Earlier this summer, I woke up early and felt like taking a hike. So, I hopped in the car and followed my bliss. I meandered in the stream instead of walking on the trail. As I rounded a corner, knee-deep in emerald green water, I discovered a mama duck and her family of seven little ducklings. They swam right up to me, preened, bathed, and played as I stood there, enjoying them as much as they seemed to be enjoying me. Their flow and mine happened to intersect in several magical minutes that day. Such bliss!
I have had a very packed schedule these past few weeks. So much so that on one office day, I woke up flustered about all that I had to accomplish until it dawned on me to embrace the morning and enjoy my routine. In the middle of a brief meditation, I had an inspiring idea to do something I’d done years ago! I sat down with my journal and wrote about my perfect day from the perspective of my future self.
It was 7 am, but I wrote as if it was 8 pm, and I was documenting my day.“I had an amazing day today. I got the newsletter done, the car repaired, the garden planted, emails answered, called family, got meals prepped, etc. Everything flowed so incredibly well. I had the most wonderful interactions with delightful, helpful people and magical experiences everywhere. What an awesome, easy, wonderful day!”
I felt the joy of creating this day as if it were done and then went to eat breakfast, oddly feeling like I’d stepped out of a time warp and back into my past! I had immersed so profoundly in my future self that I felt the reality of my gently flowing day in every pore!
You can imagine what happened. My day flowed. I got the newsletter done, the car repaired, the garden planted, meals prepped, emails answered, called family, and even had a delightful walk to the coffee shop in a gentle rain. It was glorious to be in my own intentional flow. I’m going to do this exercise more often. I once wrote from the perspective of myself a year ahead, and guess what. I got there. Feeling the future aligns you easily with your stream. It puts you in your flow.
I have been watching myself closely as of late. When I don’t care for something, I stop, put myself in the desired future using my imagination, feel it deeply, and then let go. I do what feels most fun first. When I prioritize my joy, the necessary things get accomplished, and I enjoy them even more. When you fill it, as the saying goes, you can spill it.
So as you go through life, don’t forget to set up your stream. How do you want to feel at the end of your day? Can you imagine what you desire? Perhaps you can journal from the perspective of your future self, who has accomplished all you want, who has moved beyond the painful past, who had a new job, or who has made it through the grief to feel an incredible connection with your dear ones. The future you is there. You just have to imagine him, her, or them into being.
The stream you set up may not always create a course that makes sense.If you want to solve a problem, listening to your feeling to go to the grocery store may not always make sense… until you run into someone who helps you solve your problem! If you want to meet someone, it may not make sense to spend a day alone until you realize that you haven’t had time for yourself, let alone anyone else. If you want to help a dear one you love whom you don’t know how to help, the desire to have fun or take a walk, or do something that fills your spirit may seem unrelated until you realize that from a positive space, your prayers are a thousand times more powerful than in your worry.
Here are a few tips to help you find your flow
1. Pay attention to your feelings and natural urges
The simplest urges can have a profound effect on your life. Years ago, I got the impulse to toss a book manuscript I had just completed in the car. I was going to a lecture by a very famous author. I knew he and his wife wouldn’t have time to read it, so the urge made no sense. Instead, I ran into a conference promoter, who grabbed it, read it that week, and told me If I could get it in print quickly, I could speak at a conference alongside famous authors like Marianne Williamson, and Wayne Dyer. All that happened because I listened to a little urge that made no sense to me.
When I was in my early forties, a man I admired asked me to go on a hike. I actually declined! I had another hike in mind for that day, but as I drove off, I started kicking myself! “What were you thinking Ann? You’ve been asking for a great guy in your life!” I caught myself, stopped the litany of self-criticisms, told the universe I’d like another chance someday, and surrendered. I suddenly realized I had forgotten to bring lunch. I often skip lunch in the interest of time, but I was hungry, so I dashed into the local deli where – you guessed it – I ran straight into the gentleman who had asked me to hike. Long story short, we met for a hike another day and ended up dating a few weeks later. We had three delightful years together until he moved. It was glorious fun. The stream knew what it was doing even when I didn’t! Luckily I listened to my desire for lunch!
2. Stop trying to figure it all out
I used to drive myself crazy trying to figure out how to make seemingly impossible things happen or trying to figure out how to make things work when I didn’t know how. As you can see from the examples above, the universe knew how to accomplish everything I wanted. I only had to stop over-analyzing, beating myself up, obsessing over the problem, and go about having a nice day. When I have a challenge these days, no matter what it is – I delegate up! “The creator of universes and orchestrator of planets, ecosystems, and your own miraculous body,” the angels like to remind me, “Is capable of helping you solve all your problems!”
3. Enjoy the journey
We tend not to enjoy life unless it looks like we want, but that’s crazy programming that limits our joy. Why not take what you can from each moment? I had the most delightful discussion with a lady at the grocery store the other day and exchanged yummy recipes and pumpkin love with the checkout clerk. I ran into a kind person in the parking lot, smiled at someone who let me in, in traffic, and delighted in the delicious food I cooked later. It was just a mundane grocery shopping trip, but when you look for the good, you will see it everywhere. In that space, you are in your flow. The rest of the day was even more delightful.
I know some seriously heavy stuff is going on in the world now. I know there are nuclear threats, political scandals, hurricanes approaching, and all the dramas that have gone on in one form or another since the dawn of time. (They didn’t have Twitter in the earlier periods in history, so things often appeared better!!) I know many of you are hurting deeply from the loss of loved ones. No one would ask you to suddenly feel warm and fuzzy, but you can gently soothe yourself and look to a future where you’ll have a beautiful and constant connection with your dear ones.
You have your own flow, your own joy, your own amazing life to live. If you stay in that flow as much as you can by listening to your own heart and following your own joy, you’ll feel as if you are being magically guided and gifted with love from above.
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