“You cannot sustain anything all of the time.  Allow things to flow as they do.  Life acts as a natural wave, so flow with the wave.  Don’t expect anything to be sustained or the same.  Understand the flow, and you’ll be fine; fight it and you’ll suffer” Sylvester McNutt III

This quote was absolutely needed today.  I didn’t sleep well last night and I was STRUGGLING today.  I had to go into work early and I was forcing myself to make it through the day. We are trained to constantly force and push and to keep going even when we know better and our bodies and minds are telling us that we need to pause.  We have associated the pause with weakness and unworthiness and we have attached a meaning of worth and value for our ability to push through.  We don’t often look at the ramifications of pushing through.  On the most basic level I felt completely exhausted and beyond that I didn’t communicate well and my work was not what it should have been—plus I felt distracted all day.

When we take the time to pause and adjust to things as they come to us it’s easier to see what we have to do next.  I wrote last week of being in a state of flow and how good it felt being able to navigate the day going from one activity to the next as it was needed.  There was a feeling of weightlessness as I was guided between things that needed attention.  Notice I didn’t say I was multitasking—I took the time to address each thing on its own. 

The mindset is challenging to adopt all at once because the patterns of rushing, schedules, multi-tasking, and achievement are so engrained.  But we instinctively know what feels better.  It is natural to focus and complete—it is not natural to burn ourselves out.  In our current state we value burnout because we associate it with worth.  What if we learned to value ourselves over our achievements? 

Knowing that there is a time for everything and that our patterns are meant to shift and evolve help us navigate our lives more organically.  It feels more authentic.  Again, this is a visceral reaction.  We know when we are in flow BECAUSE it feels good.  Forcing and pressure no longer exist.  Know that as our self-created systems begin to fall apart it is a natural process. 

We are meant to change and adapt and experience life as it comes.  So relax and let go.  Remind yourself of this often and when the tides change, know that you are meant to flow with the wave, not fight it.