May the river flow

First obervations

I believe that we all aspire to make the most out of life by establishing goals in persuit of happiness. Achieving these requires us to perform certain activities and even though they differ in terms of complexity, they all engage us in some capacity. As a result, it’s no surprise that cities are packed with people running from one place to another almost oblivious to their surroundings. We are constantly chasing after things which is not necessarily something bad per se, but what is unhealthy is the fact that in this modern age, we seem to want it all and to make matters even worse, we want it now!

But why do we behave this way?

There are of course many explanations, and each person is different but generally speaking I think that technology is largely responsible for this. Dont get me wrong, I am a huge fan of technology. So much so, that my career is centered around it. I totally get how wonderful it is. It helps us in so many different ways and our lives would be significantly deminished without it. That being said, on the flip side, it sets unrealistic expectations that tend to confuse us. For example, interfaces respond immediately to our commands. When we click on a button we are instantly taken to another page or something similar. Therefore, we are used to a really fast pace which clashes with our experiences in the real world since “out there” we need to wait much longer to get the things we want.

Let’s dig a little deeper

Given the above, and keeping in line with the subject of technology, it looks like we are already fully “connected” in the same same way that a digital product might capture our attention with captivating content in the front-end. In other words, our minds are focused and dedicated to everything we see coming out from those small screens in front of us.

Taking this into consideration, the question that pops up in my head is whether that’s it or is there something more? Is our universe limited to what we do and what we can perceive? While we are occupied with this and that, is there something happening behind the scenes? In the computer world for instance our interactions with a website are supported by code that is written and manipulated in the back-end. Many different parts are working in tandem to deliver the results we seek even though we might not even know it, but does this apply elsewhere?

Exploring the back-end

Trying to think about the possibility of some kind of parallel universe is definitively hard. If there are indeed things that we are not fully aware of and thus, cannot be pinned down how are we even supposed to identify them? They are non tangible by nature and mysterious somehow so “tapping” into them requires highly skilled individuals to rise above themselves to gain a broader perspective.

For the vast majority of us, the volume of distractions and conflicting thoughts that enter our brains is overwhelming. Consequently, that makes me wonder how we can possibly come to terms with what is happening around us? Even strong minds surely struggle to process the constant changes that take place.

Perhaps the best way to face this dilemma is to clear our minds for a second and take it from the top.

Are you up for it? Cool! Let’s keep going.

So what do we know? At the very least one can state with confidence that God, The Universe or whatever you want to call it has given us the opportunity to think and act which is a remarkable gift. If we ponder a little more logic states that those same actions are not isolated. Namely, they cause reactions from one person to the next. This means that there is an ongoing process whereby situations are being broken down and created over and over again.

Why does this matter?

Essentially it suggests that there is in fact more going on than we realise. At the very least, the constant movement and chain of reactions in the outside world interfere with our own little routines. So much so that we need to adapt to them if we want to avoid being left behind. However, the rhythm or pace is intense which often generates a serious amount of stress.

As a result, the typical human response is to attempt to control the environment. Why? Well… among other things, we are egotistic creatures by nature. Our initial impulse is to try to “change the rules” and so we delude ourselves into thinking that the world should follow us instead of the other way around.

What happens next?

Once we reach the inveitable conclusion that our power is extremely limited the next easy fix is to neglect our emotions and pretend that there is nothing more by packing our already overloaded agenda even further. However, as time goes by we’ll probably end up feeling like we need more to gain internal tranquility as we’ll notice that increasing effort to focus even harder on the aforementioned activities merely provides a temporary distraction. Ergo, we’re bound to eventually acknoledge that we need to open up ourselves and figure out a way to deal with all the noise and messyness surrounding us.

Embracing what we cannot change

As I said earlier, it seems very difficult to fully grasp how things work. We would probably need to medidate for years to master the ability to feel comfortable with the hectic world we live in.. Don’t even get me started with bigger questions such as who we are, where we came from and whether an invisible hand has or is “coding” our reality.

So in conclusion, I believe that the most we can do for the time being is, as the title of this article suggest, “go with the flow”. By saying this I’m not just encouraging you to keep yourself busy and ignore things. If you do, you may end up running around in circles as I predicted before. Accepting things involves acknowleding reality whether that is good or bad for your interests (as opposed to hiding from it or fighthing against it), and doing your best in any given situation within the limits of your sphere of influence.

“God grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference”- Famous Prayer

Hope you enjoyed reading!

Thanks and see you soon.

FP