Flowing with the Go

I used to be a big proponent of going with the flow. You know, letting stuff happen. Hakuna Matata, Kumbaya, etc etc. I think this lifestyle stemmed from the specific type o' religion I was brought up in, a kind that supported letting the Higher Power work while we sat back and watched.

This lifestyle has its benefits. You never stop good things from happening. You are much more-- I want to say "relaxed," but it's really more of a blissful ignorance. You just ARE. Which is great. I am a huge supporter of BEING.

But I think sometimes that lifestyle gets taken to extremes. Sometimes events arise that need to be LIVED. Sometimes situations pop up that need to be attacked and beaten and wrestled into submission. Sometimes your life veers wildly around a corner and you have to leap on it, inject it with a syringe of muscle relaxant, and drag it back to the appropriate path.

The downside of BEING is that it becomes a crutch, an easy-out for people to avoid having to do difficult things. "I'm letting life happen" can become code for "I'm too scared to enact the changes I'd need to make my life better." So you end up settling for a lot of things that fall into your lap instead of fighting for the things you really want. And you wake up one day to realize your life isn't a grand as you thought it'd be.

Even though most self-help books proclaim a life of going with the flow and letting events happen, don't forget to fight too. While amazing things can fall into your lap, amazing things are usually amazing because they were achieved after a long battle. It's your life, after all. Do you want to wait for things to happen or make things happen? Me, I'm tired of waiting. I'm tired of wishing and hoping and watching the clock.

Me, I'm in the business of not merely BEING, but EXISTING.