What happens if your “floating downstream” suddenly become a class V rapid?
15 years ago I came across Abraham Hicks. At first, it felt like I had won the lottery. Their advice spoke loudly to the feel-good part of me. “Follow your bliss.” “Let go of worry and focus on feeling good.” “Ask and it is given.” “Everything is always working out for you.” Their words felt like a breath of fresh air. It felt like I’d discovered a hidden secret to life.
However, this kind of advice, while uplifting, falls short when it comes to existence and reality. Life isn’t all puppies and rainbows and do you really want it to be? Truly, how far of an unlimited being can you be if you cage yourself within constant ease and euphoria?
While that may disguise itself as “heaven on earth”, here are a few reasons why it falls short of your enormity:
1. Focus On Feeling Good
A tree needs both sunlight and rooted darkness to grow strong. And you are no different. Advice like "focus on what feels good" often aims to keep things light and accessible. While that’s helpful, it doesn’t address the depth of emotions, challenges, or existential questions we are here to experience. There is a part of you that knows that the human experience—and our essence—is far more nuanced and vast than what surface positivity can capture.
And when the other side of the coin arises - as it always does - it’s not showing you that you’re broken, but that even stars need the dark in order to shine.
2. Ask and It Is Given
I’ve asked and it didn’t show up. So, I guess I’m either faulty or don’t understand the instructions…
The "ask and it is given" idea suggests that life can be as straightforward as aligning with desires and receiving them. So, how’s that working out for you?
The enormity of who we are involves more than just wanting and receiving; it involves a profound journey of self-discovery, inner conflict, and transformation. This simplified perspective is out of sync with the complex, layered growth we get to and are, for sure, going to experience.
3. Follow Your Bliss
Who doesn’t love bliss? Even the word itself looks dreamy and happy. It brings up images of cool breezes and floating lazily downstream on a sunny afternoon.
Advice like this often uses feel-good language, but that can overlook the expansiveness of our nature. The real journey of the self involves pushing upstream, paradoxes, and the continuous unfolding of consciousness that goes beyond what’s “easy” or “positive.”
In order to “float downstream” we have to get upstream first. We’re far more than beings seeking to attract good vibes; we are creators of entire worlds of experience, grounded in both light and dark.
4. Manifest Your Desires
“If I can just manifest my dream life - then everything will be perfect.” The enormity of who we are includes our connection to a vast, timeless essence—the infinite self. Advice centered around attraction and manifesting material things sometimes skips over the sacred and mysterious aspects of existence, where we’re not just here to get what we want but to engage with the unknown, to see ourselves as the colossal, limitless essence within form.
When you experience the mind-blowing reality of your true enormity and bring that fearless presence into every corner of your life—even into the deepest shadows—the need for manifestations begins to feel trivial and vastly limiting. Ironically, that’s when they start showing up and, amazingly, you could care less.
5. Everything Is Always Working Out For Me
This advice can feel prescriptive, yet we are ever-evolving beings with boundless depths to explore and if everything is always working out for you - why bother getting up in the morning?
Real growth and inner peace often arise from going beyond comfort, embracing uncertainty, and surrendering to a larger process of inevitable expansion and self-realization. You are called to explore these depths instead of focusing solely on “chilling out” because everything is being done for you.
When we only focus on the “positive,” we end up resisting or avoiding anything that seems negative—even though those tough experiences are often where we find the biggest chances to grow and transform. It’s in those challenging moments that we can really tap into our creative power, using everything we’ve got to navigate, shift, and expand.
This way of seeing things lets us view every experience as something we can work with, rather than something to shy away from. And let’s be real, those moments make for the BEST stories (or blogs).
In truth, the “negative” isn’t something to cut out; it’s a chance to flex our Creator muscles, helping us see just how powerful we are. This approach embraces all our power—not just to get what we want, but to shape, transform, and fully embody who we are.
So, next time you face a challenge, ask yourself: how is this inviting me to flex my creative power? How bold can I really go here?
💋Kristen
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