By Craig Hysell
Bruce Lee once said, “Be water, my friend.” The general point being: flow with life for in doing so, you will be more in control of your destiny than you could ever imagine.
Essentially this concept endows us with the philosophy of “adapting to the situation at hand”.
Some people come naturally to this concept. Some do not.
If you have trouble moving through life as water might, yet WANT to LIVE this way, this short article is FOR YOU.
Have you ever watched a fluid competitor? A human at the top of their game who seems to float through the problem, unphased by any circumstance and who seemingly glides to the top spot with a glowing and quiet ease?
Their victory is seemingly inevitable. And my how we remember and hold dear to that which we bore witness to.
If finding your flow state is challenging here is what you must do: let go.
Let go of your past. Let go of your excuses. Let go of your labels (those that others give you and those that you give yourself). Let go of your “I shoulda’s” and your “Yeah, but’s”. Let go of your fear of feeling foolish, being humiliated or “failing”. Let go of YOUR “STUFF”!
You must wade into the current and set yourself adrift.
And nothing is more frightening or challenging.
You WILL be bruised and battered along the rocks. You WILL risk losing the very nature of WHO you are. You will be adrift for longer than you think you can survive.
And yet, if you stay true to the current and TRULY let go, you WILL emerge into the sea more EMPOWERED than you could possibly imagine.
The philosophy that guides your life will steele itself, finding its roots in noble, inspiring and virtuous manner. Your grit will never be called into question by you ever again.
In time (the length of which is different for each one of us), you will go from being at the mercy of the current to navigating it to your benefit.
You will somehow find yourself dictating your environment AND co-existing with what your environment offers you at the same time as the boundary lines blur and harmony becomes more susceptible to your presence.
You must EARN this right. It is simple. And brutal for some (it was, and sometimes still IS for me). Once you let go you must do the constant, deliberate and disciplined work necessary to succeed.
You will fall short more times than you will be able to count. You might be judged, maybe even mocked. You might be humiliated. This is all part of setting yourself free. Do not keep score. Do not put yourself on a timeline. Do not lose hope.
Just. Let. Go. Then: Do. The. Work. Every single day. And then, one day, you shall see.
Be water, my friend. And join those of us in the sea.