By Emily Rose Carr Hunt
When you feel resistance, acknowledge it and be open to finding a different way. When you feel a pull, follow it. It’s a matter of using your instincts and listening.
In practical terms, I sometimes can’t get into the lane that I planned to take. On the one hand, I could struggle and force my way into a lane, risking a fender bender. Or I could get grumpy about not getting to go the way I wanted. Instead, I just wait until traffic opens up. I might even need to get off at the next exit. That little change in my plans can have so many repercussions. When the universe resists my efforts, I do my best to choose a different path and stay in good spirits.
In the case of trying to build the coffee shop inside Still & Moving Center according to our original plan, we kept digging and digging and couldn’t find the pipes we needed to connect to. Rather than dig up the whole floor or give up, we just waited. We kept rolling around different ideas about where in the building to put the cafe, and eventually a solution appeared. It was even better than our first plan.
Just now working on a flag for PeleKai Coffee, which symbolizes the meeting of lava (Pele) and the ocean (Kai), I’m reminded of how water and lava both work: they flow through the path of least resistance.
To ride the wave, you may have to wait for it, and be ready to catch it when it comes. You need to learn when to wait… and when to take action. I have Lao Tzu’s teaching about that tattooed on my arm so that I’ll always remember it. He asks us this question:
“Do you have the patience to wait until the mud settles and the water is clear?”
For me, that’s following the universe.
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