How to ... go with the flow

Humans are made up of 70% water and, like any other body of water, we feel a deep urge to make our way to the seaside. That's why holidays by the sea are so popular: because at a molecular level it's like going home.

In the river of life, some people think they're in charge and move forward though a complex series of canals and locks; these are the control freaks in their narrow boats. Others relax in their canoes, occasionally encountering a bit of white water, but generally just drifting happily along. Some people have paddles and try to go where they want to go, but others don't have a paddle and occasionally find themselves in unsuitable creeks.

Before you decide to go with the flow, it's always best to check where the flow is coming from. In the countryside you shouldn't drink from a stream if there's a chance that there's a dead sheep in it slightly further up. In much the same way, it's always worth checking exactly where new jobs and new partners spring from.

To really go with the flow, it helps if you don't care where you're going. Only the very rich or very poor can pull this one off: the rich because they create their own flow; the poor because they don't have a boat.

The flow most people are going with is called the rat race. This is a very powerful current of work and family that carries most people down the storm drain of their lives, then washes them out on to the beach of old age before they've even admired the view.

A few people choose to swim against the tide. There are three possible consequences of doing this: you become a very powerful swimmer, but don't get anywhere; you escape the tide and find new pools of happiness; or you drown.

Whether or not you go with it, the flow always continues because the passage of life is ever onward. This is worth knowing because sometimes stepping out of the flow for a while allows it to bring you things from farther upstream. Meditation is an attempt mentally to step outside the flow of life and find stillness. A glass of wine, on the other hand, creates a pleasurable internal flow that makes the less pleasant external flow easier to manage.

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