“Go with the flow”,
“Be patient and see what evolves”
“Do what feels good and effortless”.
We often use and hear these saying in sentences but do we really know what it feels like to embody them? Just like I didn’t fully understand what it meant to “batten down the hatches” until I was sailing and a big storm was approaching, and we had to rapidly close all the hatches (windows) so the boat didn’t flood. We believe, unless you have experienced what it feels like to have things go smoothly in the direction you intend, all these concepts and mantras can appear mysteriously unachievable.
Now imagine yourself, life jacket and helmet clad, sitting in a canoe with a friend or loved one behind you, paddle in hand. You feel the majestic trickle (or internal roar) of water running through rocks ahead, your heart quickens, preparing you for the challenge of getting through them.
Mouth slightly dry, you take a big breath; the kind that we have practiced in our morning body wellness session. It calms and centres you as the top of the approaching rapid lures you in.
It feels like a lifetime, but in reality it is over in seconds, slightly bumpy, foamy and wavey, but fun. You raise your paddles to high five each other in elation. You have made it through your first rapid upright. Two hours ago you hadn’t paddled a canoe since you were ten, now you are beginning to grasp the concepts of steering, and enjoying the challenge of learning something new again.
Of course not everything will always go to plan. A few rapids later, you lean away from an approaching rock, and your boat bucks you out. You laugh as you float down the rapid, in the safety position, mimicking someone lying on a tropical beach. Friends and family in the flat water below chase after a stray drink bottle, that fell out in the mayhem. You experience how life doesn’t always go to plan, but it still keeps pushing you in the right direction. The river reminds us, that it is less about avoiding challenges, but more about how you handle the hiccups. Everyone makes it down to camp, some a little damper than before, but not in spirit!
Want to feel what it is really like to go with the flow?
JOIN Us on a river trip – it’s the only way we get downstream….