting parent or grandparent deeper and deeper until they are struggling for their own existence yet they still try to support this dependent person.

They won't or can't let go as the burden drags them deeper and deeper until they begin to slip below the surface of survival and risk everything they have. The clinger often doesn't really care. Their focus is on keeping their own head above water.

In life you must learn to go with the flow and let the living experience work with you to take you where you want to go. Anytime you go against the flow and currents of life the results will be impeded and erratic.

Be a strong swimmer and direct your life with the natural flow and you will achieve more and be more fulfilled in the long run.