Learning to Recognize the Divine Flow's Gifts

Steven Lane Taylor, author of Row, Row, Row Your Boat and one of my guest contributors, is the most insightful expert on the nature of the divine flow that I've encountered. His messages are gentle, loving, intelligent, witty, yet straight to the point. Every week I look forward to reading and posting his consistently illuminating perceptions on how the flow influences the different aspects of our existence.

My own awareness of how the divine flow runs through each of our lives has substantially evolved with the help of Steven's gentle guidance and my own personal observations and growing understanding of its dynamism. As I have occasionally, in retrospect, assessed the most significant experiences of my life, an important realization eventually occurred to me:  the paths that made my life simpler or brought me abundance, improved health, or meaningful friendships came to me out of the blue. I did not have to consciously pursue the specific opportunity, it just happened — unexpectedly presented to me by a friend, family member, or other acquaintance, or "accidentally" discovered online, in a store, at a meeting, special event, or even delivered to my door.

When I compare the divinely-sent opportunities to the specific goals I set out for myself and worked long and hard to accomplish, the differences are obvious. Struggle, frustration, and thoughts of quitting often accompanied the paths I created for myself and rigidly adhered to, which I believed at the time were the most appropriate choices for me. Joy, relief, feeling supported, efficiency, ease, and swiftness of events usually accompanied those chance experiences that suddenly appeared without expectation.

This is not to say that I never put forth any effort or energy toward this newly opened path. I realize I previously asked for these fortuitous events by telling the Universe what I wanted or needed. And I did this through all the various means available for working with the conscious flowing intelligence that we are all a part — through the power of my words, requests or inquiries sent out through my social network, written intentions, formation of new beliefs, and sincere requests made to my higher guidance beyond the physical. I regularly reminded myself of the simple essence of what I truly wanted out of life — as opposed to very specific goals — such as more peace, less stress and worry, abundance, and love.

This does not mean you won't experience challenges with divinely delivered experiences, for, as I like to quote the old English proverb, "A smooth sea never made for a skilled sailor." However, observing and recognizing all of the broader aspects and the quality of the overall experience will help you determine whether you are following the flow's guidance or not.

So — is this realization a justification for procrastination or inactivity? Yes and no. Whether to move forward with an idea, project, or specific goal, or to remain passive, will depend on your innermost feelings about what you are next prompted to do and will require knowing how to recognize the voice of your intuition and understanding that it sometimes requires time and patience for the Universe to bring together the right people and right conditions. There have been many times I felt deeply guided not to perform a certain task or pursue an activity, then later discovered it was for the best because a better solution presented itself and the problem just naturally worked itself out.

Negatively speaking, however, procrastination is indicated by the following:

• Lack of physical energy (look at underlying health issues such as depression)
• Avoiding certain undesirable situations (e.g., not paying bills to avoid facing the reality of lack of money)
• Fear of failure (or appearing incompetent) or success (if you succeed, then bigger challenges may lie ahead)
• Fear of responsibility (similar to fear of success)
• Lacking knowledge about proper coping skills to deal with stressful situations

It's important to learn how to identify whether you're dealing with self-sabotaging procrastination, stress or health issues, or just intuitively remaining passive for a better opportunity to present itself. When you feel a great inner resistance, stop and ask the Universe to help bring you clarity about your resistance and show the right direction for you, then remain patient, flexible, and adaptable to any spontaneous changes in the flow around you or insights or epiphanies that arise while you are not thinking about the problem.

And to help you get through those occasional rough seas, just know that those challenges — actually gifts in disguise — brought to you by the flow come along at just the right time to help enrich your life with valuable wisdom — wisdom you will likely find useful for the next important decision that lies just ahead.