“The ability of a substance to flow.”
Dictionary definition of fluidity
If we observe an entity which is fluid, such as water. It is a substance that can mould itself into any type of container and the shapes it can morph into are endless. What does water have to do with us? I’m glad you asked! Similarly to water, life in itself has to be flexible in order to evolve and better survival. For us as humans, we have evolved and changed to better our chances of survival. We can recognise the physical growth of a human, through growing taller, or growing more hair in colder climates. The mental growth however, is easily forgotten as it isn’t immediately noticed. The mental growth I refer to is the growth we experience as we get older and wiser. The growth we experience through ageing.
However, because mental growth isn’t noticed as much as physical, doesn’t mean we should forget about it or not treat it as important. Instead, highlight that it is a major factor of our lives more so than the physical growth as it defines how we act in different situations.
Fluidity is the ability to adjust yourself to your environment and evolve in mindset to becoming a more efficient version of yourself depending on your situation, the ability to learn and apply wisdom to your life quickly instead of being rigid to the past. Being able to transition yourself, to learn something new and evolve from it. Especially with how quickly society and views can changes and shift.
MISCONCEPTION OF BEING THE SAME
There is a misconception that once we understand and know ourselves we are to be like this until death, that we attain one goal in life and work towards one destination.
Life is full of endless possibilities and these possibilities have endless ways of moulding us, the idea that we are fluid compliments this, that the opportunities we are given can allow us to evolve one event at a time. Yes, some values are held to be constant such as the essence of who we are but we as humans are made to be able to adapt to the differences that society brings to us. The ability to accommodate and control a situation instead of allowing that situation to control us, being open to understanding and being flexible to attain the best outcome.
Everything about us is always changing, more specifically evolving, whether that is for the better or worse that is up to you!
“Identity is never solidified and always in flux, instead of a single unchanging self, we might consider a liquid self.”
Nathan Jurgenson
We begin to learn different things about ourselves as we go through life, such as trying out new things as a child where we are exposed to the possibilities of the world. I remember when I was in nursery and we all read the book called Handa’s Surprise. Within this book they introduced many different fruits and we got to try every one of them! Only until I tried mango I wasn’t aware that I would love the fruit. This is a small example of building on the wisdom we have, and evolving with every new experience, finding out what we like and dislike using the experience for the future.
THE FEAR OF FLUIDITY
Being fearful can cause us many limitations throughout our lives, such as not accepting new and daring opportunities. More specifically the fear of fluidity, is being afraid of changing oneself and staying the same. Remaining in one position can lead to more difficulty in our lives.
“A tree that is unbending is easily broken.”
Lao Tzu
In life, it can be difficult to adjust to new situations and leave the past behind. We come across so many opportunities to use our fluidity right from the day we are born. Change can be very difficult to experience especially if the latter was comforting and something that gave us pleasure, we soon realise and understand that change is inevitable and practising becoming fluid helps us to adjust to changes quickly and live life to the fullest. The fear of being fluid can lead to rigidness in our lives, where we chose to oppose the flow of nature, which can cause many side effects. Leading us to be unhappy and constantly living in the past and not embracing our present or future.
“Change can be scary, but you know what’s scarier? Allowing fear to stop you from growing, evolving and progressing.”
Mandy Hale
HOW TO BECOME MORE FLUID
REMEMBER YOUR ESSENCE
Don't get me wrong being fluid doesn't mean completely losing your self-value and essence of who you are according to every different situation one may face. It does require us to hold a strong remembrance of our identity; for more information on self-identity check out the Self-Identity post.
Fluidity requires us to build on the knowledge we already have of ourselves, so as we adjust to new events as it gives us the opportunity to build on our wisdom instead of changing our fundamental values. Behaving in a way we hold our true values, our personality and what we believe in regardless of the situations we are placed in.
EMBRACE CHANGE
Fluidity links closely with the idea of embracing change and in order to be fluid one must be able to embrace the changes that they may come across. Change can be very difficult to adjust to, I have definitely found it hard to embracing change, but we soon realise that change is always closer than we think. So even if the current situation you are in maybe good think about what is lying on the other side of the situation, what you can gain from it.
“The mental flexibility of the wise man permits him to keep an open and enables him to readjust himself whenever it becomes necessary for change.”
Malcom X.
Every time you learn something and apply it to your life, you are evolving.
KEEP OPTIMISM
It can be difficult to see every event that you may come across in the most positive light, and sometimes we have the habit of our inner voices criticising and discouraging us from situations we find ourselves in.
Yes, not every event in our lives will have a good outcome. Such as, being rejected for a job interview or losing a friend amongst many other events in our lives which can disappoint us. It is good to keep a positive outlook on life by maintaining the idea that every moment in our lives is one of two things … either it is a wonderful moment which you will cherish or an opportunity to learn something new!
This approach leads us to be resourceful in life by making the most out of every situation we come across. So next time you come across a bad experience look at it as a life lesson to attain instead of growing cold towards it.
LEARNING TO LET GO
We can hold on to the past, hold unto memories and people in the past which leads us to remain in the past. Unfortunately focusing on the past takes away from spending our minds in the now and for the future, what is in the past should remain. Learning to let go of the past whether that be a habit of biting nails, the self of your past or people who you came across in your journey of life.
Fluidity requires you to be free of things that hold you down, such as a past of having low confidence cannot stop you from taking opportunities to speak in front of thousands, as an example. Letting go of what is behind you and ridding yourself of the weights that restrict you from moving freely - figuratively speaking. Looking towards what the future has to hold, and being ready with wisdom from your past.
CONCLUSION
Choosing to be free, unrestricted, taking life one step at a time and evolving in mindset by taking wisdom from the situations you are approached with. Whether they are good or bad rising above them. Learning lessons, applying them to your life and becoming a better version of yourself each and every day. Choosing fluidity which can lead you to being open to more opportunities and becoming a wise person with every situation you come across.
As life can reveal many challenging to joyous situations it leads us to become fluid with each day, so decide to take your life in your own hands and overcome obstacles that life will put in your path and evolve with each flourishing day!
So, are you ready to evolve as a person and embrace fluidity?
Word of Reassurance – everything which is written is based on opinion, experience and perspective of life. I share these posts as you may pick up on something which can help you for the future. If you have any concerns or comments feel free to give feedback.
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