Going With The Flow : Voice Of The River

By Steve Mills

This is part two of a series about “Going With the Flow”

I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, and also that you must always listen to the messages the Universe is giving you.

There is so much confusing information around these ideas in personal development writing. You get one Guru that says that no matter how many times you fail, perseverence will always pay off. They would say that should chase your dreams no matter what happens along the way.

This is good advice in most circumstances, especially if you follow Curly’s Law and have found your ONE TRUE THING. But it can also lead to going down the wrong river for a long time, and plunging over a metaphysical waterfall.

On the other hand, there are other experts which tell you to listen to what the Universe is saying. If you constantly get the message that your current course of action is not going to work out, then it is time to change course, abandon ship and start something new.

As an example, say you are an aspiring horror writer. You sit down five nights a week  ’til past midnight, banging out story after story. They are  filled with interesting plot twits, fanatical villains and buckets of gore, and you think that they are fantastic. You send out thirty letters a week to publishers trying to get your novels out of the desk drawer, and into the bookstores. As the rejection letters mount up, you read through them carefully and see the consistant message. The market for horror books is dwindling, and so they are not taking on books by new authors.

You could continue to go along the same way as before, and not change direction. But then you realise you would only have your self to blame if it goes wrong. Maybe the world has had enough horror? Maybe you should change direction slightly, and still realise your goal in a slightly different way?

As in most things in life, the middle path wisdom shows us the way forward. True wisdom and awareness is about deciding the right course of action of the events of your life, as they are occuring in the here and now. That quiet, small voice within is the only thing worth listening too. This source of inner wisdom, called by some intuition, or higher self is the part of you that is constantly surrounded by the current of life, that best feels the flow of the river of time and fate.

Its the closest thing to a paddle and rudder that you have got.