There’s a Bob Dylan song with the title ‘The times, they are a-changing’.  You probably remember it – most people do.   Back in the ‘sixties, when it first came out, there was a surge of hopeful feeling about the future – that at last things were going to change, and that they were going to change for the better.  Instead of confronting the issues of conflict and poverty  in the real world as it was then, the bubble of optimism, inflated by airy psychedelic fantasies about a future la-la world of easy living,  grew and grew until it burst, as it was bound to do.  So, right now, here we are – you and me and the rest of most of the world as it is today. Many of us are at best coping with change rather than looking forward to it.

Instead of cruising above the crest of a wave, we now see ourselves as deep in its trough. We may be afraid of drowning, but the truth is that we can’t drown, because in reality we human beings are not creatures of the air. Our true home is in the turbulent element in which we live. The climate will and does change according to the season, but in storm or calm, fair weather or foul, we will still survive. As fish are at home in the water, we are adapted by nature to swim in the sea of life – with or against the tide of events.

The truth of that is recognised in the story about an old, wise fish that was swimming along  when he came across two young fish coming from the opposite direction. ‘Hi, fellers,’ he said, ‘How’s the water?’

‘Water?’, was the reply, ‘What’s water?

If you really want to regain your lost authenticity, you’ll need to burst out of your egotistic bubble and dive deep into the water of life. Instead of swimming against the tide of that which you really are, let the life current take you where it will, and go with the flow.  You’ll be amazed at what you see!

Let us know what you think – post a response in the comment box below…

by Charles Bentley, Life Coach, London