Is ebb or flow good?
the ebbs and flows of life + love
the ebbs and flows of life + love
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read time: 8 min
If youre anything like me
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You may like when things feel predictable and consistent in your life.
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You may like having a plan and sticking to it.
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You may like having a to-do list and being able to check it off bit-by-bit.
All of that is fine and dandy, except for these plans and to-do lists typically dont account for the constant ebb and flow of life.
I use the phrase ebb and flow a lot and wanted to define it for the purposes of this blog post.
Wikipedias definition is: Ebb and flow are two phases of the tide or any similar movement of water. The ebb is the outgoing phase, when the tide drains away from the shore, and the flow is the incoming phase when water rises again.
In real lifeebbs are the times when I feel like things arent going to plan, my energy is lower, or Im not in a groove, where flows are times when I feel like things are working out, I have momentum, and Im in a groove.
Another way I interpret this is that while bodies of water are typically constant (akaif I want to go to the waterfront here in Malmö, its still going to be there today, tomorrow, the next day), their tides are constantly changing or fluid (akathe level of water could be higher or lower, draining from shore or flowing back in).
The same can be said about most things in life + love.
While there are some things that may remain steady and constant, many many others will be in a state of ebb and flow.
The reason I wanted to write about this is because I feel like the beginning of September was one big ebb + the end of the month heading into present-day October, I feel very much back in flow.
The ebbs showed up for me in a few key areas: my emotions, my business, my relationship with Nate.
Before I give examples of what I mean, I wanted to share a few reflections now that Im back in more of the flow:
1 - When ebbs comes up, its hard to see clearly.
This reflection is inspired by psychologist Martin Seligmans research on how people deal with setbacks.
He found there are 3Pspersonalization, pervasiveness, and permanenceand how we respond to these determine how well bounce back from hardship.
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Personalization: this is all my fault or things are hard because Im not doing life right.
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Pervasiveness: EVERYTHING is hard right now or it feels like nothing is going my way
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Permanence: this will last forever or I dont see the light at the end of the tunnel, so it isnt there
I heard Brené Brown talk about this in a recent podcast episode, and whenever I am in an ebb period, Ive noticed the 3 Ps tend to show up.
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I tend to be overly self-critical during challenging phases.
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I tend to be more pessimistic about other areas of my life (ex: if things feel hard in my business, that can bleed over into how I view my relationship).
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I tend to forget that challenging times always pass, and that its not a matter of if but when.
If you find yourself in an ebb and notice the 3 Ps coming up for youjust know that they are likely clouding your vision right now and to wait to try and fix things until you feel back into a more flow-y state.
Dont try to force the flow to come, it will come in time.
We have to trust that the ebb will pass, and flow will find us again.
2 - Dont make life-altering decisions from an ebb.
During an ebb, I tend to show up with more fear.
During a period of flow, I tend to show up with more clarity.
I dont like to make decisions from a place of fear.
If I did, Id probably have ended my relationship a long time ago, because there were plenty of moments when I was caught in so. much. fear. and felt like there was no light at the end of the tunnel.
In moments of clarity, Ive always wanted to move forward and show up in my relationship with more love.
In moments of fear, its hard to show up with love.
Whether its at your job, in your relationship, with friends and family, or other important things in your life, try to be patient enough to wait for clarity + flow to make your decisions, not give in to anxietys false sense of urgency during an ebb.
3 - Give yourself a LOT of compassion during an ebb.
Compassion tends to help ebbs shift into flow with much more ease.
On the flip side, being upset that youre in an ebb, resisting the ebb, and shaming yourself for being in an ebb tend to make the ebb feel longer and worse.
Giving yourself compassion during an ebb should not just something you do in order to get the ebb to hurry up already, but its an opportunity to feel better in the midst of it.
This is something I am proud to say I have improved at.
Im not perfect, and still tend to be my own worst critic, but Im slowly but surely more able to recognize when I need to give myself compassion for being human.
Its okay to have crappy times.
Its okay to be emotional.
Its okay if things feel hard.
Its okay if you feel disconnected from things that normally bring you fulfillment.
Its okay to cry.
Its okay to get stuck in comparison traps.
Its okay to feel behind.
Its all okay.
When we shame ourselves for experiencing very normal human experiences, it feels icky.
It feels like were broken, something is wrong, and we need to fix it.
When we bring compassion into the picture, we can remind ourselves that being human isnt all sunshine and roses.
We can allow ourselves to feel the grief, disappointment, or fear that comes up as a result of the hard moments without making those hard moments bad.
Its tempting to just want the good stuff in life, were all guilty of it, but the more we can allow all of it to be there, the less well resist the natural ebbs and flows of life.
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Now, to make this a little more real and a little less hypothetical, let me share some of what was going on when I felt caught in my most recent ebb.
As I shared above, the ebbs showed up for me in a few key areas: my emotions, my business, my relationship with Nate.
As I also shared above, in life, there are things that tend to remain steady and constant, yet many others will be in a state of ebb and flow.
Heres what that looked like for me recently:
My emotions
During my most recent ebb, I felt very self-critical, blah, and was responding negatively to my emotions.
Emotions are not bad in any way shape or form.
However, how we REACT to having emotions can be really important, and I was not reacting with kindness towards myself.
I was reacting as if the emotions I felt were bad, which was leading me to feeling shame, frustration, and irritation (mainly towards myself).
The constant here is that I will always have emotions.
What will continue to ebb and flow is how I react to these emotions.
