Let Everything Flow and Nothing Get In Your Way

Just for today, let everything flow and nothing get in your way. Just for today, don’t let adversity be a weight capable of sinking you, frustrating your hopes and your desire to live. Just for today let go of everything that influences you with their dark clouds, free yourself from what erases your smiles and, to put it simply, keep going forward…

We should put these simple principles into practice not only today, but every single day. Because every morning when we open our eyes to the new day before us, we think about the new challenges and, just for a moment, we start convincing ourselves that we have forgotten how to be happy.

Let things flow, do not cling to resentments, do not cling to fears or to whoever wants to cut off your wings. Because everything has its time and opportunities will only come if your mind is calm and your heart is active.

One of the greatest exponents of the flow theory is undoubtedly the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. As the celebrated author of “Flow: A Psychology of Happiness” explains, we waste too much psychic energy on unimportant stimuli. We live in a society so overloaded with information that our whole being is focused outwardly.

We have lost that wonderful bond with ourselves in which we simply advance with the “waves of life” in freedom and happiness … Please read on to find out more…

Let everything flow, let nothing imprison me

Everyone, in some way, is captive to something or someone. We are affected by the words of our fatalistic coworker, we are influenced by what our partners expect from us, we are worried about getting to the end of the day without having fulfilled the objectives which we ourselves have set ourselves…

We are clinging so closely to the jungle of influences and self-demands that we let so much of our vital energy evaporate like smoke that disappears through an open window. Moreover, in an interesting study conducted at Harvard University, it was concluded that one of the most common sources of unhappiness is to put into practice what is known as “the unstable mind.”

We spend much of our time worrying about things that have already happened, or worse still, that have not yet happened. It is one more form of “captivity”. According to the author of this study, Dr. Daniel T. Gilbert, a wandering mind is an unhappy mind. The moment our brain shifts from living in the present, we stop committing ourselves to happiness. We stop making a commitment to ourselves.

Far from being held captive by your unstable mind and being influenced by the noise and expectations of others, by the mistakes of yesterday and the fears of tomorrow, it is time to “raise the anchor” and allow everything to flow and not get in our way.

Let happiness flow

According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi himself, happiness is not something that arises or happens like the light of a beacon guiding the boats to safety. Most of the time, it does not depend on external phenomena, but on our internal capacity to create a real quality of life –  on our own “magic” or ability to turn on the light of our inner lighthouse.

It is about letting everything flow, letting ourselves flow, and not running away. Because when we let ourselves get carried along by the harmonious sound of our own life, without chains or external influences, then we’ll discover the door that we couldn’t see before.

Keys to learning to flow

It is important to understand that in order to let everything  flow and nothing to get in the way, then above all else what is really needed is a deep change of awareness. We cannot change much of what affects us negatively, but we can however improve the way they affect us. For example, if you have a friend who is always late, you may not be able to get him to change his behavior, but you can arrange your schedule to get there five minutes later.
Let’s consider some more keys points:

• Many people “delay” their happiness until the weekend, for when they finally get to go on vacation, for whenever they’ll get their promotion. Let’s be clear that happiness is not something you can postpone, nor is it bought in a last minute offer at a travel agency.
• Our well-being hides itself in what are known as “ideal experiences.” The wind caressing our skin as we walk, the embrace of our child, the feeling when we start reading a book, when we meet up with friends … Do not try and program your well-being, simply let yourself go.
•  It is also important to keep in mind that the best moments of our lives, on occasion, are neither passive nor even stress-free. Sometimes facing adversity is also “knowing how to let things flow,” because, far from being stuck like a rock on the bottom of the sea, we are advancing like that seemingly weak leaf that fights against the dangerous currents and survives. Those triumphs and achievements can also bring us happiness.

The “art of letting things flow” has nothing to do with reaching the highest peaks possible or bettering oneself a little more each day. It is simply a matter of being there and advancing in a balanced way following our conscience, in freedom and integrity with a satisfactory inner peace that allows us to enjoy the “here and now.”

So just for today, let everything flow and nothing get in the way.