Red Sand Beach, Hana, Maui

After Carol and I returned from Maui last week, I wrote about the easygoing nature of native Hawaiians, and how they seem to "naturally" live life in the divine flow. But maybe "naturally" wasn't exactly the right word to use. Perhaps "consciously" would have been more accurate. Because the Hawaiians are constantly reminding themselves to be in the divine flow of life by frequently using the word, "aloha."

Aloha, you see, is much more than a simple greeting that has come to mean both "hello" and "goodbye." You can't be in Hawaii for more than a few hours—or even a few minutes—without hearing about the Spirit of Aloha. The Spirit of Aloha represents a way of life—a way of living focused on love, harmony, and mutual respect.

It is a way of life that has a very admirable code of conduct. And to remember that code, people have created clever acronymic meanings for "ALOHA." What's interesting about these acronymic meanings is that they parallel many of the principles I teach for living life in the divine flow. Read the rest of this entry »

Waimoku Falls, Haleakala Natl. Park,
near Kipahulu, Maui, Hana Rd.

Aloha, Friends!

As you might have gathered from my greeting, Carol and I just returned from Hawaii, where I spoke at the Unity Church on Maui.

Similar to the time we visited the island of Oahu in 2005, I was once again immensely impressed by the easygoing nature of the native Hawaiians. Living life in the divine flow seems to come quite naturally for most of them.

This is in direct contrast to a man I met who moved to Hawaii a number of years ago. He told me about his first five years on the island—a time in which he tried to accomplish his goals by using the same technique he employed on the mainland . . . by bulldozing over everyone and everything standing in his way!  Suffice it to say that the native Hawaiians weren't very impressed with this man's forceful, controlling, and manipulative ways.

Finally, one young native Hawaiian came up this man and said,  "Hey bro' . . . mo' bettah go easy."

At that moment, this man learned what I, too, have been learning over the years: Even though it is sometimes possible to force things to go the way you want them to, it is much better to take it easy.

You will find that when you attune yourself to the flow, and become willing to constantly adjust to the course of the current, things have a way of working out that is not only better for you, but better for all involved . . . and effortlessly, at that!

As the song my book is based on suggests, you should always "row, row, row your boat gently down the stream."  The reason why is simple: "Mo' bettah go easy!"

© 2010 by Steven Lane Taylor
Author of, Row, Row, Row Your Boat:
A Guide for Living Life in the Divine Flow
Steven's Speaking Schedule

Jeremy Teela in biathlon
men's sprint at 2010 Winter Olympics

With the Winter Olympics in full swing, you have undoubtedly heard newscasters attribute the success of many Olympic athletes to their perseverance, determination, and endurance. You have probably heard how many of these athletes overcame tremendous obstacles to be at the pinnacle of their sport.

I admire these athletes. As they continually expand the boundaries of human accomplishment, underneath it all I see the creative power of their Divine Spirit at work.

Similarly, as you pursue your own goals in life, it pays to remember your unlimited potential as a child of the Divine. But keep in mind that the accomplishment of your goals is not up to you alone. You have the whole Universe working on your behalf. And your main job is to cooperate with the divine flow that is continually guiding you toward the fulfillment of your desires in the most beneficial way possible.

What I am getting to is this: There is a fine line between determination and being driven, and between perseverance and being obsessed. I can't tell you where that line is for you. All I can do is remind you to continually ask yourself this question: "Am I taking the next right step that I am being divinely guided to take, or am I trying to control, manipulate, and force things to go the way I think they should go?"

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, to live life in the divine flow is to have the patience and the persistence to hold onto your dream, but to allow that dream to unfold in a divinely guided way. Otherwise, your achievement will only be the result of your ego's activity. And that kind of achievement is only briefly satisfying, and never in the best interests of all involved.

Here's to having dreams of Olympic proportions, my friends! But more than that, here's to their Divine realization!

© 2010 by Steven Lane Taylor
Author of, Row, Row, Row Your Boat:
A Guide for Living Life in the Divine Flow
Steven's Speaking Schedule

Last week I wrote about dealing with the kind of obstacles that seem to come out of the blue—the kind that occasionally pop up when you feel like you have been totally "in the flow" for quite some time.

But what if the obstacles you run into are not occasional? What if you continue to encounter multiple obstacles, one after another after another?  What if you are continually inhibited in reaching a particular goal in life because you are constantly running into uncooperative and resistant people—people whose assistance you need?

What then? Does that mean that you are supposed to give up on your dream, because—obviously—it just isn't being divinely supported?

