Sometimes it’s important that we remember to take time for ourselves. As much as we try to practice compassion and a willingness to help others, we occasionally need to exercise that practice towards our self. If we fail to properly care for our own physical and mental well being, we reach a point where we cannot be of help to others.
The human mind seeks to find patterns, organize, compartmentalize and make sense of the flood of sensory input it absorbs. Our ancestors required this skill as a survival mechanism. Being able to label threats and invoke the fight-or-flight mechanism was required to ensure survival of the species. But what value does this skill provide in today’s society?
I’ve heard throughout my life that sometimes when things are tough to just “go with the flow.” My understanding of that phrase is that sometimes it’s more helpful to go with the stream rather than against it. As I reflected on that phrase one day, I came to the conclusion that rather than being a creature inhabiting the stream, we really are more like the water itself. Sometimes the water flows slow and easy, sometimes fast and hard. The water is constantly changing, flowing from different branches, coming together, sometimes muddy, sometimes clear…always changing. What all of our streams of life have in common is that we’re all flowing towards that great ocean known as death.
