Flow or flow not, there is no struggle…

Published in Living Now Magazine March 2015

"The less effort, the faster and more powerful you will be.

Bruce Lee

A friend emailed me recently explaining that she had been having a difficult time but that she was working hard to get through her current struggle to get to where she wants to be. She extolled the virtues of struggle and suggested that there was good in it.

Something about that irked me. Is that true? Is there benefit in struggle?

Imagine you are paddling down the rapids in your kayak when you hit a boulder at the wrong angle and get tipped out into the white water. Do you struggle? Hell yes! Does it help? Maybe only to a point – you see once you’ve pulled your head above the water and taken a breath then your next challenge is actually to stop struggling, stop panicking and freaking out and start thinking and calming down. You need to get your bearings and feel the flow. Struggling against the flow will simply wear you out and as you get worn out you will start to drop below the surface every now and again. You will s…