Life is a perpetual state of change. If you feel like your life has stagnated and this is not the case, I would suggest you look a bit closer. Yes, the pace of change can slow, but it never stops. We may convince ourselves that we are holding the change at bay, but the reality is we have little control over the pace of change.

Part of this is, of course, the inevitability of aging. However, more importantly it is the invariable state in which we exist as humans.

If we are not in a state of growth then we are in a state of decay.

As we get older we may feel that the rate of change slows down, but that is more a state of mind than an actual reality. It is a desire to slow things down to delay the inevitable.

Learning to embrace the ever present ebb and flow of life is what can help us deal with the rate of change in a positive way.

As one who is on the backside of the bell curve of life this is not an easy task.

We see the world moving on around us and we strive to keep pace. Yet maintaining that pace is what we tend to find harder and harder as we move along the timeline.

Our kids grow up and begin to move on, to be the people we have helped them become.

Our parents or extended family begin to leave this earth and we are required to take more and more on as our state and responsibility as the family patrons changes.

As someone who had to assume the role of parent to one of my parents, role reversal can be unsettling.

Yet, this is what it is. It is the flow of life and we can chose to either flow with it or try to be a rock in the stream.

Take a look at the Grand Canyon and tell me how the rock fares.

Within the flow of life, much like a river, there are peaceful meandering times, there are tumultuous rapids, and there can be precipitous drops or languid pools.

Time and again I come back to the mental concept of water when thinking about the flow of life. Mostly in that it is a concept that I have most wanted to embody. To flow through and around life in a way that is at once yielding and overpowering. However, water can become stagnant if it is not allowed to flow.

There must be a natural movement to life as well or we become stagnant. This must exist in or physical, mental and spiritual lives. Movement in the physical keeps our bodies in shape, allowing fluid action. Movement of the mental processes keeps us sharp and capable of dealing with the many decisions we must make each day. Movement of the spirit comes through study and growth of our spiritual state and enlightenment through the Spirit directing our path.

Water must be present for things to grow, it provides lubrication of our joints to move, and it refreshes us and gives us what we need to sustain life.

So there is great value to the flow of our lives when we focus upon the concept of how water works within and through our lives.

However, there is another element at work in this flow.

I have heard a good friend use the phrase “pushing water uphill” in relation to his business dealings at times. It is a difficult task and one that requires pressure to accomplish. Water cannot flow uphill of its own accord.

Thus, there must typically be pressure present in the flow of life. This pressure allows us to move through the uphill battles. It drives us and helps us push the water of life uphill when needed.

This pressure, while not necessarily feeling good, when embraced allows us to surround the rocks and either simply flow around them or dislodge them from our path. A placid lake never dislodged a stone. However, a flowing river can carve majestic paths.

In the same way a great dam holds back a volume of water and allows just enough to flow to manage the current, we must manage the pressure of our lives. Keeping a gauge on how much pressure is needed to move things along without it growing so great that it can explode and damage everything around us.

These concepts of water and the flow of our lives can be embodied allowing us to grow and sustain movement day by day. Understanding the need for pressure to maintain the flow, accepting the rocks that will be in our path and how to manage each as you reach them; at once peaceful, sometimes raging, other times flowing calmly but diligently.