Lessons from Nature - Water

Show me the way.

Water, giver of life, sustainer, I realise without you we cannot live. Not only your physical presence, but your ways of being are fundamental to thriving and your forms have many teachings.

Elixir of life, trickling, flowing, gushing, exploding, surging, I am open to your wisdom.

Gracefully, powerfully, forcefully, unapologetically you pass over, around and through every thing on your path.

And as you do, you gain and lose momentum, never constant or fixed; fast, slow, around, over, down, you reshape the landscape, cleansing, nourishing, refreshing, carving and creating from a place of pure flow, not a single plan in sight.

And you take on many forms.

Ice - when things slow down too much, flow and movement stops; we too become rigid, hardened, static and frozen. Unable to flow and breathe, we become fixed and imprisoned in our ice castle.

Vapour - when there is too much chaotic movement, too much ‘excitement’ than can be contained, no pause or stillness or respite, and so we become ungrounded, flighty, unstable, get lost on the wind and lose our selves completely.

And there in the middle, in balance, flow - the optimum state of being - languid yet powerful, soft and gentle, yet relentless and demanding, surrendering to all aspects of fluidity itself.

I see the beauty and power of flow and I choose to flow like you.

Whether over smooth plains, tumultuous waterfalls, stormy oceans, or teary eyes, I choose not to resist the journey or obstruct my own path.

There is endless flow and you do not battle against the innate will and force of your essence, you do not try to go uphill or fight against the route you find yourself taking,there is complete surrender to the path.

I too must learn to do the same, for I am nature too and my essence is also fluid and thrives when free to dance and flow without constraints.

And sometimes when the movement stops and there is an opportunity to rest in tranquility and stillness, like a silent calm lake, before the next part of the story, I can do that too. For in the hidden depths of the stillness lives great stories and journeys untold, limitless potential and new paths yet to come.

But not for too long, as too much dormant stillness also creates stagnation, so I must find the path back to flow and the cycle of life.