Path of Least Resistance

When we are stressed, or feel as though we have run out of resources, including energy, we are often tempted to take the path of least resistance. We feel it takes too much of what we don't have, to go against the current, so we just go with the flow. This can be the right choice in some circumstances, but it can also draw you deeper into trouble.

Go with the Flow
When your personal resources are depleted, you may have to just go with the flow. If you don't have the time, money, energy, or emotional strength to resist where life is taking you, then it is important to allow yourself to be carried along while you rebuild your strength. Make no mistake, at some point you must begin to swim on your own. Simply letting life take you where it will, condemns you to the life circumstances make for you, and often that is a life someone else makes for you. But in times of great stress, doing nothing, and just waiting, may be the best course of action. It allows you to gather information while you gather strength. It rests your mind so that you can get out from under the oppression of thoughts of having to do something, and let a creative solution bubble to the surface of your consciousness.

Fight the Current
Turn against the current when you are in a rut, or things are not changing. The status quo may feel safe, but just sitting there is not going to move your circumstances in a positive direction. You can't get anywhere in a parked car. Fighting the current often means taking a risk. If the potential reward is greater than the outcome of doing nothing, then taking that risk is worthwhile. In that case, it becomes a calculated risk, or as I prefer to say, a considered risk.

Know the Difference
In a life-threatening situation, you must fight the current. Your survival is at stake, and perhaps also the survival of those you care about. This is the time to make your own pathway, no matter how difficult.

The important thing is to ACT, not REACT. There are many things in life over which we have no control. We feel powerless when things are so out of control that we cannot effect change on our own behalf. Determining when it is appropriate to fight the current, or just go with the flow, gives you some measure of control over your own destiny.