Go Where the Current Takes You

My Dream

Last night, I had a dream.
I was swimming in a calm canal. The water was clear, the light warm and golden. Everything felt easy — effortless, almost peaceful.

When I decided it was time to turn back, I suddenly felt how strong the current really was.
I pushed off the rock wall with my feet, using every bit of strength I had, and somehow made it back to where I started — safe, a little shaken, and completely exhausted.

When I woke up, I thought the message was obvious: find the momentum to face my challenges, push harder, fight through, don’t give up.
But later — after sitting quietly with it, and with some insight from a friend — something deeper surfaced.

I realized I’ve been swimming upstream in my own life.
Trying to return to something familiar instead of trusting the movement that’s been calling me forward.

Remembering a Story

That realization brought to mind a story I’ve always loved — from the book, Illusions by Richard Bach.

There’s a village of small creatures living along the bottom of a crystal river. They cling to the rocks and twigs below because that’s what they’ve always known. Above them, the current moves — steady, powerful, alive — but they never let go.

One day, one creature says, “I’m tired of clinging. Though I can’t see where it leads, I’ll trust the current and let it take me.”
At first, he’s tossed and bruised, dragged across the rocks. But after a while, he’s lifted and carried free.

Those still clinging below look up and call him a miracle, never realizing that the same freedom is waiting for them too — if only they’d dare to release their grip.

Beneath the Water

That image — of holding on and letting go — mirrors what so many of us face in life.

We hang on to what’s familiar: a role, a rhythm, an identity that once felt safe. But growth asks for something braver. It asks us to trust the current of life itself, even when we can’t see where it’s taking us.

Letting go doesn’t mean giving up.
It means believing the current knows the way, even when our minds can’t.

Flow as Strength

Strength isn’t always in resistance.
Sometimes it’s in surrender — not weakness, but wisdom.

To release what no longer serves us is to make space for what’s next.
To remember that the same current we fear is the one that sustains us.

Our real work isn’t clinging to the bottom, hoping things stay the same.
It’s learning to trust the flow that’s been carrying us all along.

An Invitation

Maybe life is whispering to you right now — asking you to stop fighting the current.
To breathe.
To trust.
To allow yourself to be carried forward, even if you don’t yet know where the river leads.

“The river delights to lift us free, if only we dare let go. Our true work is this voyage, this adventure.”
— Richard Bach, Illusions