Ever have one of those days when you just hit the wall? When your efforts create no results and nothing seems to work?
Days like that are frustrating, tiring and, frankly, discouraging.
The good news is that tomorrow you get to start again, fresh.
And what if tomorrow you embraced a new idea, a new way of looking at life? One that felt more invigorating and enlivening. A perspective that was less about doing and more about receiving.
I recently had an a-ha about this when I saw a post on Facebook. It was an image of a woman floating effortlessly in the water and said:
When I stop struggling, I float. It is the law.
I’ve loved water for as long as I can remember and am an avid swimmer. Maybe that’s why the image spoke so clearly to me.
Surely, we all know that when a person struggles and fights in the water, s/he is likely to drown. Maybe it’s one of life’s ironies that there really isn’t anything at all to do in the water, because most of us are naturally buoyant.
I leaned back and found myself contemplating this idea. When I stop struggling, I float.
Could I do this not just in the water but in life?
And if so, how would that be? What would it look like?
I realized that here was a universal law of life. That despite what we think, there really isn’t anything to do (except maybe get out of our own way.)
What does struggling look like in life? For me it’s:
- When the current moment is not in alignment with what I want so I impose my will on it.
- The need to feel in control.
- To make it happen anyway, on my timeline.
- Struggling, in essence, is like fighting life. Ouch.
As I delved in deeper, I realized there was a root to this behavior. It was a response to being caught in lack, feeling like I’m not enough or I that have something to prove - my success, talent, self worth. I was trying to push the river of life to support my insecurities.
What if, instead of pushing, we floated? What would floating through life be like?
Think about being in the water. Floating is relaxing and effortless. We relinquish control and allow ourselves to be guided. We truly let go.
Could I do that?
I spent the rest of the week in this peaceful place, knowing that all was well, that I was completely supported.
That’s the other thing about water, right?
We can relax because we know the water is supporting us. It effortlessly holds up huge aircraft carriers and tankers. Of course it can bear a single human.
If I extend this analogy to life, than I allow myself to know life is supporting me, buoying me, sustaining me in exciting and new ways. When I trust it, life can be just like water, a constant source of unconditional support.
And in that place of trust, I open up to receive all the good from life.
So what do you say? Is it time to give up the struggle and allow life to support you? Doesn’t that sound so much better? Are you willing to give it a try? I know I am!