Go
with the Flow
“Flow
with whatever may happen and let your mind be free. Stay centered by
accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.”
Zhuangzi
(China, 370-287 BCE)
I
don't know whether you keep up with weather—it seems to be
something old folks do. But we've been having monsoon rains in
Birmingham, and more are coming this weekend. When that happens, I
have a water issue in my basement, which I've mentioned before. But
this time, it got me thinking about how things flow.
See,
ten or so years ago, my basement had a sliding glass door that opened
onto a carport. That door was original to the house, so it was
installed in 1954. It no longer slid on its runners, which made opening or closing properly quite difficult, and it leaked.
Water came under the door. So when I was doing some other work in the
basement, I had the door removed and a brick wall put up where it had
been. We put a nice French door at one end, which looks much better
and actually opens and closes. Job done, right? Not so much.
After
a very short while, the water began to flow under the brick wall just
as it had done under the sliding door. So I went to Home Depot and
bought caulking material, and caulked along the edge where the wall
meets the floor. Done! Not! Now, when we have a deluge, the water
comes in just as it always has, and I, resigned, put down towels to
catch it. If it's that determined to flow, who am I to stop it—who
knows, it might pick up my house and float it away if I did.
To
quote fellow Alabamian, James Redfield, “One of my teachers once
said the way you know you're on the right path is that it works. Now
that doesn't mean you don't run into blocks and brick walls, but it
does mean that you find a way to change yourself or your project in
order to find the flow again and have it work.” I can relate.
I
was at my friend Rebecca's house a couple of days ago. She had muddy
feet, up to her ankles—she'd been under her house making sure her
sump-pump still worked. I guess we Birminghamians are just really,
really good at going with the flow. That's the ultimate, right! How
about you? Are you in the flow?
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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