Be Like Water and Watch Your Life Unfold

Last year, on a warm afternoon approaching winter, I went for a walk and sat down to contemplate Lisbon’s beautiful river. I saw the waves moving slowly, felt a hint of electricity pass through my body, and immediately, I became one with the moment. Suddenly, I had a realization; we should live life like water. Water flows, water is; water separates and reunites again.

“Que fluya” is a saying in Spanish, which means flowing. Often, we forget about flowing; we rush through life at a tremendous speed, meet a new person, and rush into a relationship. We set a goal and want to run to accomplish that goal. Only then to realize that with speed comes exhaustion, and if you think about it, the best things in life that happen to us when we find ourselves in a steady flow state.

The best examples are friendships; your friendships just flowed naturally. You simply had chemistry with your friends; you became close to them without even noticing it. With the people you fell in love with and had healthy relationships, you just felt the connection; you unhurriedly flowed with them. With the jobs you got, I bet you were also in a state of stillness and flow.

Water Is Moldable

Water constantly changes position and chemical state, changing too and fro between solid, liquid, and gas.

How many times in life are we afraid of becoming more than one thing?

Maybe you are a writer, but you also work in the corporate world. Perhaps you are a chef, but you have a big passion for DJing. We continually place ourselves in boxes. We define ourselves mainly by our job status when we have so many different passions, and life becomes more comfortable when we realize we can be more than just one thing.

I challenge you to try an activity you always wanted, but you never dared to try because it sounded too crazy or too weird or too different from what you do today.

Water Is Humble

Water is an essential component of life, it keeps us, humans, alive and the plants, animals, and all the ecosystems around us, but water doesn’t ask us anything in return.

Water gives and does the work in silence.

As humans, it is normal to have the desire to feel validated and accepted, but how many times do we give to the world just thinking in the receiving moments? How many times do we do favors for people secretly thinking they will own us something next time?

We often also fall into the attitude of entitlement. Thinking and believing we deserve everything from life without putting the work to be humble enough and accept we always have to learn new things to become better and better day after day.

But life becomes more fulfilling when we work towards a greater purpose than ourselves. Life becomes beautiful when we can leave our ego aside for a moment and realize our imperfect nature and see ourselves as creatures that constantly require learning.

What are the problems you wish you could resolve in the world?

If you can answer this question, why don’t you take the courageous steps to resolve them?

Water Is Peaceful

That day when I was watching the river, I realized how calm water is. Water remains unbothered. Water does the work in a state of easiness and in a beautifully harmonious way.

Don’t you feel the best things in your life came when you found yourself in a calm state?

When we have feelings of anxiety and anger, we experience the feeling of continually drowning ourselves. The obsessive need to control outcomes of situations in our life ironically can make us sabotage ourselves.

On the other hand, a state of calmness keeps us grounded, helping us cope better with the uncertainty we face in life.

For example, meditation, walking, listening to our favorite music can bring us into a calm state and reduce anxious feelings. Although we might not have a lot of time in our day, we can surely take 10 minutes of it to embrace one of these activities.

Life is a game, and we shouldn’t take it too seriously. We can use the pencil and paint beautiful artwork with a smile on our faces.

Let’s be like water, embrace the seasons of life, and achieve our dreams in a state of flow, authenticity, and calmness.