After The Work

Basketball practice. The words invoke fun and work if you spent any time running up and down the courts. All that repetition, running plays over and over again until you run them in your sleep. Regardless of whether you started or not, everyone learns the plays so theoretically a second stringer could step in when needed. Then the magic happens: the synergy of moving the ball between one another. You don’t think about what to do with the ball, you just react. Some people call it “the zone”, others, “the flow”.

The flow happens regardless of the sport or practice. Musicians, gamers, writers, ballet dancers, workers, runners all find a point where they just “are” doing what they have practiced. Hit the shot, play the chord progression, get lost in the process, a person simply “is” doing what we have worked so hard and long to do. There is a pleasure in the flow, a quiet confidence and joy moving and working.

Life can get to this point as well. Simply living in the moment, reacting honestly from your heart, doing what you are supposed to be doing. All is fundamentally well. If only we could bottle this feeling up and consume it at will. It is a feeling practiced and at the same time not attempted. It is the open palm allowing the butterfly to sit. It is giving up control and living life on life’s terms. How do we get to this place? Complicated process to a simple truth: Let go and let God.

Perhaps you have heard this in a recovery meeting, church or from a friend. It means trusting Something greater than you is in control and letting the world move about you rather than imposing your will upon everything. There are times to act and times to wait, you will know if you let go and simply “be”. Again, a complicated process to a simple truth.

It means self discovery, discipline, honesty, and action. We learn why and how we become disturbed about something, trust that God has the solution, and put it in his hands. Then comes the practice, like basketball, one needs to learn to consistently trust that God has it in hand. Discipline is required where we do not want to be disciplined, and be honest, there are times we would rather be in charge. Finding a spiritual discipline, group, or place of worship are essential to the process, but the results might be called “serenity”, that is, the flow.

Proverbs 3:5-6 can prove to be a reliable outline, “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and he will make your paths straight.” Trusting God has your life in hand, and doing so with conviction of heart. Leaning not on your own understanding is a leap of faith, but those are times to wait and observe. Acknowledging Him in all your ways takes self discovery, honesty and discipline– knowing who you are, why you do what you do, and committing to make different choices according to His roadmap.