Allowing the Flow
January, 2010
by Angelique Devost
Have you ever had the experience of being in the flow? Maybe you’re self-employed and the phone just seems to be ringing off the hook, or you’re single and you’ve just met one or two really intriguing dating prospects. Things just seem to be going your way.
We tend to pay little attention to what we’re doing when things are going well. It isn’t until the phone stops ringing or we find ourselves sitting at home alone on a Friday night AGAIN that we begin to wonder, what’s going on?
When I find myself waiting for the phone to ring and hearing nothing but crickets, I stop and take stock. Where have my thoughts been? What is my energy like? I usually notice that either my thoughts and energy are both upbeat and I see the quiet as an opportunity to get caught up, or I notice that I’ve been stuck in the worry zone and realize that I’m no longer in the flow.
The mind is a funny thing. I catch myself thinking that if I don’t worry about something then it can’t possibly change for the better. Can you remember a single time when worrying made anything better? I can’t. It’s laughable! When we are stressed we’re much too uptight to hear opportunity knocking at the door. A solution to our problem could be right in front of our nose and we won’t see it.
Worrying is like stepping on a garden hose, the water can’t flow. When we worry, we stop the flow of creative inspiration that will show us the way out of our dilemma.
Moving beyond fear can be difficult at times, especially if you find yourself without enough money to pay the rent, or in an unhealthy state that doesn’t allow you to work or participate in activities that you enjoy. Sometimes we feel powerless and our circumstances seem to be beyond our control.
Worrying is not what will make it better. Taking action always will.
You may be wondering then, “So what can I do?”
The one thing that works for me every time is to remember a time when I had faith in the face of adversity and things worked out well. If I could do it once, I can do it again.
My “go to” memory is of the time in my life when I was newly separated, a single parent, and had just taken on a mortgage when I didn’t even have a job. Most people would have told me I was nuts! I was terrified, but something told me I should do it, so I did.
I signed up with a temp agency that placed freelance designers in agencies and corporations. Sometimes a week would go by and I would not work at all. My first reaction would be fear, but then I reminded myself that I could trust the intuition that led me to make the decisions that brought me to that point, and I would ask myself, “What do I need to do right now, in this moment?”
Sometimes the answer would be to go for a walk, or stencil around the bay window in my living room…what ever it was, I did it. The phone began to ring. Within a few months, I was working full time. Within four months, the temp agency had to decline requests from companies and agencies where I had worked because I was already booked. Within six months I found a full time freelance position, and within a year I was running my own business.
Faith, like love and gratitude, is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. When we come from faith, we align our energy with what we want, enabling us to respond to the opportunities that arise as a consequence.
Our job is NOT to create the opportunities themselves, but to allow them to come, to be open to recognizing them when they do, and then act on them. In what area of your life are you stepping on the hose? What is your “go to” memory that will help you take your foot off that hose? What simple action is your heart asking for today, even if it seems unrelated?
If you are struggling to regain your faith, we can help. Contact us for a free consultation.