Do you find that you cannot stick to that diet even after it was working? Do you feel out of control like your life is controlling you instead of the other way around? Do you just want to be successful but find it hard to do so? You may find that your life is actually a lot like water. If we can learn some lessons from how to properly channel water, we can apply these lessons to our lives to properly “channel” it.
Life, like water, will always follow the path of least resistance and will always settle at the lowest point if you are not guiding and directing it. When water has no structure to follow and nothing to push it is just settles and sits. It becomes worthless. Our lives act much the same if we don’t have effort, expectations, difficulty, pressures, structure, management, and goals.
If I want water to move up hill and be useful I need two things; structure and pressure. If I need water to get to the top of a hill I need to build a structure guiding the water up the hill to the spot needed, that structure would likely be a pipe. Then in order to get the water to move up the pipe I would need something to apply pressure, like a pump. Then the water is channeled correctly and becomes useful to me.
This same analogy applies to our lives. If we create sufficient structure we can direct our lives to where we want it to go. This structure would include setting goals, sticking to a routine, taking the path less traveled, and managing our lives on a regular basis. All the structure in the world won’t help you with out some sort of pressure.
Life’s pressure is expectation. Expectations could come from yourself, family, friends, coworkers, God, or society at large. These expectations should be realistic and challenging. Let those expectations push you to become better. In summary structure your life and allow expectations to push you. If you do this you can accomplish anything.
What happens when the water arrives at the top of the hill? Can we take away the structure? What happens if we lose the pressure? Without either of the two elements the water will again run down the hill following the path of least resistance and settle and the lowest point. Once you have achieved your goals don’t stop doing the things that made you successful in the first place! There are no quick fixes if you want to be successful it must be a lifestyle change of continued structure and expectations.