We May Not Control the River, But We Can Direct Its Flow

"Be the change you wish to see in the world” is a concept many of us are familiar with. At least we’re familiar with the words. In practice, what does that look like? I believe it’s not so much about creating change and more about directing the flow of change that’s already in motion all around us. We can’t always predict the tide but we can direct the currents. By the same token, our character is made not from how we prevent hardship (or encourage joy) but how we withstand it when it inevitably comes our way. How are you serving as the riverbank to the steady stream of change within your world?

This is why I often refer to tending to your soil rather than your plants. If we go to the stage of change that helps it to grow in the direction we desire, we have a better chance of sustainability. We aren’t creating the waters that flow through our banks, nor are we creating the plants we see grow in our gardens, but we can certainly shapeshift the river bed, put up higher ledges when volume gets high, add friction to the bottom to encourage raging waters to slow, and dig smoother curves to help ease sharp turns.

So when we’re struck by the larger, more obvious changes in our lives – loss of a job or loved one, a discouraging diagnosis, a jackpot win, a new career opportunity – we’ve already tuned into the steady current we’ve been directing in our day to day lives. We’ve already grown accustomed to working alongside the tides of change we experience daily. And now we’re more equipped to step into the director’s chair when sh*t seems to have hit the fan. We may not be able to anticipate what the waters will bring – what sediment or wildlife might be in tow – but we can trust that we’ve already grown familiar with the skills of river navigation.