Years ago, I borrowed my friend Jeff’s orange Datsun. As I cruised down the Connecticut Turnpike, the car felt sluggish. It was loud, it was slow, and I chalked it up to driving an old car with lots of miles. At the toll booth, I dropped in my coins, shifted, and went through the process of moving from first to second, to third... and then into fourth gear.
Suddenly, the little car sprang to life. It had pickup, speed, energy—it was like I was driving a completely different machine. That’s when it hit me: I had been barreling down the interstate in second gear! Whoa! No wonder the poor engine had been screaming with effort, like driving through water.
Life can feel the same way. So often, we move through our days in the wrong gear—straining, forcing, grinding away—without realizing there’s another way to move forward.
One of the common “wrong gears” is attachment: holding too tightly to how things should turn out. We attach ourselves to outcomes—how others will behave, how quickly something should happen, how neatly goals should resolve. The tighter we cling, the more resistance we feel. Like that car engine, our minds and hearts rev loudly, burning energy without real movement.
But there’s an alternative: flow.
Flow isn’t about becoming passive or shutting down our thoughts and emotions. It’s about presence — being in a body that’s relaxed, a heart that’s open, a mind that can be agile and not too clingy.
Flow is about holding lightly what life serves up to us. It’s about responding wisely to life as it unfolds rather than muscling it into the shape we demand. Flow is about listening within for the next right step instead of obsessing over controlling life.
When we shift into this flow gear, something opens. Life feels more alive, more responsive, more filled with possibility.
So here’s some food for thought:
Where in your life are you grinding away in second gear, straining for control?
Where might you shift into flow—trusting, loosening your grip, listening within, dancing with life into greater ease?
Sometimes all it takes is one small shift, and suddenly, you’re not forcing the ride—you’re flowing with it.