Affluence Is Flow

Years ago I took a daylong rafting trip down the Arkansas River in the mountains of Colorado. After the adventure of being popped out of the raft into the rushing river, I understood affluence in a whole new way. My well worn 1975 Edition of Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary says the word affluence comes from the Latin affluere meaning to flow to, an abundant flow or supply; profusion, copious, flowing in abundance. To me, this is also the definition of Life. When we’re aware of this inner and outer energy our perspective changes. We become more affluent.

Each of us is filled with affluence. Our bodies have an amazingly abundant flow of invisible and visible energy flowing in, around and through them all the time without our awareness. Think of the circulatory system, the respiratory system and the digestive system. Ponder the immune system, the data processing systems and the trillions of cells invisibly continuing to come and go, ebb  and flow. How often do give attention to them,  appreciate  and align with them? Dare I say that the key to embracing change is an awareness of this affluence, this flow?

Have you ever witnessed lakes being fed by incoming streams which through their outlets feed other lakes, streams, rivers, and fields? We, like these lakes have an inflow and outflow of energy. This flow is Life’s affluence. It’s a visible and invisible energy that’s coming and going, ebbing and flowing all the time yet we’re mostly unconscious of it. Becoming aware of this ongoing flow allows us to participate with this life Source by aligning with its’ powerful presence to change our life patterns. Like water, yielding eventually overcomes the unyielding.

To be fully alive is to be in touch with this affluent abundance we all are; to overcome the obstacles of rigidity and resistance we meet outside and inside ourselves. Without this conscious awareness we can become like a stagnant lake, a hardened artery, a closed mind, a sore muscle, a cold piece of ice. The greatest rigidity and unyielding can be found in our small ego self. This little ‘iam’ causes great disruption because of it’s need to have power and control over rather than with. Yielding in thought, word and deed is a flow most egos don’t know.

Affluence first exists in the formless realms. Bundles of energy called quanta are everywhere in the universe vibrating at very high frequencies. We influence these vibrations with our thoughts and feelings. When we’re in alignment with our Inner Self, the Infinite Life Source, we send appreciative energy. It influences what it’s intended for and returns to us. The same is true of depreciative energy. The more resentment, fear and anger we send, the more of it we create and experience. Rigidity creates more rigidity. Flow creates more flow . . .

Embracing positive change here in this Earth plane means awakening to the Innate Essence  we all share. Creating a New You is about connecting and continually realigning with the ever present flow of Infinite Life Energy that’s in every breath, every heartbeat, every everything that is and is not. When you wake up to this, understand this and consciously participate in this, you begin to recognize your unique part as a co-creator. When you’re outside the raft alone in the river you know how to remain calm, keep your feet in front of you and go with the flow.

• Take a few moments to reconnect with one of the last affirmative comments, thoughts or feelings you can recall. Feel the tone, emotion and vibration of it. Did it make you mad, sad, glad or afraid? What’s the feeling you’re having right now in connection with it. What’s the flow or the lack of it? Now flip the feeling tone to it’s opposite and breathe into that feeling. Register the energy tone and how it attracts more of itself. Which do you want more of?

This is affluence, flow. It’s always here and you get to choose the volume, the channel and the quality of it as it makes its way in, around and through you. You are in the river of Life and it’s in you. As a part of it, your Presence influences it. Do you see how it can become new for you?

• Close your eyes and visualize a place of beauty for yourself. Take four deep breaths, each one a deep sigh . . . At the end of each breath, rest in the extension of the exhale . . . At the end of the fourth breath rest even more deeply in the exhale . . . and return to your normal breathing. Stay aware of it. What are you feeling? How different is this from when you started the practice? Give attention to your energy. Feel the flow of your breath, the pulse of your heart, the affluence of your life . . . and stay this course. We’re just beginning . . .