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Going with the Flow

Accepting What IS

By Chris Dunmire, CurrentLiving.com

“Going with the flow.” What does that mean?

I think of a fast-moving river after a hearty rain. Have you ever watched a stream or river gush after it’s rained for a day or two? The water level is high and the river flows fast and furious downstream to accommodate the excess water that has poured into it. The river doesn’t gently meander downstream, it thrusts itself forward. And if any wildlife dare set foot into the river, they are about to be swept into a white water rafting adventure!

When I was a child, I had a favorite creek off a hiking trail at a campground we frequented during the summertime. Several times a week I’d sit on the small wooden bridge that stretched across the creek, take off my shoes and socks, roll up my jeans, and wade in it to find pretty rocks for my collection. One week it rained so hard for several days that it had overfilled the creek and washed the bridge away! I was heartsick for days, until my friend Timmy and I found the bridge wedged on top of a beaver dam downstream a bit. We immediately turned the bridge into a fort and played in it for the rest of the summer.

Fortunately, nature has a wonderful way of balancing itself out. A river can flow gently or with a constant stride which it usually does in its default state, weather permitting. You’ve undoubtedly witnessed geese and ducks floating atop such serene scenes, as the undercurrents gently encouraged them to slide across to enjoy the soft waves and occasionally dip in for a swim.

So what do the various states of a flowing river have to do with “Accepting What Is” in our lives?

“Accepting What IS” is a concept that I was first introduced to by Eckert Tolle in his book “The Power of NOW.” (See Conscious Living Resources.) Since then I have found that the concept has been around for ages and many authors touch on it in one form or another through their work. Nobody really invented the idea because it’s simply a non-resistant attitude or frame of mind every human can choose to adopt to deal with whatever current situation they are presented with in the moment.

Here’s a simple scenario that illustrates the beautiful application of Accepting What IS:

After eating my breakfast at the dining room table, I carry my oatmeal dish and favorite coffee mug into the kitchen. On my way to the sink, my coffee mug slips out of my hand and crashes on the floor into fifty pieces. I look down and see shards and fragments of what used to be my favorite coffee mug, now waiting to be swept up into the garbage. My coffee mug is no more.

I can do one of two things at this juncture. I can resist in twenty ways getting a broom and dustpan, sweeping up the mess, and moving on with my day, or I can Accept What IS, clean up the mess, acknowledge my loss, and know there are twenty more coffee mugs sitting on my cabinet shelf that I can use for unlimited coffee drinking enjoyment in the days to come. It’s my choice. The degree of resistance and amount of energy I expend to try to change something that’s already happened and that’s impossible to reverse is the key to understanding Accepting What IS.

Rivers and life flow soft and hard. Discerning where to accept and where to move on is perhaps one of the most challenging aspects we face as we move through life. I have personally found my load to be lightened significantly when I'm able to apply the concept of Accepting What IS.

I’ll never forget the day the bridge at my favorite creek was washed away. But in the end, it made a very cool fort. •

© 2007 Chris Dunmire, CurrentLiving.com. All rights reserved. (03/18/07) Please do not duplicate this article elsewhere without my permission.

About the Author | More by Chris Dunmire
Chris Dunmire is creatively engaged in life as an artist, writer, humorist, and publisher of the popular Creativity Portal Web site. She's trained as a creativity coach with Eric Maisel, Ph.D., and Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching founder Jill Badonsky. Chris develops Web-based projects and playbooks to encourage creative thinking, artistic expression, and imaginative play in people of all ages. Learn more about Chris's books at CreativeSlush.com.