Flow

"Go with the flow" is one of the most misunderstood phrases in personal and spiritual growth. Real growth doesn't come from drifting effortlessly — it comes from pushing through resistance at exactly the point where it would be easiest to stop. Difficulty isn't a sign you're doing it wrong. It's usually a sign you're close to something real.

Taken literally, "going with the flow" is a dangerous instruction. A river doesn't care where it takes you — over a cliff, into a tangle of branches, or simply nowhere in particular. Left purely to drift, most lives end up the same way: pulled along by whatever current is strongest, rather than moving with intention.

The idea behind the phrase — that alignment with life should feel easy — is only partly true. Much of life is the journey, not the destination, and a real journey includes difficulty. Growth is often hard. That's not a warning sign. That's what growth feels like.

Many people interpret hard or difficult as a sign from the Universe you're not supposed to do this task. No, that's not it. Most of the time it is a sign that you are at a threshold and on the verge of real growth. Don't stop — just keep doing it anyway. Don't listen to that inner voice that says "It's too hard" or "I don't feel like doing it" or "I don't have the energy" or "This is not my priority at the moment, I can do it later."

I encourage you to become aware that many growth tasks are going to be hard, and that is okay. It is going to be challenging. You can do hard. You were designed for it. You're going to feel overwhelmed at times or confused. You're going to have experiences where you feel like you shouldn't do this, why did you decide you wanted to do this, this just isn't working, I don't have the time for this, I could do this later, or whatever. That's simply part of being human, not a sign that something is wrong. However, there are great rewards for pushing through, especially increased confidence and self-esteem. Usually when you push through and master the growth, you will be back "in the flow" and may never have to think about it again — such as walking.

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Where the Growth Actually Happens

When you are up against your threshold, and you push beyond it, that is where the growth happens. If you work out and can do twelve reps, where does the growth happen? The first rep? The twelfth rep? No. The growth actually happens at rep thirteen and beyond. If you keep working out and doing only two or five or ten reps and stopping — because it starts getting really hard, or it feels impossible — it will take you much longer to achieve your goal, or your goal will drift away into the ethers.

Sometimes we reach plateaus or we need a rest, and it is really nice when things seem to flow easily. Just remember that even though things seem difficult, that doesn't mean we shouldn't be doing them.

The difficulty is not the Universe telling you to stop. It is the Universe telling you that you are exactly where you need to be.