Are You Flowing or Forcing?

One of the key principles for living life in the divine flow is letting go of your attachment to a specific outcome. Sometimes that is fairly easy to do, especially if you can envision other outcomes that would be equally acceptable.

But what if—to your mind—there is only one acceptable outcome? And what if it would be really easy for you to achieve that outcome? What if, in fact, you only had to say, “Yes, that is what I want,” and you would probably get exactly what you wanted? Should you say it? Would you still be “in the flow,” or would you have moved into the forceful world of manipulation and control?

Quite often, the point where flowing turns into forcing is very subtle, and it can take a fair amount of self-awareness to determine if you are at that point. Here’s an example:

In my former career as an advertising writer, I was once asked to create a magazine campaign that would feature both American Airlines and American Express in the same ads. At that time, those two companies had entered into a partnership to offer special benefits to travelers who used their American Express cards to purchase flights on American Airlines. Because we always offered the client a choice, I developed two different campaigns:

The first campaign I created featured couples enjoying activities in various vacation destinations. One ad, for instance, showed a man and a woman riding a tandem bicycle near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The headline read:

The Best Way To See The West

Is In Tandem.

The phrase, “in tandem,” of course, was referring to the partnership between American Airlines and American Express.

The second campaign I developed featured famous American duos, and how they expanded our horizons. For example, one ad depicted two famous explorers of the 19th Century looking out over a vast landscape. The headline read:

Not Since Lewis And Clark

Have Two Americans Opened Up

So Much New Territory.

You get the idea, right? As is usually the case, I preferred one of my ideas over the other. I thought that the Two Americans idea was more unique than the Vacationing Couples idea, and I would be much happier if that was the campaign that was produced. So that was the one I wanted to recommend to the client.

The trouble was, I wasn’t invited to the meeting where my work would be presented. For a variety of reasons, only my Creative Director, Dave, would be attending. So Dave asked me, “Steve, which campaign do you think I should recommend?”

“The Two Americans,” I quickly answered.

“Hmmm,” Dave responded. “I think I should recommend the Vacationing Couples.”

“What?” I questioned. “No! The Two Americans is much more unique! I really think you should recommend that one.”

“I’m sorry, Steve,” Dave replied. “I’m the Creative Director, and I want to recommend the Couples idea.”

“Please, Dave,” I pleaded. “Please recommend the Two Americans.”

Dave paused for a moment, and finally said, “Steve, if that is what you really want me do to, I’ll do it. Is that what you really want?”

And there it was: The decision point—that point where I had to discern if saying “Yes, that is what I want” was in the flow . . . or, instead, if I was trying to force something to go the way I wanted it to go.

It turned out to be an easy decision to make. Because right then, something deep within me warned me to be careful. It was like driving down the road and suddenly coming upon a big, yellow “Caution” sign. I wasn’t ordered to “Stop,” but the tension I was feeling was telling me to slow down and consider my choice very carefully.

So I did. And in that moment of reflection, I realized several things: One, I didn’t know with 100% certainty that the Two Americans idea would truly be the most effective campaign for the client. Two, the Creative Director had the absolute right to decide what to recommend, not me. And three, for all I knew, the client might choose the Two Americans campaign anyway!

So I decided to pay attention to my inner warning, and I let go of my rigid attachment to the specific outcome I wanted. “Dave,” I said, “On second thought, go ahead and recommend the Vacationing Couples idea if you think that’s the best campaign.”

Well, that’s exactly what Dave did, and the client agreed with his recommendation. And it was a good thing, too. Why? Because a few days after choosing the Vacationing Couples idea, the client called with a list of specific things they needed this campaign to communicate. And you know what? My preferred idea—the Two Americans—wasn’t flexible enough to accommodate any of their needs at all. But the Couples idea could handle every single one of their requirements with ease. Whew!