Like last week, there is no single, definitive answer to that question.  But here are a few things I do recommend that you "give up on." Read the rest of this entry »

Has this ever happened to you?  You have a particular goal in mind. You begin to pursue that goal, and you feel divinely supported in reaching it, because doors are miraculously opening for you everywhere. You experience an unbelievable stream of coincidences and synchronicities that make your progress incredibly effortless.  As you take one divinely guided step after another, you feel like you are definitely "in the flow!"

And then, surprisingly, you run into a closed door. You are certain that the divine flow led you to that door, so you knock on it.  But there is no answer. You decide to knock on it again.  Still there is no answer. Frustrated, you knock one more time—this time a little harder—and the door finally opens.  But then the person who opened the door quickly shuts it in your face.

You are confused.  You are positive that the divine flow meant for you to go through that door. What happened?  And what are you supposed to do now?

In response to the first question, there is, of course, no single, definitive answer. Maybe you were mistaken about that particular door being part of your divinely prepared path.  Or, for some reason, perhaps your goal is no longer in your best interest.  Also possible in this instance, is the fact that the doorkeeper was simply not cooperating with his or her divine instructions to open the door for you, and keep it open. Read the rest of this entry »

With the arrival of rescue crews and doctors in Haiti, we are beginning to hear many joyful stories about people being pulled out of the rubble, and lives being miraculously saved. For countless thousands of earthquake survivors, however, there is not a lot to be joyful about. These people have forever lost cherished friends, beloved family members, and respected co-workers. And right now they are grieving.

Although one of the keys to living life in the divine flow is maintaining a positive attitude, I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for that positive attitude to be genuine.  That means that feelings like sadness and sorrow must be allowed to run their natural course, because only then can there be an authentic return to a more optimistic outlook on life. Read the rest of this entry »

When a disaster occurs—like the devastating earthquake that just struck Haiti—we often turn our faces to the sky and cry, "Why, God? Why?"  In our attempt to make sense out of what has happened, we desperately seek some kind of "divine" reason for it all.  And that is completely understandable.

But in this physical world we live in—a world that is not only influenced by the choices of man, but also by the natural forces of wind and water and shifting ground—things happen . . . tragic things, sometimes. And the simple fact is, there may not be a "divine" explanation for it.

Perhaps a better question to ask in this instance is not why something has happened, but now that it has happened, what is our next right step? What is that divinely guided step that is not only in our own best interests, but in the best interests of all? Read the rest of this entry »

As a person whose livelihood depends primarily on the written word, I have become fond of word plays, including acronyms . . . that is, words formed from the initial letters of other words. For example:

ROW = Relying on Wisdom

EGO = Edging God Out

FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real

HOPE = Holding Onto Positive Expectations

Like many people, at the beginning of this year I was looking for a personal theme for 2010—something in particular I wanted to focus on for the next 12 months. Well, I found it when I visited a new church recently, and the minister mentioned this acronym:

TRUST = Totally Relying Upon Spirit's Timing Read the rest of this entry »

As I briefly mentioned in a message a few weeks ago, Carol and I recently moved into a new home here in Sedona. This house is in the same planned community as our former home, and the floor plan is the same one, too.

There are a few differences, though. One of my office walls is now a half-wall instead of a full wall—opening it up to the living room. The foyer is no longer a raised area. And there is an extra window in our bedroom.

Little did we realize how those differences would affect where we placed some of our furniture and where we hung our art. We assumed that everything would go right back where it was before. But it didn't work out that way. Many times we would put a chest or a painting in the same place it was before, but it just wouldn't "feel right." So we would move it somewhere else, and see how that felt. Often, we had to move something several times until the cabinet or picture or piece of pottery finally found its new and perfect home.

And so it is with living life in the divine flow. Read the rest of this entry »

As the popular saying goes, "The only constant in life is change."  It is easy to see how that saying relates to the divine flow of life. Obviously, as you pursue your goals and dreams in life, you must be willing to "row with the flow" and continually adjust to any unexpected changes in the course of the current.

But did you realize that even when you do reach your chosen destinations in life, change is something that you may still have to cope with?

I end most of my workshops by telling a story about a dear friend of mine who followed the divine flow to the job of her dreams.  But guess what?  After a few years, things changed . . . and that job no longer exits.

Similarly, I have often written about the wonderful house in Arizona that Carol and I were divinely guided to rent. And yet, after three years, things changed . . . and Carol and I just moved into a different house a few blocks away.

As I see it, there are two main reasons why things we have miraculously manifested in our lives don't seem to last: Read the rest of this entry »