Learning the beauty of flow versus the hammer

Today was a day when I learned the beauty of flow versus the hammer. Sometimes in life obstacles get in the way of our progress and we have to choose whether to use a hammer to smash them out of the way or allow the natural flow of life to approach it like a river. Water often encounters obstacles, however, rather than hitting against them like a hammer, it flows over and around creating new pathways and continuing on its way. Eventually the effects of erosion will eliminate the obstacle completely. However, until that time the size and mass of the obstacle is incorporated into the flow of the river creating new and varied currents before and after it, but flowing just the same.

The wisdom of life is knowing when to use the hammer to smash an obstacle out of the way, i.e. using brute force against the object. There is no finesse or elegance to the use of this type of force, yet sometimes this is just what is required. If you choose to flow around what is in your way, it is in recognition that the energy required to smash against it will be better used to incorporate it into your flow and continue on your way. Hammers require you to stand still and battle, whereas the natural flow of water facilitates movement towards your goals.

So how did I come by this wisdom? I got upset with my computer which had yet again froze a.k.a. stopped responding and shut down the program without saving my work. Now I know what you're thinking -didn't I learn my lesson from the last time this happened – yes I did that is why I had set the computer to auto save every 2 minutes. Unfortunately when I opened the program again there was no recovery document and the last saved version had lost the whole afternoon's work! That was the obstacle. My hammer was to throw a hissy fit and sling my headset violently across the room. Now it had never been the most robust of headsets, indeed it had come apart several times at the slightest knock. Consequently throwing it like Thor’s (the God of Thunder) hammer were like etching the final words being on its epitaph!

The result: I had no work and no headset. My very loving husband heard the commotion and came up to give me a "never mind dear" hug. It didn't really do that much to calm me down, but I did appreciate the gesture enough to decide to try my final “get out of jail” move to recover my work, i.e. shut the program down again and re open it. And it worked! – a recovered version of my document auto saved by the computer. I was back in flow. Had I tried to find a way around the obstacle in the first place rather than hitting it literally with a hammer, I could have saved myself the £24.99 it cost me to replace my headset. Looking on the bright side; the new headset is 100 times better than the old one so I guess it wasn't a total loss.

What strategies do you use to determine whether to use your hammer or your flow when you encounter obstacles in your path? Please share your experiences so others can benefit. I really enjoy reading them.