“Go with the flow” was
and still is a popular thing to say and attitude to have. But what about “Get
into the flow”? Is there really a difference? I say yes.
I think there is a
difference, or at least, I feel one at an inner level, so trust that feeling in
how I relate to my experiences. For me, going with the flow represents a couple
of attitudes. One attitude is when things are going a certain way and you flow
with it, say, like instead of trying to control what happens at a dinner party
or picnic, you just allow the experience to unfold and are in the now with
whatever happens. Another go-with-the-flow attitude is when something happens
that your ego-aspect wants to resist but you release the resistance. This
doesn’t mean you don’t take action, if action is needed, but you quiet your
resistant ego-aspect and engage your mind and spirit instead so that you have
presence of mind as needed.
What prompted me to
perceive a difference between go with the
flow and get into the flow was
when I heard or read (I don’t recall how or who) “It’s not about what you can get from the flow, but that you get into
the flow.” Often, we think of go with
the flow as a way to get what we need or desire from the flow—the Universal
Energy-Matching Marketplace—whether that’s a feeling or something tangible. But
that has a certain passive energy to it. Get into the flow, for me, has a
feeling of serene inner action that’s highly attractive to the Good that Source
wants me to enjoy and benefit from. It says to me that I’m not just going
along, but am engaged with aligning my energy with the flow, order, and
creative consciousness of Source. It says I’m in partnership with Source. Maybe
that’s just me, but I feel a true difference between the two statements. It’s
the difference between having access to one or a few items you need or desire
and having unlimited access to what you need or desire.
Ever have one of those
moments, events, or days when it appears that if something can go wrong, it
seems to? That’s a time when both go with
the flow and get into the flow can
make a difference, and for me, they happen in that order, if I wasn’t in the
flow to start with—which happens. While living in New York City
The morning of the
event, I went through my usual meditative routine, and included my mantra, used
especially when I have to commute or travel: I'm always in the right place at the right time with the right action
and the right people. Using the subway on a Saturday means you have to
allow extra time for a slower commute; for me, about an 80-minute ride to my
destination. If I left by 10 a.m., I'd have enough time for the ride and to
walk to the site. I didn't leave my apartment until almost 10:15. Pulling my
weighted suitcase on the bumpy sidewalk, I made it to the subway station, a
15-minute walk without a suitcase. The entrance was roped off because the
interior was being painted. I'm always in
the right place . . .
I repeated my mantra
as I quickly pulled my suitcase the eight blocks north to the next subway stop,
also roped off. My brain went into gear: There wasn't enough time for me to
keep walking north until I found an open station. I didn't have enough cash on
me to take car service as far as the site, nor did I want to pay around $70 for
a ride that cost $2.50 on the subway. And, that was just one way.
A note on a post
caught my attention: It advised subway riders to use one of the shuttle buses
they provided because of this (I hadn’t seen that sign at my original subway
entrance). I crossed the street to where others stood at a regular bus stop. A
woman explained what I had to do. I checked my watch; it was 10:40. The bus
pulled up, I got on, and asked the driver if he was taking us to the next
transfer station where I could catch the train. "It's not running there,”
he told me. “You have to go to the transfer station after that one." Only
18 blocks, but to my now-getting-a-little-concerned ego-aspect, it seemed like
18 miles. I'm always in the right place .
. .
I hurried down the
steps to the subway platform. An express train was there and I flew through its
doors and got a seat. At the main transfer station, I changed to the express
train that would take me to my stop on Manhattan 's
Upper West Side . It was 11:20 and I was at a
station in Lower Manhattan when I realized
there was no express service in the
city on Saturday; we'd make every local stop.
Understand, I wasn't
upset or losing it, though I was bemused; then I was amused as I realized this was an opportunity to really practice
what I preach. There was no way I could arrive frazzled and tout coaching to
get peaceful, poised, on purpose, and empowered. I laughed to myself and
believed it would all be fine. I chose to have an inner and outer experience
that I'm always in the right place . . . What
was happening at the inner level up to this point was I was going with the flow—until I had this
realization on the train. At that moment, I got into the flow.
Remarkably, I arrived
at the site at 11:45, ready to get set up and meet and greet the people. The
room wasn't ready, and everyone hosting a table stood around looking not too
happy. We didn't get our room until 12:15. It took no time for me to set up, so
I started helping everyone who said they needed extra hands. I was the only one
there who seemed to be in a good mood; everyone else seemed or was stressed. I
activated my clown chakra and got some of them to smile and several to laugh. I
was not just going with the flow: I was in it, a part of it.
At first blush, it
might have appeared that lots of things went wrong. However, every time
something seemed to go awry, something terrific followed it, because of both
going with and then being in the flow. I chose to be the experience I wished to
have. It’s a good practice, one you’ll appreciate.
Practice makes progress.
© Joyce L. Shafer
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