Friends, there will be plenty of times in life when you are headed down the stream toward your dream, and you will reach a point where you inadvertently begin to row against the flow, rather than with it. I hope the example I just shared will remind you to pay keen attention to sudden feelings of tension or anxiety, instead of ease and grace. Because there’s a good chance that is your inner sense of wisdom—your Divine Self—warning you that you are about to leave the peaceful world of the divine flow, and enter the willful world of force. And friends, in my experience, nothing ever turns out well in that world.

Steven

© 2014 by Steven Lane Taylor

www.rowrowrow.com

Steven Lane Taylor, LLC

Fruition Through Intuition

In my last post I wrote about a time when I manifested something extraordinarily easily. One evening I simply decided what I wanted, went to bed, and the next morning what I desired had literally appeared on the lawn outside of my apartment. It was a great example of what I call “attracting without acting.” 

Generally, though, manifesting is about “acting on what you are attracting.” In other words, what you attract into your life is usually just a steppingstone to the fulfillment of your desire, and it is up to you to take advantage of that steppingstone. The challenge is recognizing that steppingstone when it appears, because it is not always obvious. That’s when your intuition can help. 

Your intuition can tell you what person in particular you need to talk to, or what specific circumstance you need to cooperate with. Even if your intuitive guidance is extremely subtle—just a sight nudge in a particular direction—it is important for you to heed that thought or feeling. Here’s a nice little example of what can happen when you do:

When Carol and I lived in Dallas, we had a lot of friends who were single. In fact, one evening we realized that almost all of our friends were single. They weren’t married, engaged, or even dating. And we missed having friends who were couples like us. We didn’t know how we would manifest friends like that, and we didn’t discuss it any further. It was just something both of us wanted.

Well, the next day I was at my computer looking through all the emails I had not yet read. A large number of those emails were from a friend of mine who was constantly forwarding jokes and funny pictures to me. Even though I do enjoy a good laugh, she was sending me far too many emails like that, and I had begun to routinely delete them without opening them.

I was in the process of doing just that when I came to one of her emails with the subject line, “You Might Like.” You might like? That sounded like something I probably wouldn’t like—just another time-waster, and I had work to do. But something unexpected happened when I started to click my mouse to delete it. Something deep within me told me to stop.

I hesitated for an instant, and then I started to click the mouse again. But once more I got the feeling I should not delete her message. In fact, I got the feeling I should open it.

So I did. And I couldn’t believe the very first sentence I read: “Would you and Carol like to join a committed couples group that is being organized at the Unity Church of Dallas?”

Wow! Would we? You bet! Suffice it to say that Carol and I went to the first meeting of that group, and we met at least a dozen like-minded couples. It didn’t take long for us to form some very long-lasting friendships.

Friends, your intuition is the most valuable and reliable source of guidance you have. It may come to you as a sudden thought, or an unexpected feeling, or something that is a combination of both—a thought/feeling, so to speak—which is what I experienced. No matter how quiet your inner voice may be, I encourage you to heed it. It is the voice of your inner Divine Spirit. It knows what you want. It knows what you need. And it is constantly telling you the next right step you need to take to fulfill your desire . . . even if that step doesn’t look like it could possibly be fruitful. 

To put it poetically, “If you want your desire to come to fruition, pay attention to your intuition.”  I am certainly glad I paid attention to mine . . . and still do.

Steven

© 2014 by Steven Lane Taylor

www.rowrowrow.com

Steven Lane Taylor, LLC 

Attracting Without Acting

In my last post, I mentioned that we have the power to attract what we truly desire in life by attracting the people, events, and circumstances that lead us to the fulfillment of those desires. And that is generally the way it works. We are led to what we want . . . like following the flow of a stream to eventually reach our dream.

