Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Riding the invisible waves of life


Many people are unaware of the hidden ebbs and flows of energy that underpin their daily existence, unaware of the hidden cycles that are playing out in line with the cosmic rhythm.

Invisible rhythms underlie most of what we assume to be constant in ourselves and the world around us and we are constantly moving in sync to a cosmic rhythm, whether we are aware of it or not.

We must seek to become aware of ourselves by listening to the natural rhythms within us, as well as those which are all around us.

Have you seen professional surfers? They are masters at reading the energy of the waves that come rolling into shore from the deep ocean. Some waves are small, some big, some gigantic. Yet, the process of reading that energy is the same, every time, no exceptions.

Whatever the size of the wave, if the surfer does not read the wave correctly, he or she will wipe out and get dumped in the proverbial "washing machine".

As an amateur surfer who loves the ocean, I love the feeling of catching a wave! It brings me pure joy and a sense of exhilaration. Riding the crest of the wave is fun and effortless once I am able to catch one and ride it into shore, just tweaking the direction I want to go in.

Anyone who has tried to surf will quickly tell you that it takes time, patience and constant practice to read and catch waves at the right time, to time the take off (called "popping") to perfection. Going too soon means nose diving into the water... moving too slowly, you miss the energy and the wave passes you by.

Life has hidden waves of energy that flow in from the deep cosmic ocean of our universe. These waves come in small and big cycles; and like a surfer, we must become adept at waiting patiently, reading the clues of the energy that is building around us and catching the wave when the time is right.

A lot of people are still working hard to produce wealth and financial abundance, for example, but producing hardly any tangible result for the sheer amount of physical effort they are generating. They are trying to compensate for a lack of inner vibrational alignment which points to a lack of energy awareness. Basically, there is not wave to ride for them. They are just paddling, using up lots of energy and not really getting anywhere. They paddle hard but their momentum falls flat...

Others move too quickly and are dumped unceremoniously on the bottom of the reef, and consequently become so they are afraid of picking themselves up and trying again. Or they move too slowly and miss vital opportunities for leverage, also missing the fun and excitement too!

We must learn to sense the invisible waves of life with our intuition. We must wait and be still, conserving our energy when we need to, but ready to act at a moment's notice. As we keep ourselves still but ever mindful, we will know precisely when to act and how to act.

Ask yourself, "am I aware of the invisible energy that underpins each and every one of my life experiences?" If you start by being absolutely honest with yourself, you will then have the power to change your circumstances.

From a young age, we have been conditioned to disconnect from our inner voice and put our intellect up on a pedestal. This is the cause of much frustration, disappointment and even bitterness in our daily lives. Learn to honour and trust your intuition again as it is vital to your wellbeing! Women are generally better at this than men and children are the best at it, until they are taught to go against the grain.

To become a pro surfer in the world of invisible energy we must become excellent at knowing and managing our own personal energy first. This energy is like our surf board. If we don't know how our own surf board works, we are going to crash when we take it out on the ocean.

Life is constantly moving, like the ocean, and it has both shallow and deep currents. The waves are favourable sometimes but many times they are also choppy and difficult to ride. Often, because of a lack of awareness, we don't know which ones we're caught up in until we're in them.

We can begin to navigate the smaller waves of life by paying attention to how we feel in day to day situations. When small challenges come up, these are the choppy but smaller waves that life is sending our way. As we become adept at handling these day to day, smaller waves, when the bigger waves come rolling in, we will be ready.

The choppy, bigger waves are things like recessions, ill health, the end of a relationship, death and so forth. The point here is not that the bigger waves are necessarily bad but if we know how to ride those waves, we will move through these experiences to greater heights, and with more grace.

Even the smaller, favourable waves demand that we pay attention. If you are not able to handle the responsibility that comes with small successes, you will certainly not be able to manage the proportionate responsibility that comes with huge success.

If you knew the waves were going to be choppy and difficult, you'd probably decide not to go out surfing at all. Yet, in life many people intuitively know that a particular course of action will ultimately lend itself to a rough, choppy and undesirable experience but continue to ignore their inner guidance. Some even end up in choppy seas without having managed to ride the smaller waves.

Sometimes we cannot avoid the difficult waves. They come upon us seemingly without warning and so we need to be ready. Readiness is not a sense of doom and gloom, or worry about the future. It means to be in the moment, practised and ready for action, yet expecting nothing.

Seek out your pro surfers to learn from, those who are adept at navigating life's currents and start having fun riding the unseen, invisible waves that you are constantly drawing into your own life today!