How to Win in Life Using the River Approach
Nature is the master teacher
It’s indeed true when they talk about the fact that getting close to nature teaches you a lot of lessons about life.
Sincerely speaking, I never really felt the truth in this saying until one day I visited the riverside. It was a very sunny afternoon.
My world was crashing and wanted to move away from the noise of the city where I could find peace and tranquillity for my soul, my intuition led me to this river several kilometres away from my residence.
At the riverside, while watching the activity of the river and trying to soothe me, I had this epiphany and learnt these lessons about life — what I call the river approach at winning in life.
These lessons came about when I started thinking about this whole madness call life and how to get the best out of it. And below, I share them with you.
Lesson #1 — A river flows forward and not backward
As I was at the riverside lost in the activity of the river, this was the first realisation that I had. That, we’re creatures of growth, and no matter what’s happening around our world, we must continue to grow without stopping.
And in our growing process, no matter what’s happened to us, we mustn't be products of our past. We must always be all about the future, acting in the present, and being all about the now.
We must continue with our lives and keep doing what we’re doing, whether what’s happening around us is pleasant or unpleasant. We must let all our energies be about the future focusing intently on the present and never think about the past as author Eckhart Tolle put it in his book; the power of now.
“Life is now. There was never a time when your life was not now, nor will there ever be.”
Lesson #2. A river never stops when something stands in its’ way
While at the riverbank, this one lesson was what I found really fascinating.
That, all the tributaries that were joining the main river from other sources, no matter what stood their ways, made it without stopping. They found their ways around the blocks to reach their destination.
And it means that in life, no matter what stands your way as an obstacle on your journey to success, you must always find a way to get to your goal. You must never find excuses why you can’t do certain things but always do your best to find solutions to your problems and keep going in order to achieve that goal. In other words, you must persist without letting the obstacle stop you as James Watkins put it;
“A river cuts through rock not because of its power but because of its persistence”
Lesson #3. A river flows with whatever falls into it
What this lesson seeks to teach is that, in your pursuit of success, things are going to happen. There’ll be naysayers, family, and friends who wouldn’t believe in your idea and will talk you out of it. There’ll be disappointments, persecutions, etc. But in all of it, keep going without stopping.
You’ll have fears, doubts, lose enthusiasm sometimes, but you must keep moving, and never let any of these things stop you. As Johnny Depp put it;
“Just keep moving forward and don’t give a damn about what anybody thinks. Do what you have to do, for you.”
Lesson #4. A river stops flowing only when it has reached the ocean
This talks about the fact that no matter the pain and the ugly moments that you’ll go through, you must never stop on your pursuit until you’ve gotten to the end.
And it’s so important because most of the time when we’re pursuing a dream and we’re met with difficulties and obstacles, we stop and don’t bother to continue.
This lesson, therefore, encourages us to stop at what we’re pursuing only when we’ve gotten to the end and not when we’re tired or disappointed.
Nature has a way of teaching us great lessons about this life. But to understand them, it takes a lot of self-awareness, and I guess with my experience at the riverside and the lessons that I learnt that is helping me with my life, you’ll also pay attention anytime you’re close to nature to help you learn more about life in order to have the best out of it.
Pay attention to nature.