Sometimes, however, it works the other way around. What we want comes to us. We don’t have to follow the flow anywhere, or do much of anything. What we want just shows up on our doorstep—sometimes, quite literally. That is rare, of course, but it happens. And I’ll never forget one particular time it happened to me:

When Carol and I were first dating, we lived in two separate apartment complexes just north of Dallas, Texas. One night, Carol came over to my apartment to cook me a spaghetti dinner. She brought a loaf of French bread with her, and she asked me if I had a bread knife. I responded by asking her why she brought French bread, since we were having spaghetti. Shouldn’t she have brought Italian bread, instead? Silence ensued. Okay. Bad joke. So I answered her question. “No, I don’t have a bread knife. But I have a set of Ginsu knives. As seen on TV, those things will cut anything!”

Not so. You know what a Ginsu knife can’t cut? Bread! No matter how carefully I tried to slice it, the bread would only shred and tear and rip into jagged little pieces. “You really need a bread knife,” Carol said. And I agreed. I did, indeed, need a bread knife. Which reminded me of something else that was needed, too—something we both needed, in fact.

You see, at the time, Carol and I were spending one or two evenings a week visiting her mother, who lived in a nearby nursing home. The problem was, there was only one easy chair in her mother’s room, which meant at least one of us would end up sitting on the side of her mother’s bed. So while we were on the subject of needing things, I said to Carol, “You know else we need? A couple of chairs to sit on when we visit your mother.”

That’s all I said, and Carol agreed. But there was a little more to it than that. Because when I said “chairs” I was actually envisioning something very specific. Ideally, I wanted two straight-back, cherry wood chairs with red-and-green upholstered seats, so they would match the other furnishings in her mother’s room—namely, the cherry wood chest-of-drawers, and the red-and-green drapes and bedspread. (For a man, I am very decorator-oriented.)

This conversation occurred around 8 o’clock on a Friday night. Afterwards, Carol and I enjoyed our dinner of spaghetti and shredded bread, watched a little TV, and then Carol went home.

The next morning I woke up, looked out the window, and was greeted by a strange sight. Someone’s possessions were scattered all over the greenbelt between my apartment building and the next one, and there were a lot of people milling around and looking through it all.

I quickly threw on some clothes and went outside to see what was going on. I was told that a man in a nearby apartment had to be forcibly evicted. He had been given many months to pay his rent, but never did. Finally, the police were called to escort him from his unit, and everything he owned was removed and placed outside. That’s how forcible evictions work, I learned.

I felt bad for the man, and asked if there was anything I could do to help this person gather up his stuff and move it someplace. “No, he’s already gone,” a neighbor explained. “He rented a truck early this morning, loaded it up with everything he wanted to keep, and drove away.”

“If you really want to help,” this person continued, “you should look around and see if there is anything here you want or need, and take it. In fact, you would be doing the office staff a big a favor. They would love it if everything out here was gone by the end of the day, so they won’t have to haul it off themselves.”

“No problem,” I replied. “I’ll be happy to look around.” So I did, and I quickly spotted a few things I could use, including two things in particular. You know what’s coming next, right? You guessed it. Only 12 hours after deciding I needed a bread knife and two straight-back, cherry wood chairs with red-and-green upholstered seats, there they were . . . laying in the grass right next to my apartment. Amazing! Absolutely amazing!

Friends, that was not the first time in my life I manifested something that specific. It was not the first time I manifested something that quickly, either. It wasn’t even the first time that what I desired virtually showed up on my doorstep. It was, however, the first time all three of those things happened together. 

Wouldn’t it be nice if the manifestation process was always that quick and easy? You might think so, sure. But as I have pointed out in prior posts, there can also be a great deal of satisfaction in patiently following the flow to the fulfillment of your desire, instead of just having it instantly appear. Either way, the experience can be just as miraculous and just as joyful.

Whether your desire is fulfilled overnight, or over time, here’s to staying present in the process and appreciating every single moment of it.

Steven

© 2014 by Steven Lane Taylor

www.rowrowrow.com

Steven Lane Taylor, LLC

Choices & Consequences

November 9, 2014

Dear Friends,

Many years ago, a friend I will call Ingrid, was experiencing a series of unwanted problems with a used car she had recently purchased. Ingrid called me and asked, “Steven, what I am doing to attract these problems into my life?” “Attract?” I questioned. “What makes you think you attracted those issues to you? Couldn’t there be another explanation?”

