Downstream vs. Against the Grain
July 31, 2009 by Jonathan Lockwood
One of the earliest memories I have, as I began to learn about the Law of 
Attraction, was the Abraham-Hicks recommendation to “go downstream.” This group consciousness from the non-physical dimension expressed their amusement that humans seem so intent on fighting the current of life. “Nothing you want is upstream,” they communicate.
But there’s another popular maxim that seems to contradict the downstream approach. Maybe you’re familiar with the Nickelback song, “If Today Was Your Last Day.”
Against the grain should be a way of life
What’s worth the prize is always worth the fight
Every second counts ’cause there’s no second try
So live like you’ll never live it twice
Don’t take the free ride in your own life
If you pay close attention to the other lyrics, it seems to be advising, ‘Life is too short to let your fears get the best of you. Go for it!’ And, while that certainly seems like common sense, you can’t escape the underlying message: ‘Go against the grain! Take the path less traveled! If you want life’s prize, you need to fight for it!’
Let’s put a finer point on this apparent opposition by looking at an actual situation involving two good friends of mine. One is strongly encouraging the other to overcome her fears of public speaking and begin making group presentations. She seems torn between the satisfaction that may come from rising to this challenge–and the considerable dread she feels for actually doing it.
Isn’t it true that many people have found incredible success by overcoming their fears? Isn’t it true that many are deeply grateful they were able to conquer them? Isn’t it also true that taking fears head-on is also perfectly contrary to Abraham’s advice? Isn’t it strenuously paddling upstream instead of pulling those oars in and drifting with the current?
I’d love to get your thoughts on this one. Are these two schools of thought able to coexist peacefully–or are they impossibly contradicting one another?
Overcoming the fear is not going upstream.
When someone’s innate talent is music and the personal wanted to become a MD, that maybe going upstream. When someone has little sense of visual art/presentation or three dimensional concept, and wanted to become a graphic designer or an architect, that is going upstream.
When the Universe shows clear signs nudging us in a direction, and we say NO, and egotistically desire going in another direction…. that is going upstream.
Fear is something everyone has. The question is “do we let fear run our life?” or “do we challenge our fear and create something we have the potential for?” Try Emotional Freedom techniques, past life regression, hypnosis and other healing modality to neutralize fear. It is much easier than challenge the fear head on. :o)
My passion is performing, be it singing, acting or dancing, but, I get a little shy sometimes. One of my fears is this, “What if i am not a good enough singer or am not entertaining enough?” But it is still something that I want to do, because I feel the most joy when I am performing. I still have to conquer my fear of failure and I want to. So to me, that’s going downstream. On the other hand, if I decided to go to college for example and study Accounting because maybe it’s a good idea to study a stable major to survive in this world; yes it’s a challenging major and I can overcome all fears associated with it and graduate with the highest honors and make lots of money but it will feel like I’m going against the wind and it will take more energy, and at the end of it all, it will not be worth it to have overcome those fears. To me that’s upstream. So if you’re in alignment with what makes you feel good, you will know what fears to overcome and the journey will feel right even if scary at times.
Loved your comment, Rachel. I think you addressed my question well. Are you married??? ;o)