Be the River

I've always admired people who seem to flow through life. They remind me of rivers. Rivers have a destination. In many cases they 'flow to the sea, to the open arms of the sea'. Their standard modus operandi is to move around obstacles. The cool thing that isn't normally noticed is that as they rub by their obstacles they wear away a bit of the resistance. Over time they erode the things that get in their way.

Now, sometimes, dams are erected to stop their progress; but rivers are patient. They wait until they either have enough resources to overflow the dam or in some cases just knock the dang things down. But generally, they just wait until their time has come.

Rivers seem to be from our point of view at their most destructive when they are unchecked. This is frequently true of people. You know the old saw, "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely."

None the less, I want to be like a river. Instead of head-on confrontation, I'd like to get better at easing on by the obstacles in my life, gently smoothing away the edges of resistance with reason and compassion. All the while trusting that my friends and colleagues will exert sufficient inflluence to keep me and my power under control.

So, I'm practicing being flexible and fluid. Looking for ways to move to the open arms of my sea.