The reason I questioned Ingrid about the idea of “attracting” problems, is because I am not convinced we have the power to do that—to literally attract into our lives what we truly do not want to experience . . . even if we are giving that experience a great deal of focused attention and emotional energy.

I certainly believe we have the power to attract what we do desire, by attracting the people, events, and circumstances that lead us to what we want. It is a power that emanates from the very core of our being, where our Creative Divine Spirit resides. And coming from a place of divine love and pure goodness, it is a power that draws to us only that which is inherently beneficial.

Of course, we don’t always recognize what is beneficial for us. In many instances, what is occurring may look like something we don’t desire, but deep down inside—at the level of our Spirit—we actually do desire it, and so we attracted that circumstance to us. An example would be a difficult challenge that will help us grow or mature in a much-needed way, or will help remind us of what is really important in life.

But what about a situation that is undesirable at every level—even the level of our Spirit? Do we have the power to literally attract something into our lives that is not helpful, or even harmful?

Based on my own personal experiences and observations, I question that. I believe there are other reasons unwanted situations show up in our lives. And one of the key reasons—the one I want to focus on for the rest of this message—is this one: Undesirable situations are often the direct or indirect consequence of a choice we made.

Specifically, I am talking about a choice that was not divinely inspired, guided, or supported. A choice that was made out of fear, instead of love. Or a choice that was completely self-serving, instead of serving the best interests of all.

The way I see it, an unguided or misguided choice doesn’t have the power to attract anything. But it can certainly have an undesirable consequence. Sometimes that consequence is minor. Sometimes it is more troublesome. And sometimes, that consequence is so far removed from the original choice that fostered it, it is hard to see any cause and effect relationship between the two at all. If examined closely enough, however, that relationship can sometimes be discovered . . . which is exactly what happened in Ingrid’s case.

Ingrid told me that the issues with her car began with several tires going flat all at once, followed by some unusual mechanical breakdowns that eventually culminated in a fire igniting beneath her engine. I asked Ingrid to tell me some more details, so I could help her determine if there was an explanation for why she was experiencing these problems—other than the power of attraction.

It didn’t take long to arrive at an explanation for the issue of the flat tires. Ingrid told me she always parked her car right in front of her apartment. One morning she discovered that three of the four tires were flat. That’s something a single spare can’t remedy. So she had her car towed to a nearby service center to have the flats fixed or the tires replaced. She was surprised when the service center called and said they couldn’t find anything wrong with her tires. They simply refilled them with air, and the car was ready to be picked up.

Ingrid was puzzled by this experience. But as we talked, I soon found out that the day before her tires went flat, Ingrid had angrily chased some young boys away from her front door, because they kept messing up her outdoor plants and decorations. Isn’t it possible—plausible even—that the boys let the air out of Ingrid’s tires in retaliation?

If that was in fact the case, does that mean Ingrid should have handled the situation with the boys differently? Probably. But I’m not about to judge Ingrid’s decisions or actions. I’m just pointing out that certain choices—no matter how understandable—can have undesirable consequences. And those consequences are more about cause and effect than attraction.

But what about Ingrid’s other car problems? How could her choices have anything to do with the unusual mechanical failures she was experiencing?

The mystery began to unravel when I discovered Ingrid had purchased her car with over 100,000 miles already on it. “Ingrid,” I said, “of course you are experiencing mechanical failures! That’s to be expected with a car that has been driven that many miles!”

But it was my follow-up questions that got to the real heart of the matter. “Ingrid,” I asked, “why did you buy such an old car? Were you unable to afford a new one?” Ingrid’s answer was very telling. “I never considered buying a new car,” Ingrid revealed, “because I never thought I deserved one.”

