Travelling Downstream with Oars in the Raft

Our emotions and feelings, help us relate to what is going on in our life, and indicate whether we are accepting or resisting it all. As you know, resistance to anything will cause its persistence; the more we rail against what is, the more energy we feed into that negative reality, and the more it will then expand instead of diminish.

In our analogy let us refer to life as a fast flowing river, a raging, white-water river, that is tumbling at unstoppable speed, forever surging downstream, down, down until the river ends and the inevitable vastness of the ocean opens up for the river traveler, and a totally new journey begins. There are two ways to travel on a raging river, one way is to put your raft in the river and go with the flow, traveling downstream and the other is to put your raft in the river and paddle with all your might to make headway upstream.

The raging river is our life experience. We can choose to go with the flow of the river, of our life, and allow the current to carry us along, with the least resistance and effort. Or we can paddle upstream, resisting, fighting, railing against what life brings our way, not making much headway, if any, but always anxious, unhappy, disquieted.

The question is, are you an upstream traveler most of the time, or are you a downstream traveler? Does your life flow with reasonable ease so you learn and experience new, exciting adventures that ask you to expand who you are, or are you mostly fighting against what you do not want?

I might add here, that we are not speaking of surrendering your personal power to "fate" or any such notion, but of simply allowing your higher wisdom to easily guide and direct your life in the best and gentlest way. We do not have to expend a huge amount of effort to "make" life work. In fact, that is the most counter-productive thing you can do. Fighting to achieve something is like paddling upstream against the current: it's hard, quite futile and extremely tiring.

Every time you feel yourself being pushed to the next level of awakening or challenge, try putting your oars inside the raft and let the river take you downstream. Trust the stream of wisdom in your life to guide you and enjoy the ride.

This does not mean you never have to take action; of course you do. But it means you do what you do in the awareness that your higher, wiser self, will always guide you and love you no matter what. Find a profound sense of relief and joy in this awareness. Life is all about experience, growth, becoming more, expansion, in fact, returning to your ultimate Source.

Life actually is much more fun and oh so much less stressful when you travel downstream with the flow, supported, guided and loved by divine Wisdom and nurturing Love. Just for fun, try resting your oars inside your raft this week.