Practical Advice - How to "Go With The Flow" - Part I

First, all you're ever going to get from me is practical advice. Second, I have no idea when I'm going to post part 2. I only know that one time on this subject isn't nearly enough. As usual, something I read (or something going on in my life) prompted this post. I'll start this off with what I read today, written on June 1 by Kate Ann Spreckley. Kate is a Spiritual Healer and Teacher from Cape Town, South Africa.  Kate offers private consultations, group channelings, workshops and teachings, all of which can be viewed on the readings page of this website -  http://www.spiritpathways.co.za/about.html. This is the first I've heard of her. This was forwarded to me & again, I just got around to reading it.  

"To expand your consciousness and experience and live within a state of Divine Love, you are required to first forgive yourself for who you are, and the seemingly wrong choices you may have made.  If you understand that you have chosen this life to grow, develop and evolve, you can accept that your experiences, choices and decisions have facilitated this process.  Once you recognise that the many ‘wrong’ choices and decisions you may have made have led you to exactly where you have needed to be to awaken, to heal and to transform, forgiveness of self becomes effortless.  Forgiveness is not a state of mind it is a state of being, a feeling that when felt for the self births compassion.  Once you feel compassion for who you were, you are then able to learn to love who you have become."

And of course, this fits perfectly with what I was saying in yesterday's blog & several others. That's how I've healed from my past & can no longer be a victim. That's how I've been able to be grateful for my present circumstances & all that brought me here. It's allowed me to forgive myself & all others. Truly forgive them, to love them for who & what they are, as they are. That doesn't mean I have to want to share myself or my time with them in any way. But it means I have true love for them in my heart. Another word for that is compassion, & may be more understandable. And that is part of how I got "into the flow."

So, part of "going with the flow" is accepting everything that happens with grace. Everything! We can't do it all the time because we're human, but we CAN entirely change our outlook on life. If you understand that God can redeem every experience & help us use it for our good, you can accept the things that happen in your life. I struggled in my early adulthood with those questions of how God lets "bad" things happen to "good" people, how much He controls what goes on in our lives, how to get what I wanted from Him from prayer, how to know Him... I drove myself crazy with it! I drove myself away from Him with it!!! I caused myself years of misery, on the outside, because I wasn't in touch & in tune. Now I'm very much an "insider" because I understand. I don't believe He causes car accidents, murders, cancer, etc. I don't believe He gives us these things as trials to teach us either, to refine us by fire, etc. I don't believe they're punishment. I believe a lot of what happens to us is simply the cause & effect of life on earth. We all have free will so the free will of drunken drivers sometimes causes heartache to others. Drunk driving is intentional behavior, intentional disregard of self & others. Many people practice disregard in various ways, even to something as simple & seemingly individual as choosing to smoke.

There's more to my belief system but they're my personal beliefs & I won't go into them here. But I do want to say that God is not vengeful & He doesn't set out to teach us lessons by adversity. God is Love! But He's not a "get out of jail free" card. He doesn't wave a magic wand & give us all we ask for. In fact, He largely doesn't "do" for us. He gives us the tools to do for ourselves, & expects us to. He's not going to get your job back once you're fired for not doing your job. If you're open & learn a lesson from it, if you work for it, you'll find a job you're better at. "Going with the flow" is not staying stuck in the past, not allowing yourself to be defeated by circumstances. It's learning from & moving forward, looking for what's better for you that's out there. It's possibility thinking, for one thing.

Possibility thinking is simply creativity in action. Creativity in thinking is "going with the flow" of the universe. The universe is creativity in action - all was created by just a thought - God's. He's given us that same ability to create - each of us. So if we look at all that happens as an opportunity, if we are grateful for all that's in our lives, even the "bad," instead of getting stuck & limiting ourselves, we begin to see the possibilities. Easier said than done. If you're stuck, just talk to God, until you begin to talk WITH God. Talk to Him & listen until you've done it enough that it becomes a conversation. Your heart & soul will expand & you'll be able to see clearly, begin to understand yourself, your life, how to change your circumstances.

Another way to start "going with the flow" is to move from your head into your heart & speak & do from your heart. If you think about it, you can tell the difference between thinking with your head vs. your heart. When you're actually in the flow, your heart works with your head as one. The way to engage your heart & disengage your head until that happens is to practice listening & doing from your heart. That's truly all. Your heart & soul will expand, fill with joy, & soon it becomes first nature rather than something you have to think about.

Finally, you ultimately control your world to a large degree. Thoughts truly DO become things. For you, for me, for God - it's one of the greatest laws of the universe. There's a really great website I'd like you all to go to - www.tut.com. At the top tab click on "shop," then from the choices click on the audio/visuals. Go down to "Thoughts Become Things" & either get the DVD or the CD. This guy was featured on "The Secret," so touted by Oprah Winfrey. I found "The Secret" to be too simplistic, too "pie-in-the-sky" for me to try to do much with. I've read whole books on turning thoughts into things that turned me off because they were so much work, & self-disciplineish. (How's that for a new word.) I'm a very free spirit so that kind of thing pushes me away. But I learned tons from watching this DVD, & a dear friend got just as much from the CD. He tells you very easy, quick, practical ways to marshal your thoughts to get them working for you instead of against you. While on the site, you might also sign up for his 5 messages per week. When I first signed up for them, I was self-defeating. I discounted all the messages as coming from a person & going out to all, & didn't take them seriously. That was a few months ago. Now I look forward to them every day, miss them on weekends. They are whimsical & truly make me think, inspire me, make me laugh, & almost all are "keepers." Many stay in my inbox so I'll reread them regularly. And they're always spot on with what's going on in my consciousness & in my life, because I actually AM in the flow.