Charlene Belitz - The Power of Flow: Practical Ways to Transform Your Life with Meaningful Coincidence

Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint material: Connirae Andreas, from Core Transformation: Reaching the Wellspring Within. Moab, Utah: Real People Press, 1994. Bantam Doubleday Dell, from Frances E. Vaughan, Awakening Intuition. New York: Doubleday-Anchor Books, 1979. Paulist Press, from Brother David Steindl-Rast, Gratefulness: The Heart of Prayer. Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press, 1984. Samuel Weiser, Inc., from Phyllis Krystal, Cutting the Ties That Bind Workbook. York Beach, Maine: Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1995. The Record of Hackensack, N.J., for Dj Vu All Over Again, February 4, 1996. David K. Reynolds, for A Handbook for Constructive Living. New York: William Morrow, 1995. David Spangler, from Everyday Miracles: The Inner Art of Manifestation. New York, Bantam Books, 1996.

Copyright 1998 by Meg Lundstrom and Charlene Belitz

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Belitz, Charlene.
The power of flow : practical ways to transform your life with meaningful coincidence / Charlene Belitz and Meg Lundstrom.1st pbk. ed.
Originally published : New York : Harmony Books, 1997.
1. Self-actualization (Psychology). 2. Coincidence. I. Lundstrom, Meg.
II. Title.
BF637.S4B4257 1998
158.1dc21 98-25300

eISBN: 978-0-307-80781-6

v3.1_r1

We dedicate this book to you
and to all those whose lives you touch.
May all beings be happy.

Awakening one morning in his sunny Austin bedroom, Caylor Wadlington heard himself saying out loud, So Im moving to Denver? The words were part exclamation, part question, and they woke him up completely. As surprised as he was, he also experienced a happy, pleasurable feeling. But by the next day, he had dismissed the whole thing as just an odd dream. After all, he was cozily ensconced in Austin, where he had lived eight years, and he knew hardly a soul in Denver.

Then, out of the blue came a phone call from an officer of his national professional association, who invited Caylor to participate in a week-long work meetingin Denver. Hmm maybe there is something to this, Caylor thought, and without further hesitation he said yes.

In Denver, as the meeting ended, Caylor was chatting with another participant, a man who ran a school in the city. Caylor, if youd ever want to live here, Id like to hire you to teach for me, he said. Caylor thanked him calmly, but inside he was stunned: This is amazing! Walls are coming down to open the way for me to move here!

To leave Austin, however, would require selling a professional business that was so specialized he figured it would take at least a year to find a buyer. Quietly beginning to look around, Caylor invited a friend to Sunday brunch and, over coffee and pastries, laid out the prospect. His friend was not interested, but just as he said no, a colleague of theirs walked in. Caylor had not thought of him as a buyer, but, struck by the timing, told him his business was for sale. The colleague was more than interestedhe was thrilled. Dont tell another soul! he said excitedly. I definitely want it. This seems to be happening all by itself, mused Caylor. Then he received a letter from his landlord: Caylors condominium was going to be put on the market. A dream, an opportunity, an offer, the bootthe message was unmistakable. Caylor willingly closed down his life in charming Austin, and moved to Denver.

Caylor wears no wings, sees no auras. But to him, life works in magical and surprising ways when hes connected to a deeper force in the Universeand he knows hes connected because he feels it physically, as a soft, warm feeling inside that links him to a sweet expansiveness. When hes in that state, he experiences meaningful coincidence after meaningful coincidence. They add magic to my life, and tell me that the action Im taking is safe and true and right, he says. And they point the way to new opportunities: Although I loved Austin, I was starting to feel bored and a little stuck professionally and personally, he says now. I thought that Denver might open the way in my life to some important changes.

Caylor lives in flowand through it he has come into a fuller, truer existence. Flow is the natural, effortless unfolding of our lives in a way that moves us toward wholeness and harmony. When we are in flow, occurrences line up, events fall into place, and obstacles melt away. Rather than life being a meaningless struggle, it is permeated with a deep sense of purposefulness and order. Flow has tremendous power to transform our lives, for it is dynamic and moves us unerringly toward joy and aliveness.

Most of us have had experiences of being in flow. In those times, we know were in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. We feel both exhilarated and at peace, somehow connected to something larger and greater than ourselves. Life is rich with meaning, magic, and purpose. We feel vital, alive, joyful. But for most of us, it doesnt happen often enough or for long enough. We feel glimmerings of flow, and then they fade away.

This doesnt have to be the case: people like Caylor have learned to make flow their way of life, the rule rather than the exception. The way they do it is through synchronicitythose meaningful coincidences in which outside events, seemingly disconnected in time and space, link up with our internal states and connect us with the greater whole.

When synchronicity happens, people like Caylor follow the direction it seems to indicateand then they watch synchronicity happen more and more. They know they are deeply in flow when synchronicity is sparkling all around them. By using synchronicity for guidance, confirmation, and validation, their lives become a dance of energy with the Universe, a give-and-take with their environment that fills their days with insight and zest.

This way of life requires paying attention to meaningful coincidence. Caylor, for example, could have disregarded his dream and turned down the Denver job. But over time he had developed a strong respect for what he considers signs from the Universe, both subtle and unmistakable. He has learned that by paying attention to these signs, he reaches new levels of comprehension about his inner life and his role in the world.