Today, I sat down at the Maitland River and just watched the water. The water is quite a bit higher than normal, so it was really flying over the rocks and crevices of a normally pretty quiet river. The water was flying over the rocks at such a rate that it was creating white caps and serious current.
What struck me was how the force of the river made sure that the water didn't get stopped by the rocks in its way. The water just went over them effortlessly. If the river had been lower, the water would have had to take a different course. It would have had to go around the obstacles. But with such a volume of water going through, the water just flowed over those rocks... Hmmm...
In our lives, there are many obstacles that it seems we are constantly working around. Some big, some small. We are mature people that know we have to "go with the flow". But sometimes we are truly disappointed that we have to change our course even if slightly because these things come up. And hey, if it's a big enough obstacle, we get stopped right in our path!
So comparing this to our river... When there is very little flow, it is easy for the water to become stuck in small cesspools behind big rocks... Hmmm... stagnant cesspools... we know what that feels like.
When there is average flow - adequate to get done what we need to do - when we come across an obstacle, we can change our course and flow around it. Sometimes a bummer. But it's possible. We soldier on.
But what if there is high flow? What if there is all kinds of water? Then the power of the river simply takes us right over top of the obstacle.... No changing direction... Just up and over. So, you know where I'm going with this...
In our lives, what is the high flow? What is the energy that we can flow in that will just bring us up and over the obstacles in our lives?
I definitely don't have an answer for everyone. On a spiritual level, it would be whatever faith means to you. For me, it's believing in something bigger than me that I can tap in to (and when I do, life is so much more interesting).
In meditation, we often feel a beautiful stillness inside that strangely enough makes us feel connected to the whole. I think that the "bigger wave" is connected to this stillness.
The truth is that the more I describe what the "bigger wave" is, the further I will get from the truth. We each have to sit quietly and feel what that big wave would feel like. What is it for me? What can I do in my life to make sure I stay tapped in to that "greater flow"? How do I just be a water drop riding that wave?
This is what all the great religions say... That all we have to do is relax, have faith, enjoy ourselves.
That there are no obstacles we can't rise above.
That we just have to enjoy the ride.