Im happy to say that right now I am back in a flow where I am feeling more compassion, inspiration, and acceptance for whatever emotions come up.
I would love to tell you I always show up with compassion, inspiration, and acceptance, but that wouldnt be true andddd, thats likely my inner perfectionist creating unreasonable expectations.
Emotions are part of life, and I know with time, Ill continue to become more and more accepting of them, and continue to look for the lessons within my emotions.
My business
During my most recent ebb, I felt a lot of self-inflicted pressure around my business.
This led to me getting stuck in comparison traps, feeling unclear in how I wanted to show up on social media, and made things feel more like work and less like something Im passionate about (becauseI AM passionate about what Im bringing to the world).
Its perfectly normal to have seasons where work feels more like work. Nothing wrong there.
Similarly to how I was reacting to my emotions above, had I been able to give myself permission to really be in an ebb with work, and trust that it was not bad or wrong, it may have felt a little easier in the moment.
I can see that now in hindsight.
There were a few weeks where I felt like nothing was working, and can I even do this?
I say this not to get any external validation, and the last thing I want to do is feel like Im coming from a woe is me mentality. I have a lot to be grateful for in my business. AND, its okay to have slumps or times where things dont seem to come together how I envision they will.
The constant here is my business. I dont plan on going anywhere (cant predict the future, of course), and so as of now, I can confidently say my business is a constant in my life.
What will continue to ebb and flow in my business iswell, a lotthe different ways I support my clients, different seasons of growth, different ways to support my online communities (hint: podcast coming soon!), and my mindset.
Two years into having my own business, I can say that its been one big ebb and flow, and that keeps it exciting.
Im going to carry the lessons I learned from the last ebb in my business into the next one, I just know it.
And for now, Im celebrating the new-found clarity and ease thats coming with the current flow season I am in.
My relationship
Last but certainly not least, lets talk relationships.
I mean, this is a relationship-focused blog after all
During my most recent ebb, I felt like Nate and I were stuck in a routine, and going through the motions if you will.
This isnt the first time this has come up, and its also not a bad thing.
Both Nate and I are in a season of growth in our careers right now. We moved to Sweden almost two years ago for him to take a job with a pretty solid amount of responsibility, and of course, that takes time out of his day/week.
Starting + growing my business also takes time out of the day/week. I tend to have more flexibility as my own bossbut that also has its downsides because I then am in control of being my own off switchand sometimes I dont turn the off switch off.
So, all that to say, sometimes things feel more routine and less exciting around here.
This is nothing out of the ordinary, and I know many other couples experience this.
I also know it can contribute to relationship anxiety.
Luckily, Ive been through this enough with Nate to realize that the flow always finds us again, however, in the midst of the ebbs, it can still feel a bit more lonely.
The constant here is Nate. Regardless if were feeling more connected, or in a period of disconnection, he is my constant and my rock. I cant guarantee what our future will hold, but for 6 years, through the ups and downs, Nate has been one incredible constant.
What will continue to ebb and flow in our relationship? So many things. How connected we are, how attracted were feeling towards one another, how intimate were being, how much newness and excitement were cultivating, how busy we are individually and together, how our individual emotions carry into the relationship, the love were feeling towards one another, and so much more.
Relationship anxiety doesnt like this, at all. Why? Because:
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Relationship anxiety wants to know exactly how things will go.
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Relationship anxiety doesnt trust the ebbs will end.
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Relationship anxiety expects love + relationships to be one big flow.
Its just not how things work (in my experience, and from what Ive studied from relationship experts).
Im grateful to say that after the ebb most certainly came a flow in me and Nates relationship again.
Were both feeling connected and open-hearted right now.
We acknowledged last week that we feel more love now for one another than we did 3 years ago.
And I trust that no matter how long this period of flow lasts, and no matter when the next ebb arrives, the feeling of love is still there beneath the surface and can be returned to at any time.
How? Well, when Im not feeling so loving, I can work to remove the fear thats blocking the love.
Its a constant practice. Its worth it.
It may sound counter-intuitive, but when we can accept that there will be constant ebbs and flows in love + relationships, we can move through both phases without latching on too tightly and making them mean anything.
We can move through a phase of flow without being attached to it staying forever.
We can move through an ebb without trying to rush it away and get back to flow.
We can trust in the ever-changing nature of life
The Ebb and Flow Effect. Life is all ups and downs, let's talk…
We All Experience Bad
I recently left a job that held me on the wrong side of the balance. I used many tools to my advantage to keep me closer to the sweet spot I spoke of earlier. I leveraged every idea I had to find the good. Now that this bad is behind me, Im full steam ahead on my journey to live a life filled with my biggest passions.
You can do this too. Whatever evil you are currently experiencing or have recently had, do you see the good? Can you look back at a bad experience and now see all the good that has since happened? I believe you can, I know its there. And those experiencing bad right now lets change that.
Lets get up and look around that mind of yours and lets find some light, what do we see? I cant tell you the exact steps to take because its your mind, your experience, but I can encourage you. I can tell you everyone has been there.
Even if you think you are the only one, thats the wrong mindset. There are billions of humans. Its seriously completely impossible to be alone. Ill repeat, its seriously completely impossible to be alone. Yes, I meant it to be wordy to grab your attention. Everyone needs to know this. Tons of people on the wrong side of balance think they are alone, which is a big reason they are stuck there. I strive to change that, and hopefully, this resonates with you.
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