And there it was—a decision Ingrid made a long time ago about her worthiness . . . a decision that was not in alignment with her innate worth as a beloved child of The Divine. It was a decision that influenced every choice she made. And sometimes those choices had consequences that seemed to come out of the blue.

“Ingrid,” I quickly replied, “of course you deserve a new car! You are a precious and essential part of this Universe, and worthy of whatever it is you want to have, do, or be in life. If it’s not beyond your financial reach, I definitely support you in buying a brand new car.”

Well, I am happy to report that Ingrid did, indeed, buy a new car, and she was very happy with it—driving it problem-free for years and years. But even better, Ingrid began to more fully embrace her true worth, and started basing more of her choices on that new-found sense of deservedness.

So, you might be asking, what is the ultimate “moral” of this story? It is simply this: If an undesirable situation shows up in your life, don’t immediately jump to the conclusion you “attracted” it to you. Instead, perhaps it’s the unwanted consequence of a choice you made—no matter how understandable or well-meaning that choice might have been. Or, perhaps you are absolutely right. Perhaps you did attract that circumstance to you, because it is something your inner Spirit knew would be the best way for you to learn something important.

Either way, remember this: No matter what is occurring your life—or why it is there—every circumstance can be transformed by The Divine into a steppingstone to a higher good. Your job is just to remain open and receptive to the guidance of The Divine in all of its various forms, and follow that guidance wherever it may lead. Who knows, perhaps it was Ingrid’s inner Divine Spirit that inspired her to call me, to reveal and help heal something that had been limiting her life.

As I often say, everything is not good, but everything can be good . . . with the help of The Divine. And what a comfort that is.

Steven

© 2014 by Steven Lane Taylor

www.rowrowrow.com

Steven Lane Taylor, LLC

My Spontaneous Mystical Experience

October 17, 2014

Dear Friends,

When I was fourteen years old, my family lived in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. Our house was surrounded by an acre of pine trees, but right in the middle of all those pine trees was a large oak. This oak tree had one unusual branch that stuck straight out from its trunk, and one day I decided to hang a rope from that branch to make a rope swing.

Most rope swings have a wooden plank at the bottom on which you sit. But I didn’t have a wooden plank, so I just doubled the rope back on itself to form a loop at the bottom. It was fun to nestle into that loop and swing back and forth. But I soon discovered something that was a lot more fun than that. I would nestle into the loop, walk around the tree as far as I could go—wrapping the rope around the trunk of the tree as I went—and then I would push off from the tree with my feet.

Whenever I did that, I would swing out in a wide arc, spiraling out and around the tree until the rope wrapped itself around the trunk of the tree once more. Then I would push off from the tree again, but this time I would spiral out and around in the opposite direction. The only challenge was making sure I always landed against the trunk of the tree with my feet—and not my back—but that turned out to be very easy to do.

I got so good at this routine, I soon added a little trick to it. While spiraling out and around the tree, I would do one or two quick spins before landing. I became a one-man Cirque du Soleil! I enjoyed doing this so much, I would do it over and over and over again. And that’s when it happened.

What I didn’t know then, but came to understand later, was this: When you do a repetitive body motion over and over and over again, it is possible to induce an altered state of consciousness, or even precipitate what some people call a mystical experience. And that’s what occurred.

I got so involved in this repetitive physical activity, I achieved what the popular author, Eckhart Tolle, calls “a state of no mind.” In other words, I stopped thinking. I stopped reflecting on the past, projecting into the future, or even analyzing or judging the current moment. I was just experiencing the now moment—fully and purely—without any thought at all.

And guess what you discover in that “state of no mind?” You discover the True You. You discover that there is a Consciousness behind your thoughts, and behind your mind—a Consciousness that some people call the Soul, Spirit, Higher Self, or God Self. In that moment, I experienced the Divine Essence that exists at the core of my being.

