Just go with the flow!
We come across this English phrase often, especially during challenging situations when the pandemic and lockdown forced us to stay indoors which affected our mental health and well-being. Life is indeed simple when lived momentarily without much overthinking. But how often do we practice it and how easy or difficult is it?
As an evolving species with higher intellectual capacity, the human brain has evolved to function on its own, making us unaware of it mostly unless observed. Our education system is not equipped to teach life lessons or ways of life, other than what religions and organizations preach which makes us believe in various imaginary concepts and function accordingly for a harmonious and prosperous social system like family, friends, communities, work cultures which are henceforth unintentionally moving forward. But when life becomes unpredictable and creates a negative/ bad/ wrong feeling, we tend to depend on or blame some imaginary order such as god, karma, sins, relationships, or whatever the brain finds as a reason for the despair and then act or react as that particular system tells us to overcome such difficult situations in life. And at times when nothing helps and for those who understand that life is in their control to an extent with no inherent structure to the world, we then adapt ourselves to the concept of going with the ‘flow‘ accepting everything as it is and comes. But how do we practice this when we are not taught life and its functionalities?
Let’s look into what exactly ‘go with the flow’ means:
To make the most of life, we, like any other organism, are meant to feel our emotions and live freely which the brain does on its own. With that comes acceptance of whatever was, maybe, and that is to come. But the order of the society pushes out individuals who do not serve the social system such as having a proper education, being in a job system, creating a family, etc. etc. And rest assured, you are doomed if you are a queer. This differentiation between an individual’s go-with-the-flow approach and the order of the world hinders our constant pursuit of happiness or peace. That is why they say ‘go with the flow‘ accepting the unavoidable situations as it is or otherwise following your intuition and logic to overcome the challenges.
Why are water droplets spherical? Aren’t they beautiful?
It is a universal law to take the path of least resistance for self-discovery or problem-solving. And this nature is also seen in human behaviour mostly to solve or to achieve a goal. Humans either use logic or intuition for this resulting in distress. And this methodology at times disrupts the peace of mind if the goal is not achieved.
When this flow is hindered because life is not free, we have to struggle during this period between birth and death called life. But what is life? Does the struggle that we all go through inevitably in life that we need to try going with the flow every moment? And when they say it takes time and only with time do things fall into place, what or who decides this duration?
To what is life:
It is nothing but an organism’s transformation from its formation to death with functionality. And your life is negligible, but not insignificant when compared to the whole evolution and universe since the Big Bang! So let go of whatever thought is around you to break out of the comfort/ safe zones and face the demons that hold you back. During this process, you break the conditionings of your brain that resists you from accepting whatever is not in your control and at the same time let go of all the control over yourself to feel the beauty of life and its emotions.
So how do we accept whatever was, is and ever will be?
From the beginning of this language, we as an evolving species have defined life, existence and the whole creation as we understood it according to our conscious intelligence. Here are some of the most known methods of the way of life that can help you reach the path of acceptance:
- Go with the flow or be in the moment
This is mostly used as an excuse by the weaker individuals of the human species who are unable to deal with the self and take responsibility for self-love to grow. Nevertheless, they aren’t insignificant, yet very important for life to keep evolving. These are also used by individuals who understand that they are in the flow of the cosmos and at times are the flow that leads groups of humans to solve life for freedom. Taoism also states the same, where you align with the flow of the cosmos and be as you are. The best interpretation of Taoism can be found in the book, The Way of Tao by Osho. - Religions
This is a form of global-scale collaboration where individuals follow a certain philosophy or an entity and perform rituals and ceremonies such as holy mass, yoga and even meditation. Though these are also dependent on philosophical concepts, religions like Hinduism, Christianity and Buddhism give the presence of consciousness in us and everything outside of us. The omnipresence of god or soul is an ancient philosophy through Shamanism in the West and Sanātana Dharma in the East. - Institutions
Even though religions exist, human babies are born premature and unable to sustain themselves independently. Hence we have ecosystems like schools, special schools, alternate schools, colleges, and universities where we are taught various streams of education for us to make a living to be free and independent. But when problems again arrive, we tend to seek out professional help and if that doesn’t work, there are spiritual organisations like the Art of Living, Osho International Foundation, Isha Foundation, Patanjali Yog Peeth, and in India, you will find quite a few such organisations that help you solve life. - Vipassana
This is a form of meditation that defies the very concept of meditation. Just try it!
Here is the best NGO to learn from: Register Now - Medical Science
As an evolving species, we are still an infant to understand life and the human body and brain. But at times, the only requirement is understanding the cause of the problem which could be some mental illness or a behaviour pattern, or at times having someone to talk to is the simple solution which happens in therapies.
Science is a very complex and vast amount of information to learn from. And the first step is mostly – unlearning what we have learned in the present life since birth. Though this is a slow process, it will definitely give you liberation and deal with diverse problems differently. This is a process of looking back at the journey you started from the Big Bang till this moment. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari is the recommended book that is a brief history of humankind. But this is merely an intellectual surface level of understanding. Hence a Los Angeles-based organization, Quantum Gravity Research came up with a scientific explanation of the cosmos which you can find on YouTube – ‘What is Reality?‘. And then thirdly, my recommendation would be to try out Vipassana where you can observe the reality as is – Register Now
It’s not okay to be in a problem, but it’s okay to feel that you are in a problem and pain because that is what we are born to do – solve! And in the 19th century, we also came up with the concept of Absurdism to which great works have been contributed by Søren Kierkegaard and Albert Camus. It states that conflict arrives when we try to look for meaning in life and this existence when everything is just random and absurd.
On that note, whenever things are not working, and you can’t go with the flow, know that you are in the flow of the cosmos and will be perfectly fine. Here is a beautiful short story by Andy Weir that sums up – The Egg.
ego feels..! 