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I can’t recall how many times I have heard people casually and purposelessly remark “let’s go with the flow.” When a person says this, what I am hearing is that the person wants to “follow the path of least resistance.” There are times when this makes sense. However, this misconstrued and overused phrase often becomes a way of life for many people. When this attitude sets in, it can develop into a sort of “follow the crowd” mentality. Take a look at The Urban Dictionary (urbandictionary.com) definition for “go with flow”. 1.To not push against prevailing behavior/norms/attitudes, occasionally including bowing to peer pressure. 2. To not attempt to exert a large amount of influence on the course of events, whether a specific series of events or events in general. A person who does this is often referred to as "laidback" or "easygoing". Based on the definition given above, it’s easy to see how “going with the flow” can be applied to the “conformist” attitude of surrendering our personal power to the status quo. This misunderstood personal philosophy can discourage independent thinking and uniqueness of character. The truth of the matter is that humans need to be challenged. In my mind swimming upstream is excellent for personal growth. Humans require a moderate amount stress to grow in spirit. This condition cannot be accomplished by “going with the flow”. Sometimes we need to swim upstream just to see how far we can get. It’s important for human beings to test their resolve and determination. We need to push the limits and raise the bar. If we fail to challenge ourselves, we will eventually become weak and die. I do recognize that “swimming against the tide” is not always in our best interest. There are times when we “should let go and let God.” Those are the instances when it is appropriate reply on our intuitive sense rather than struggling with our reasoning minds. Accepting the guidance of our higher-self is not the same as abandoning our sense of individuality to the peer pressure of the popular crowd. It takes wisdom to know when to stand up for your principles and when compromise is appropriate.
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