Mind you, this wasn’t an out-of-body experience. No, I was aware I was in a body . . . but I knew I was not that body. I was aware I had a mind . . . but I knew I was not that mind. I was even aware I had a personality . . . but I knew I was not that personality. All of those aspects of me—body, mind, and personality—were temporary and superficial, similar to the clothes one puts on each day. The True Me was an Eternal Spirit. I had always been, and I would always be. I was in this world, but I was not of this world. I was an eternal spiritual being having a temporary physical existence.

I don’t know how long I was in that mystical state—probably just a few minutes. But when you are truly in the now moment—truly—it feels like an eternity. And that was more than enough time for the Divine Knowledge of my inner Spirit to make its way into my mind. Although this was a good thirty years before the term “downloading” came into being, that is close to what I experienced. I instantly “downloaded” a great deal of information about the nature of Spirit, the nature of God, and the nature of physical existence and its various dimensions.

I’m sure you would like to know more about the information I received that day. But adhering to the focus of this blog—which is about learning how to recognize and cooperate with the divine flow of life—what I learned during that experience is not nearly as important as what I did not learn.

For whatever reason, I simply didn’t grasp the fact that my inner Spirit not only had the answers to any questions I might have about the nature of the Universe, it also had the answers to any questions I might have about living life more successfully. It never occurred to me that my inner Spirit could guide me through my daily life, suggesting courses of action that would make my life more satisfying and fulfilling. It never occurred to me that my inner Spirit could help me live a life of joy and ease, rather than a life of stress and struggle.

In short, once my mystical experience was over, it never occurred to me to call upon my inner Spirit for assistance or direction. And so, I spent the next twenty years living my life the way many people do—relying solely upon my own innate talents, developed skills, and intellect to get by.

I’m not going to tell you that those years were unbearable. No, the fact is, through hard work and determination I managed to achieve a fair amount of “worldly success.” But the stress and strain of trusting only myself, and trying to control every single outcome in my life, took such a toll on my mental and emotional well-being, I was finally “forced to my knees” at the age of thirty-four. Life at that point seemed far too difficult. I was far too fearful, far too frustrated, and far too unhappy. And I was making my friends and family miserable, as well. It was only then that I became willing to live my life differently.

It was only then that I became open and receptive to the idea that there is such as thing as celestial assistance in this world. It was only then that I came to see that this Universe of ours is not only intelligent, but it is responsive to our needs and wants. It was only then that I got quiet enough to hear that still, small voice within, and realize that my inner Divine Spirit was right there to guide me . . . and had been all along.

Friends, there is no need for you to wait twenty years like I did. There is no reason you can’t experience the beneficence of the Universe today . . . and every day from now on. It will require your attention, true. And it will require your trust, too. But little more than that will ever be asked of you.

Steven

© 2014 by Steven Lane Taylor
www.rowrowrow.com
Steven Lane Taylor, LLC

Just A Bend In The Stream?

October 12, 2014

Dear Friends,

Before I came to understand that there is a divine flow in life—a flow that is continually guiding us toward our highest good—I had the same reaction to almost everything that occurred in my life that wasn’t obviously beneficial. My immediate reaction was almost always, “Oh no! This is bad. What am I going to do?”

Notice two things about that reaction: First, I assumed that whatever was occurring couldn’t possibly be to my benefit. And second, I believed there was something I needed to do about it—some action I immediately needed to take to remedy the situation. 

When I began to learn more about the divine flow, however, I discovered that a so-called “bad” situation is often just a “bend in the stream”—a bend that might lead you in an unwanted direction for a while, but will later prove to be the best way for you to reach your chosen destination. If you interfere with that flow—if you try to take control of the situation too hastily, and try to force things to go the way you think they should go—you might undermine the miracle that was in the making.

The following story is a good example of a time when I consciously decided to accept an undesirable situation and “row with the flow” . . . and it paid off beautifully:

I had recently been transferred into a new group at the advertising agency where I had spent many years writing television commercials for clients such as American Airlines, Long John Silver’s, and JCPenney. My new assignment was to create commercials for another one of our clients—Subaru automobiles. 

