I found myself, on a beautiful spring day, stuck in traffic. I was leaving one meeting, on the way to another, not late, lots of time. No pressure to be anywhere but I wanted so badly to race ahead, get to the next thing. It was not to be. Red lights were hunting me.
At every light, my frustration grew. It seemed like the more annoyed I got, the more red lights there were. Was my frustration causing the lights to change or were the lights changing in an effort to tell me something?
Now, we all know the lights have no way of knowing how I was feeling in those moments. And I have no way of controlling the lights. But finally, I got the message the universe was trying to get to me…slow down. Allow yourself to trust in the flow around you. Move with the traffic and the windows will appear.
Flow is one of the biggest forces in life. Being a successful hunter involves a certain level of faith in the power of the natural order and your ability to succeed within it. My experience in traffic just pointed out to me that I had lost touch with my flow, that I was the one out of sync with the world, not the other way around. The minute I accepted that reality, I found the calm that had eluded me. I felt that warm sun on my face, saw the blue sky, could appreciate the day that had surrounded me the entire time.
You can always find a way to use the time at red lights, not to check your email, but to check in with yourself. To see the world around you, to take a break, to hear a song on the radio that takes you to a different place. In every area of your life, the world will sometimes throw obstacles at you that can put a serious kink in your flow. This is when it can be the hardest to find the one thing you need: clarity. It’s difficult, in a sea of stopped cars, red lights mocking you, to get above and clear and see your trail through those obstacles.
Here are some key takeaways to consider the next time you are out of flow:
- Remember where you are now isn’t where you will always be or where you just were. Be present.
- Every experience connects you to the next. Learn to leverage each moment as you track your targets.
- Life is a cycle, seasons change and so do red lights.
