Row, Row, Row Your Boat… But Mind That Obstacle!

This is Part 2 of a series on Flow. If you haven’t yet read part 1, you can find it here.

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream.

The feeling of free-flowing Source energy is beautiful and blissful. The stream of Source energy may be powerful and deep, yet it is also gentle and supportive. Whether we choose to surf the flow, or row our boat down the energy stream, the experience is one of effortlessness and joy.

Or at least, it can be. Often, however, it seems that we’re determined to turn what can be an easy journey into an obstacle course! The following are some of the most common obstacles that we tend to create and which end up impeding flow.

Barriers
Resistance is supposedly futile. Yet, even though we may know better, we often find ourselves resisting what is – we should be in a more enjoyable job, our parents should stop treating us like children, our children should be more polite, our financial situation should be better, the world should be a safer place….

The more we resist, the more drained we feel. Emotions like anger, worry and fear deplete energy. And so we start building barriers with the best of intentions – we want them to protect us by keeping what we don’t want out and by keeping our precious energy in.

The thing is, Source energy doesn’t stop moving. By its very nature, it flows. This means that it keeps building up behind the barrier, placing pressure on the structure. At some point, the barrier will break. If a barrier is small and weak to begin with, breaking it down will be fairly easy and the aftermath minor. However, for many of us, barriers are not so easily broken down. We’ve been building them for years, adding layers and layers to our defences until they are really thick and strong. When the structure finally breaks, it is often explosive and destructive as all the pent up energy is finally released – we have a nervous breakdown because of work stress, for example, or we lash out in anger at our parents or children, saying things and taking actions that we later regret.

Diversions
When we build barriers, we place a great deal of our attention on the areas concerned. We’re constantly vigilant, maintaining our defences and always wary of attack. In contrast, there are sometimes areas of our lives from which we choose to totally withdraw our focus. These may be areas that we are uncomfortable looking at, or areas in which we’re unsure what the next step to take is. For example, we may be unsure how to change our work situation to one that we are passionate about. Maybe we’ve tried a few things that didn’t seem to work, and rather than give more creative energy to this area, we decide to give up. We go through the motions, but our energy investment is nil.

What we’ve done in this type of situation is create a diversion, channelling Source energy away from one area to instead focus it on others in which we feel we can make a difference. When Source energy isn’t allowed to flow into a particular area, however, the result is that we experience stagnation in that area.

Hooks
Whereas it’s very clear that barriers and diversions are self-created, being hooked usually feels like it is caused by someone else – as you row down the Source energy stream, someone standing on the bank casts out their fishing line, hooks onto you, and reels you out of the flow and into their drama.

The irony is that we can’t be hooked unless we’re hook-able. Hooks are all about attachment – others can only hook us if we provide the attachments for them to hold on to. It may feel like they are the ones attached to us, but the reality is that we are the ones with the attachments to others’ dramas, and it is only us that can release these.

If you’d like to read more on hooks specifically, I’d suggest that you delve into the excellent series that Christine Kane did on the subject.

Heavy Baggage
Some of us just can’t pack light – we need ten suitcases for a weekend away and wonder how on earth others manage to fit everything they need into one little carry-on bag!

Energy-wise, we can also carry tremendous metaphorical baggage with us. All those old unresolved issues weigh us down, making our journeys in the stream of Source energy slow and sluggish. We think we need all this extra “stuff”, and we are so used to carrying it around with us that it has become part of our identity.

Undercurrents
Undercurrents work below the surface of our lives. They are insidious and subtle, yet they affect every aspect of our lives and they can prevent us from fully experiencing flow. Undercurrents are the often unconscious scripts that underlie our behaviour and choices. Some common scripts include “I’m not worthy”, “I’m unlovable”, and “I’m insignificant”.

We have to look closely at our lives to identify the patterns that keep repeating themselves. In this way, we can identify the undercurrents and bring them to the surface. In the light, we can see that these scripts do not represent who we truly are, and we can change them to ones more aligned with the energy of flow.

Over to you… Have you ever come across these obstacles to flow? Are there any further obstacles you experience in your own life or that you’ve noticed in others?