It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. The plane took off from the airport and soon we were airborne. I glanced at my daughter and she smiled at me with a twinkle in her eyes, perhaps from the expectation we all had. We looked forward to this trip and the many beautiful places we hoped to visit. The skies had cooperated and the cloud cover was minimal. Looking down, the rolling hills and flowing rivers snaking their way down were quite a beautiful sight to behold. We flew on and two hours later I dozed off. I had a most interesting dream.

One day, on a cold winter morning, the clouds were grey and pregnant. The air was still and the birds were quiet. The wind too had taken a nap as had the sun. then a drop of rain fell to the ground. Then another, and another; soon it was a rainstorm with huge drops that made dents in the soil as they landed. It poured and the raindrops laughed heartily as they chased each other from the sky to the ground. As they increased, little puddles formed and these gathered together to catch up on the latest happenings on earth. But then soon they were too many puddles on the ground’s surface and some began to drift away, following the ground’s plane down the hill. They called onto their friends as they flowed down who also joined in the fun. In a short while, a little river had begun flowing. As the water flowed down the hill, the topsoil was washed away revealing a spring whose mouth was close to the ground’s surface. The spring water joined the merry raindrops as they flowed down the hill. Faster and faster they flowed, further and further they went, gathering into themselves whatever lay in their path. As the water increased in volume, it flowed faster and took on more debris. With time this caused a problem: the little stream that had formed now looked dirty and flowed slowly due to the amount of stuff it had taken on. As it slowed down, some of the soil and dirt settled to the bottom, and some of the debris was left on the sides, allowing the now clearer water to flow again.

At one point the water came across a large boulder in its path. It stopped and piled as it figured out what to do. One thing was clear though, it had to keep flowing. Stopping was not an option. Soon it was clear which side of the boulder was lower and the drops of water shrieked in delight as they triumphantly flowed down around the boulder. The cycle repeated itself over and over again. Every time the river gathered too much, the weight of what it carried prevented it from flowing as fast. It would then slow down, deposit some of what it had and pick up speed. It went around boulders and any obstacles in its path. One thing remained: it never stopped flowing. It ran its course to the ocean where it now slowed down and completely deposited all it had. Then it became a part of the ocean, the raindrops joining billions of other drops from across the world. They had run their course and would soon be evaporated to repeat the cycle all again.

I woke up as my little girl tugged at my arm, insisting I look outside. The sun was setting and it was a most beautiful sight to behold from up here. The fiery orange ball of fire lit the evening sky with varying hues of orange and yellow as it went to bed. I smiled at her as we watched this beautiful golden moment and soon it was dark. It was her turn to fall asleep and as she slept, I remembered my dream. I reflected on it and realised that we too like the raindrops are on a course.

We are born, and with shrieks and cries join billions of other humans living on earth: each with a unique identity and purpose but one common goal-to live. Like the raindrops, as our lives pick up, we also gather many things. Experiences, things, memories, love, hurt, joy…. the older we become, the more we gather. But these things and experiences soon can be a hindrance to the flow and ebb of our lives, keeping us from reaching our full potential. At that point, it helps to pause, reflect and determine what to let go. This allows us to flow and thrive again.

As we live on, we will encounter obstacles. Situations that seem to stop our lives, deny us the opportunity to be our best or simply threaten to take away our very being. Again, a pause and reflect will help. In the stillness, we can clearly see how to remove the obstacle. We get to assess the situation and see what we can leverage on: our skills, our friends, our relationships, our wealth, whatever we can use to our advantage to help us remove the obstacle. It calls for wisdom though because not all obstacles can be removed eg the loss of a loved one, a job, or a relationship. Some obstacles we must find a way to go around: relying on the support of others will enable us to find our way and live on again. One thing we must never lose: the focus on living. We never let go of that, no matter how big the obstacle seems. With time, a way will appear. We live on with purpose and keep going. Nobody told the river where the ocean is: neither did it have a GPS or a compass with it. Google maps didn’t apply here either: the river just knew and as it kept on flowing, it found the ocean. We too must not worry about our end or ultimate purpose. When we focus on ‘being’, the rest will fall into place. As we live out our lives fully, we will soon know what we are called to be. Our aim is to live full, beautiful lives and when time comes to join the ocean, we will have done a full course. For now, we choose to keep flowing.