Going with the Flow

I'm admittedly not very good at going with the flow. I like to plan things. I have always been this way.

Ever since I was a kid, I felt the need to know what I would be doing every hour of every day on a vacation. I couldn't just relax and enjoy. I hate being late to anything. I overcompensate with time to get from point A to point B, because I account for any and all possibilities. I have a system at the grocery store - a plan. I have a system at amusement parks - a plan. I pack for trips, even short weekends away with a friend, a week in advance. I like a plan. I just like to know. I like to know everything I can.

All of that goes against going with the flow. My whole life, people would use that phrase - "go with the flow" - and I'd marvel at it. Who goes with the flow anyway? I would think. Do people really do that? If you don't know what you're doing tomorrow, how can you sleep at night? I mean, I get that it's pretty humorous on my part, but I really thought that way.

I guess I used to think that going with the flow meant that I would be out of control, flighty, flying by the seat of my pants, so to speak. And I am not a fly by the seat of my pants kind of gal. Going with the flow also kind of felt a bit too passive for my taste. I'm a "make it happen" kind of person.

But over the last year or so, I've realized that going with the flow isn't what I thought it was at all. It isn't the spontaneous kind of devil-may-care attitude I envisioned all this time.

Going with the flow isn't about just letting stuff happen to you. To me. It's not a "whatever" viewpoint. It's a collaboration! A collaboration between all the stuff (the world, the energy, the universe, etc.) and me.

Going with the flow is about responding to what happens to me in each moment. Each day. Going with the flow is about trust. I have to trust the process, the stuff, all of it... and not try to control it. There's no way to "plan" a life.

Going with the flow isn't about surrendering yourself to the craziness of life - it's just about letting go of worry and control so you're not so caught up in the "plan" that you don't give certain things a chance (or notice them at all!).

Going with the flow is about being FREE.