A Game of Skip Rope

With spring in the air, there’s something about the patches of concrete drying in the south sun that puts me back in elementary school. At recess time, we would play in front of the old school on the patches of dry concrete. As soon as the patches were big enough, out came the skipping ropes.

I liked skipping. I wasn’t particularly good at it, but it was fun.

Reflecting on it, I guess it was the rhythm.

As the sun got stronger and the patches got bigger, skipping would turn from an individual to a group activity. Long skipping ropes, one kid on each end, and a row of jumping kids in the middle.

But the real fun began with Double Dutch. Two long skipping ropes, swinging in opposite directions.

I loved it. The kids holding the skipping ropes would get the ropes in synch. The ropes would slap the ground in double time. And I’d be standing just to the side, rocking back and forth to the rhythm of the ropes whirling past me, waiting for my entry point.

If I timed it right, I would be jumping quick and easy in synch with the ropes spinning around me.

If I didn’t time it right I’d be in a tangled mess.

Life is a game of Double Dutch. It has a rhythm. A divine order to it. You can call it God, Source, or Universe, I don’t mind because we’re talking about the same thing. It’s the flow of life in coherence and harmony, ups and downs, swirling in ordered chaos and chaotic order.

And there we are trying to get in.

If we get it right, we are in the flow - God’s flow - moving quick and easy in life’s swirling rhythm.

If we miss it, we get tangled and we trip.

Flow is always there, filled with meaning and purpose, clarity, faith, and trust. In the flow we can roll with the punches, never missing a step or losing composure, staying in joyful rhythm. Work, the kids, timing, lessons, interactions, and opportunities flow together with uncanny order and purpose when we are in flow.

When we’re not in flow, it’s rough - an uphill battle, where it feels like the world itself is against you. It’s filled with suffering and grumbling, one-step-forward-two-steps-back mentality, scarcity, and despair. When we are out of flow, family, finances, the weather, circumstances, and situations all feel like bad luck.

Here’s the question: how do we get in flow?

Recall our skipping analogy. What did we do before jumping in? We found our personal rhythm first.

Find your personal rhythm first. Create internal harmony first. Get your mind, body, and emotions on the same page first.

Then jump in.

In your life, are you in-flow? Or are you tangled up and tripping?

How will you find your personal rhythm?

Is life happening to you, or is it happening for you?

Here’s to Conquering Stress,

The Stress Experts

PS. Life is always happening for you. It just doesn't always feel that way. Life presents for you the opportunities to grow- in patience, in compassion, in forgiveness. It is in choosing to grow in these qualities that you conquer stress.

Not sure how? Start here.