The State of Flow

Life Coaching Tip: All living creatures are born with certain traits, gifts, and talents that are intrinsically part of their nature—including you! Using these things is what you’re meant to do. When you listen to your heart and connect with your passions, things happen more easily, you’re in harmony with your higher self, and you are in a state of flow.

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Aqua Dog.

That’s what my husband calls our pup, Ginger, now that we’ve discovered she’s as at home in the water as a fish.

What a surprise!

It came about during her one-year-old summer, when I arranged for Ginger to meet two other cavalier pups at a place called “Bow Wow Beach.”  I knew there would be a small lake there, but it never occurred to me that Ginger would do anything other than dip her paws in the water to cool off and maybe splash around a little bit. She’s quite shy, and so I assumed the water would be something that would take her a while to get used to.

But once I unleashed her, Ginger glanced back at me for approval—and with my nod—she scurried off in joyful glee. She said a quick hello to the other pups who were sloshing in the shallow water and ventured in a little deeper and sat down.

Ginger looked delighted with the new experience, as it was a sweltering day and the cool, muddy water probably felt refreshing to her. Although her silky ruby coat is beautiful, it’s unbearable in the sizzling summer sun.

Then, after sitting for quite some time watching the other dogs play on the shore, to my astonishment, Ginger (without even standing up) turned and glided into the deeper waters!

As she paddled towards the center of the lake, all I could see was her head above water. My pup had found her bliss! She swam in big circles and was completely in her zone.

Throughout that afternoon, Ginger would come out of the water for a short while to sniff and meet new doggy pals, but then she’d quickly lose interest in the social scene and head back into the cool water.

It still makes me smile to think of my timid Ginger instinctively taking to the water—swimming just came naturally for her!

She was born to do this, and she knew it.

It’s a toss-up as to who enjoyed that day more. Seeing my pup immersed in pure joy filled MY heart with joy, too!

I am sharing this happy memory with you today, not only to make you smile, but also to encourage you to think about what brings you this kind of bliss.

I fully believe that all living creatures—including you—are born with certain traits, gifts, and talents that are intrinsically part of their nature. Using these things are what they are meant to do—what you’re meant to do. It’s when you’re aligned with your soul.

But when you push against your true nature, you feel stressed, burned-out, and drained. Everything just feels hard.

It’s why listening to what everyone else thinks you “should” be doing is such a mistake. You end up trying to force your way through life, a permanent passenger on the struggle bus, hustling and exhausted.

On the other hand, when you listen to your heart and connect with your passions, you’re in the state of flow. Things happen more easily, opportunities land in your lap, and fresh ideas pop into your head out of nowhere.

So, if you are reading this and thinking, “Yep, I’m there!” Good for you, my friend. Shine on!

But if you’re not there yet, or if you have no idea what brings you happiness, then I encourage you to ask yourself these questions:

What am I drawn to?

What comes easily for me?

What do I lose myself/find so much pleasure in that it never feels like “real” work?

Often, we discount these things because we’ve been taught that goals worthy of pursing should be hard, require effort, and feel like a struggle.

I assure you, though, that nothing could be further from the truth! I encourage you to stop thinking about what you’re “supposed” to do and follow your heart.

Think of my little Ginger and nothing could be clearer: she was born to swim in that lake. Swimming was easy for her—effortless in fact—and it brought her so much happiness that she could do it all day long.

And if you would have asked any of the other dozens of dogs what “should” be done for fun at Bow Wow Beach, they might have come up with different ideas—fetch sticks, sniff gross things, chase other dogs, perhaps?

But that’s not Ginger’s idea of a good time—definitely not her jam.

Why? Well, because she’s the one and only Aqua Dog, of course!