The children’s song – row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream – is an excellent metaphor for a wonderful life. It’s all about going with the flow, as opposed to fighting the current when you row upstream.

You might see this as letting the currents of life choose your destination and decide your fate. That’s not how I see it. Going with the flow requires a deeper understanding and acceptance of yourself.

The public school system in America is designed to force students to row upstream. Does everyone really need to learn algebra? The answer is YES if you want every student to end up a clone of every other. If you want students to graduate with their creative inclinations intact, then the answer has to be NO.

The flow of the stream is the flow of your life energies. Where does the stream pull you? What feelings are evoked as you ponder the direction in which you are moving? The bigger question is what is your gift? A gift is something you give because it feels good. The greater the gift, the greater the reward. That reward is the feeling within you that assures you that there is meaning and purpose in your acts.

We are creative beings. We must resist any and all attempts to drown that spirit within us. This self-driven inspiration nurtures and guides us toward our chosen destiny. It is a gentle voice. It neither demands nor makes any attempt to control us. It asks only that we love and respect ourself enough to allow the potential that lives within us to express through us.

Is the child encouraged to express, or to repress? As you go through your day, as you suffer the nonsense imposed upon you by those who regard themselves more important, ask yourself one question. Am I broken or have I merely allowed myself to be tamed? The broken need healing. The tamed may turn upon their masters at any moment. Those in power have no fear of the broken. You can be sure they secretly dread the awakening of the tamed.

I suppose all of this is inconsequential. It is, after all, YOUR LIFE. Unless it isn’t. Row, row, row YOUR boat.