Persistence Or Forced Flow: What's the difference?
Hola familia! Well, I've been waiting to hopefully have some big news to announce...and things have continued to be delayed and filled with curveballs. It's brought up some deep reflections on:
~ Persistence VS Resilience ~
I've been caught between pushing through with persistence and resilience for what I feel I’ve been calling in versus the flip side of ‘seeing the signs’ that things aren’t aligned or that the flow is forced and it’s time to pull out and switch course.
It’s a tricky grey zone!
As I've come to learn the difference of the two terms above as:
Resilience: > Is a personality trait. You can develop and build it with consistent effort > Resilience refers to our ability to recover or adapt after experiencing adverse events.
> Resilient people look for solutions, rather than focus on the problem alone.
Perseverance: > Is an action. It's something you do to achieve your goals.
> Perseverance means to keep going even when encountering setbacks.
> People who persevere often achieve success because they refuse to give up.
~
~ Of Force & Flow ~
I was doing some further research into this topic and found a great blog by Jeffery Flesch HERE. Here are my main takeaways from his article:
Force is often incorrectly mixed with being persistent.
Persistence is actually working with the environment, not against it.
Flexibility and adaptability create persistence, not force.
Ex) like a tree sprout growing between the cracks of a sidewalk
When we use force, we are resisting that which we are confronted with. The lack of flexibility and adaptability is resistance. Resistance breaks over time. Living in resistance is living in denial about our current reality.
The key is bringing in awareness and shifting from resistance to acceptance. From there, shift into persistence in an open flexible and adaptable state. Find the flow and create from inside what is already there.
*(Photo above by Mario Nobre during backstage prep before our Momentom show at Envision)
~ Community Reflections ~
How do the terms above interplay with forcing things when it actually isn't aligned anymore or in 'flow'? I had reached out to my friends and community on IG (full responses HERE) to ask for reflections and was flooded with some amazing insight! Here are some of my favourite responses:
The word I often surrender to is authenticity. What feels right in my heart, my body, my gut. It’s from that place the push isn’t a push. The action becomes irrelevant.
-Akara (@akaravibe)
I’m in a similar circumstance and it reminded me of a story about a man digging for treasure. All his friends and family wanted him to stop digging, telling him that the treasure wasn’t real. In his head he knew he made all the right calculations and picked the perfect location to dig for this treasure that spoke to his heart, but still he was unsure. So I say, forget about the treasure and ask yourself do you enjoy digging for it?
-Colt (@krelo16)
Our life is always changing, sometimes the things we felt most aligned with/our purpose changes course — it’s through that process we can learn to embrace ourselves and the changes or push against ourselves. Ultimately, the first instinct is our soul's pull.
One has led you to where you are now, but also inspires you to grow and build in a completely new way as well. Maybe they are not so separate. You can write with your right hand… but you also need the left to wash the right. It’s the thoughts that create the resistance, but your resilience will keep the light on the path to where your heart is calling!
Going back to your original Why might help redefine what started you on the path in the first place. Until now that Why has served its purpose. As we shift, the environment and way may need change or look different, but the Why is the voice of our heart. In my eyes… that’s always worth the trust and resilience.
-Ryan (@ruahrising)
Maybe you can ask yourself: What’s the higher vision?
And when you fully commit to that, what would your decision be? Once there is clarity: I ask myself: what permission slip do I need to give myself to take this jump? If the outcome is persistence: how can you make the process as much fun as you possible can. Can you shift gears and shift the ‘how you do it’? If it’s redirecting course, what do you need to show up fully for that? Is there a way you can make it smoother and more enjoyable for yourself?
-Celeste (@celestedecember)
Persistence is not giving up on our prayer - the What - the thing that is really driving us from the deepest purest place in our heart to support others. Forced flow in my new understanding is forcing the How, not yielding to divine guidance, not listening to the no’s … to God … thinking we know the How or even thinking we need to know the How.
-Jez (@jeztozer)
*(Photo above by Darcy James Smith)
On another note there's been some great create flow in Nicaragua with our first Acoustic Psychedelia show merging music, live painting, story telling and art showcase at Machete, Playa Maderas. It was an honor to share the space with mi hermano Kawahe and have some of the community musicians join in for a super jam after! (You can watch Machete's recap HERE)
***Check out my full catalogue of original music, remixes and playlists on Spotify HERE
...and yes, I officially have a half baked goatee aka Johnny Blackbeard aka Silly Goat Gruff.
Some fun contradiction with the ol' sun cooked surf curls jajaja (I'd make a goat pun, but it's baaaaad enough already)
I hope everyone is adapting to their flow whichever way feels expansive, expressive and exciting!
😋❤️✌️🇳🇮 Abrazos de Nicaragua!
Tu Amigo,
-John
PS if you made it all the way to the end of this email, pass it on to someone you think would dig it!
