Are You In The Flow?

Have you had periods of time when you find yourself in the right place at the right time, good things spontaneously happen “out of the blue” and in you just generally feel like life is going your way?  That’s what most people call “being in the flow”. I suspect all of you have had moments of being in flow and it feels good, but then something happens…and it ends, or at least it appears to end.  It can feel as if the “flow” you enjoyed left as fast as it came in and life is harder, slower or downright no fun.  When my clients feel “out of flow” they immediately want to know how to get back.  Of course they do, it feels better.  But what if the slowness, stuckness and frustration was simply a aspect of being in flow? Imagine my surprise when I eagerly started writing my second book about presence this summer and the first two chapters came out with relative ease and then the third chapter simply wouldn’t flow. I tried a few contortions like setting specific writing time, utilizing a researcher, etc., but nothing worked. I literally could not (and would not) force my way through a book on presence.  I had to live presence, not just theorize about it.  For me, this meant I needed to listen and honor what was actually happening (I knew I needed to stop writing) vs. what I wanted to have happen (keep writing and meet my “goal”).I have been practicing presence long enough to know when something I’m working on is no longer easeful; it’s time to back off and give it some space. So that’s what I did with the book. I didn’t push through and instead I waited, listened and stayed deeply present to what was emerging. This was my new version of being in flow. I didn’t want to stop writing, but the “hardest” part of my summer was when I resisted and tried to hold onto my plan of writing.  Once I let go of my mind’s version of “the plan” and surrendered to the flow of my life, I immediately experienced a sense of ease again.  My life’s “flow” wasn’t particularly all rainbows and unicorns, in fact, I dug into some deep stuff, but make no mistake, life was flowing and I was no longer resisting. Flow isn’t always about things being easy or comfortable, but when you are in flow, there is an element of spontaneity and ease to how life unfolds.  So the question isn’t about how you get “back into flow” because your life is and forever will be in flow.  The only question is will you resist the flow or have the courage to go with it?