I enjoyed everything about my new assignment, except for one thing: my interactions with the creative director of the Subaru group were always strained. I began to get the feeling that upper management had placed me in the Subaru group against this creative director’s wishes.  

One day, the creative director came into my office and told me he didn’t want me to write television commercials for Subaru anymore. Instead, he wanted me to develop newspaper ads. Newspaper ads? Sure, there can still be a lot of creativity in doing print work. And I was good at it. In fact, my entire career began 25 years earlier writing newspaper ads for Neiman-Marcus. But in the advertising world, all the prestige and glamour is in television—not newspaper! Going back to that kind of work felt like a huge demotion. 

Naturally, my first thoughts were, “Oh no! This is bad. What am I going to do?” And you know what? There was something I could do. I was highly respected by the president of our agency, and I firmly believed if I complained to him about my “demotion,” he would either restore me to my position as a television writer or put me to work creating TV spots for one of our other clients.

But I didn’t do that. At that point in my life I had been practicing the principles for living life in the divine flow for quite some time, and I had learned how to respond instead of react. So, even though this circumstance didn’t line up with what I thought was best for me, I hesitated before taking action. I got quiet, went within, and asked myself this one simple question: “What is my next right step—my divinely guided step?”

Based on my inner guidance, I sensed that—in this particular instance—the best action I could take was to take no action at all . . . at least, for the time being. For now, I would just wait patiently and see how things played out. Well, the blessings began to bloom almost immediately. 

In no time at all I rediscovered how satisfying it can be to create print ads. I impressed myself with the number of clever headlines I could come up with for any given subject about Subarus. Plus, I enjoyed the immediacy of it all. Within days of having a great idea and selling it to the client, my ad would appear in print. Conversely, to conceive, sell, and produce a television commercial could take weeks or even months.

I also quickly realized that the creative director of the Subaru group wanted nothing to do with the newspaper portion of the business. I was now essentially my own boss, and I rarely had to interact with the creative director anymore, which was something we both liked.

And then the biggest benefit appeared. Our agency had lost some significant business over the years, and there had already been two rounds of layoffs. A third layoff was announced, and upper management looked closely at each department to see who was expendable. Guess what? When they examined the Subaru group, they determined we didn’t need all the television writers we had, and several were laid off. But my portion of the business was earning the agency a good income, and they weren’t about to sacrifice that . . . or me.

So, was my “demotion” a bad thing? Of course not! It was because of my new position that I was able to stay with the agency for another year or so, doing work that was creatively, as well as financially, rewarding. What appeared to be an intolerable situation at first, turned out to be just a bend in the stream.

Now, does this example mean that every single unwanted circumstance that occurs in your life is just part of the flow—a simple bend in the stream? No. Many undesirable events that occur in your life are not part of the divine flow at all. They are, instead, the unfortunate consequence of freewill choices you and/or others have made that are unguided or misguided—the kind of choices that are not in alignment with the guidance of The Divine. Fortunately, it’s not important to know whether an unwanted situation you are experiencing is part of the divine flow or not. Why? Because the flow will continue to guide you to your highest good from wherever you are in life . . . no matter how or why you arrived at that point.

That means the best way to respond to any undesirable situation—no matter what brought it about—is always the same: Instead of hastily judging the situation as “bad” and then rashly acting on that judgment, simply reaffirm the following: “This can be a stepping stone to my highest good.” That little bit of positivity is all it takes for your mind to be more open and receptive to divine guidance . . . so you can more easily discern what part, if any, you are being divinely directed to play in the unfolding of that good.

No matter how detrimental you perceive a situation to be, avoid the temptation to immediately take matters solely into your own hands. Instead, be patient and give the divine flow some time to work things out on your behalf. You will be amazed by the miracles that can manifest whenever you let go of what you think you know . . . and row with the flow.

Steven

© 2014 by Steven Lane Taylor
www.rowrowrow.com
Steven Lane Taylor, LLC