Flow rather than force

Be more like water -is a philosophy attributed to Bruce Lee (actor, martial artist, and philosopher) that I posted about recently on Instagram (@leah_c_hhw). This philosophy encourages us to be adaptable, flexible and in tune with our surroundings. The idea is that when we are more like water - we can more effectively navigate challenges, find creative solutions, and grow personally.  Sounds great right? Why is it that we are often not like water – moving fluidly through life but rather like hard surfaces colliding creating friction which results in stress and anxiety? Many variables can be at play and two of the biggest ones are: 1/ Inability to recognize and 2/ Unbalanced focus. Let’s tackle the latter first. An unbalanced focus means that we are too narrowed in on the exact path to get to our vision.

We like to create certainty and often believe we are in more control than we are. With rigidity can come missed opportunities and self-imposed anxiety and stress. We use so much energy to try to make our specific plan happen and when we run into perceived roadblocks or friction points with our specific plan - we typically get upset. This is understandable; AND the trick is to move through this phase quickly and reframe your perspective on the situation. It is easy for me to write in this blog and a challenging thing to practice in real-life - particularly if your desired outcome that has been de-railed is very important to you. Shortly we will cover strategies to help you re-claim balance between your vision with flexible paths to get there.

Before we get there, we need to address the first variable that impacts our ability to be more like water and that is recognition or self-awareness. Without this – the next section loses its power. We are often going through life on autopilot with a lot of things happening simultaneously. So, it is easy to understand why we lack this awareness in certain moments or situations in our life. AND we must challenge ourselves to stop, breath, and think before we act. Even consciously doing this a couple times a day will make a meaningful difference.

So what are some strategies to be more like water. Let’s take a look at a few below:

1.      Be in tune/awareness of surroundings AND changes in surroundings.

This goes back to self-recognition or awareness. Particularly when we feel anxious or stressed – taking a pause and a couple deep breaths can help us re-calibrate and find more creative solutions to a problem. Research shows that when we take a few deep breaths our cognitive functioning improves.

2.      Adapt a growth mindset and try something out of your comfort zone.

You hear the term “growth mindset” quite a bit and ultimately that means you are willing to learn and try something new. This helps keep your mind flexible. I encourage folks to try a new hobby or do something different in their day to help prime the mind for growth rather than stagnation.

3.      Learn to acknowledge and accept change.

Again -incredibly easy to write and incredibly challenging to practice. Change is inherently difficult for many reasons (which will be a whole other blog post), AND learning to accept change reduces our self-imposed stress. When we channel our energy to resist something we cannot control we are essentially wasting our internal resources. And for what? Your energy is part of your power. Use it wisely – which leads me to . . . .

4.      Don't dwell on it. Our minds are hard wired to live in the past (again another blog post). Splitting your energy between the past and the future usually keeps us in the same place. It is so easy to hold onto things that do not serve us – emotions, thoughts, feelings – that ultimately end up hurting us more than anyone else. Once we let go – we find our peace and freedom.

Try one of these strategies on this week to be more like water my friends.