Going with the Flow

‘Going with the flow’, ‘In the groove’, being in the right place at the right time, things falling into place/feeling right…  So many phrases for a phenomenon that most are aware of but which cannot be scientifically proven, or is it simply coincidence as I’m sure my skeptic/atheist older son would profess, and yet for me it is real.

#thewriter and I have read many books from the Mind, Body, Spirit shelves over the years which have helped us in all sorts of ways at difficult times, helping us to make sense of a puzzling world, sorting out what we believe… and many refer to this phenomenon: The Law of Attraction by Esther and Jerry Hicks, Michael Neill’s Life Coaching, Dr Robert Holden’s Happiness Now to name but a few. The idea that all will be well if we let life unfold at it’s own pace rather than pushing against the current or trying to force things to go faster, and listen to our inner guide.

The last two weeks have contain fine examples of times to listen. Our younger son (23, volunteer & part time support worker, living at home) has been applying for jobs for several months, at our instigation, with no result. He was perfectly happy doing what he was doing, and learning and growing so much too, but parents think they know best… Then suddenly, completely unexpectedly the Forestry Commission where he has volunteered for a day a week for over two years suddenly asked if he was up for a six month contract whilst someone was off sick.  He’s a lovely boy and was sad to hear about the sick leave but over the moon about the work. It’s exactly what he wants to do. Nothing definite then though, it had to be approved by the higher powers. Two days later he gets a phone call to say he has an interview for one of his job applications – a 9 month woodland trainee course 200 miles away. He was equally excited about this offer but suddenly it felt confusing because he couldn’t do both. What if he didn’t get a definite offer for his local forestry before the interview for the second… on the other hand if you want a sign that you are on the right path, in the groove, on the right track, going with the flow, this was a pretty good one.  Sure enough a definite offer came through for the local job with the people he’s been working alongside for two years, with time to decline and apologize to the other – who, of course, was delighted at his good fortune. This left the well meaning parents thinking, if we’d just left him alone and hadn’t nagged him into endless hours of job applications the last few months would have been a little less busy and stressful! The job he wanted has appeared at just the right time. He now drives (he’s a cyclist and has resisted learning until he needed to), one of his support worker jobs is coming to a natural end and he is ready. Of course in six months time when his contract ends we’ll have to remind ourselves of this and not repeat our unhelpful behaviour.

The second example of ‘coincidence’ occurred today. Last night #thewriter sat up ’til midnight for a Skype call to a school in China. They had invited him to visit in person but he’s not a great traveler, more a stay at home and write and read books type. Then this morning, here come’s the ‘in the groove’ moment, I find an email from Shindig asking if Andrew Norriss would be interested in video conferencing to celebrate the launch of I Don’t Believe It, Archie!’s paperback edition in the US.

Coincidence or Universal Alignment? Well it doesn’t actually matter. I just know that the feeling of being on the right path is much more comfortable than resisting and/or forcing things to go a particular way because I think I ought to but doesn’t ‘feel right’. Why fight against the current and feel uncomfortable when life is sending signs that another path might be the way to go. It might all be a matter of interpretation, and I know the skeptic son would have a lot to say about that sort of hooey but he’s young. And although he probably wouldn’t agree he is actually very good at listening to his inner voice and is allowing life to unfold beautifully.

So I wonder where the river of life will take us in the future. Just have to relax, listen and then see…