Flowing like a River

I would love to live

Like a river flows,

Carried by the surprise

Of its own unfolding.

~JOHN O'DONOHUE

To flow like a river, we could embrace the concept of circumstances in life are happening for us, not to us.

Nina Lockwood introduced me to this concept of things happening for me and it released some of the anxiety I feel as I flow with life. I began to be surprised and fascinated, when I can catch myself and be aware!

John O'Donohue's poem aligns with this concept to shift one's mindset on how much control we really have with this one life. I know I have free will and I make choices in every minute which impact my life. The shifts I am exploring in this aging process are to be more excited, intrigued, and curious about my experience of my circumstances.

Positive psychology researcher, Dr. Sonya Lyubomirsky identified a few baseline believes for happiness . A percent of our happiness derives from a genetically determined “set point,” Second percentage is our internal state of mind and the third percentage is life circumstances. Since Lyubomirsky first published her pie chart of 50, 40, 10 percentages, lots of researchers have questioned her percentage allocated to the pieces of the pie. Very few disagree with her concept of leveraging our own mindset with our choices to increase our happiness.

The idea I have been practicing in my life is with self-awareness of my internal state of mind. What can I do today to nurture my own happiness?

We can look for JOY in every moment and Dr Lyubomisrsky suggest the following:

Acknowledge the success of others 

Hug more often

Practice mindfulness 

Focus on physical and mental health

Enjoy time with friends

Be kind to others

Try not to obsess 

"Life could be limitless joy, if we would only take it for what it is, in the way it is given to us."

~Tolstoy

Another resource Nina Lockwood shared with me was Rupert Spira and his non-duality message. Rupert is renowned for his ability to guide people to a direct experience of their innate happiness or true nature.

Rupert Spira's book You Are The Happiness You Seek Uncovering the Awareness of Being is a guide to an "..understanding that peace and happiness cannot be given or taken away by external circumstances..."

-"...we can simply cease expecting events and people to make us happy."

In his book, Rupert distils the message of all great religions and spiritual traditions into two essential truths: Happiness is the very nature of our self, and we share our being with everyone and everything. I am embracing an open mindset to flow with life by design.

Lots to ponder in this blog, and I would love to chat with you about flowing like a river.