Just Go with the Flow: A Life of Flowing and Non-Force
I think I am going to always start this way….”Honestly speaking”…..Honestly speaking, following certain beliefs in life often is a strain that pushes us into exhaustion, however, there are other paths that we can incorporate to ease our journey without compromising our core beliefs. I think this is worth mentioning because I have stated on a few occasions, Kind Rebirths is meant to inspire, to enlighten, to make aware and potentially, transform. It’s not a strong-arm conversion nor is it proselytism. My sole purpose is to re-tool your resource kit when it comes to dealing with the problems one encounters every day.
That said, finding and following the path one has selected should be one that provides a sense of presence and trust. It should be firm but also lends the flexibility and gentle nature needed to adapt. For instance, the Taoist religion teaches that this type of gentle flexibility does not translate as a form of weakness. In fact, it translates as wisdom. Using water as the best example of this power, water, when it’s completely fluid state has no “hardness” associated with it. However, after years of consistent pressure and friction, it can cause stone to crack and to break. It’s not done in a violent or vicious manner; it’s accomplished within the parameters of nature. It’s the constant and continual movement of life flowing naturally without impediment.
Considering a Kind Rebirths type of approach within the anxiety and tension caused by life’s instability and unpredictability, this type of path, letting life flow naturally without force, becomes a much-needed comfort. We get caught too often living in the space between tension and expectation. We have to push ourselves to overcome burnout from work and other career-related issues and relationships as it is. We think we have control enough to bend or reshape the creator’s will to meet our own selfish needs. However, rarely does it work like that. But when we learn to stop resisting and simply start listening, life begins to respond in a different way.
To walk on this path means to live with a loosened grip on life. You loosen your grasp on expectations, and you loosen your grasp on outcomes. It’s learning to trust life instead of fearing of what’s to come and learning to rise and fall without self-castigation. Let things and people be who they are wholly without placing our beliefs and thoughts of them, on them. Remember, a kind rebirth is not something that can (nor should be) forced, it’s an action that we intentionally allow. We do not do things to impair that path from moving forward.
In the Taoist philosophy, this is referred to as the way of wu wei, or the principle of “effortless action” or “non-doing”. It’s an ability to move through life with complete awareness and flexibility by trusting in the natural rhythms of life. As Americans, historically we’ve demonstrated just through the mere founding of our country that employing force is important and that it equals success. We can witness this by studying the history of American colonization all the way to Wall Street. Push a little harder. Do more. Try harder. Just do it. Don’t stop. These are force actions that causes that grip and grasp I mentioned before to harden and tighten. And the more you tighten, the more the world tightens around you.
With a Kind Rebirth, I mean to approach life with not only the transformative property of increasing one’s worldview, but I also mean to introduce it as a healing philosophy as a blossoming of the world’s most wise and knowledgeable. With that being said, to live more peacefully and ideally less constrained, a rebirth promotes the shedding of unnecessary struggle. I know we all want exactly what it is that we want, but we have to learn to trust. We must consider the type of trust that tells you that you don’t have to fight for the things that are meant for you. Because what is meant for you will find its way naturally without force and all else will fall away.
Living consciously through flowing and not forcing is not a passive nor defeated approach to life. Rather, it’s a power of responding with knowledge, rather than trying to react. It’s learning to breathe instead of preparing or bracing oneself. We are choosing peace over scored and ranked performance. How does that translate into practical terms? Well, try pausing instead of rushing ahead, let go and release the need to take control, listen before assuming, allowing instead of resisting, and allowing life to meet you in the middle.
As you begin to implement a life of wu wei remember to be patient with yourself and be forgiving. What I have learned from studying a lot of religions and philosophies (and there are still many and much more to review) is that life is fluid, like water. And I am able to pick up pieces of things along that are important and relative to my path. So don’t get discouraged if some, all, or none of this applies to you. Again, like the message here and in what we see every day in life: we don’t need force to make it fit, just time, patience and a spirit that encourages letting go.
Stay mindful…
Rebirth
