Your Prosperity Braid: A teaching about waterfalls
Let’s begin with a nature analogy about a waterfall and what we are invited to learn from it and with it in relation to our own prosperity.
How do waterfalls not run out of water?
Waterfalls are some of the most mesmerizing sights in nature, but they’re also some of the most misunderstood.
For example, many people believe that waterfalls are powered by underground springs. However, most waterfalls are actually fed by rivers and streams.
The water cycle is a process of continuous recycling.
Every day, water evaporates from the surface of the earth. It rises into the atmosphere, and it falls back down to the surface, as precipitation—it pulls in, rises up, flows back down.
Some precipitation seeps into the ground, where it becomes groundwater. The rest runs off the surface of the earth into lakes, rivers, and oceans. The water from these bodies then evaporates, and the cycle starts all over again.
So, how do waterfalls not run out of water? The answer lies in that water cycle.
This is really important, and I want to repeat it: The answer lies in the water cycle, a complete round or series of occurrences. The flow of this cycle creates the abundant and prosperous flow of the waterfall. Water is constantly recycled, restored, and regenerated.
Let’s talk about the role of gravity in all of this.
The role of gravity is simple. It’s a force that pulls things towards the center of the earth. But how does it affect waterfalls? Well, waterfalls occur where there is a decrease in elevation. This can be due to a variety of reasons, such as erosion or changes in landscape.
When the water reaches an area of lower elevation, it has potential energy. This potential energy is converted to kinetic energy. At the water falls, the kinetic energy causes the water to flow faster and creates the beautiful cascades that we all know and love.
I’m going to rephrase this slightly: When water reaches an area of readiness, as it feels easy and obvious, potential energy converts to actual physical or kinetic energy.
Kinetic energy is movement. It’s flow. And as long as there is a source of fresh water upstream, gravity naturally pulls it down through the waterfall to the pool below, replenishing the source.
Finally, let’s talk about the role of friction.
In a waterfall, friction is actually the force that opposes the relative motion – the kinetic motion – it works against it.
In other words, it’s a force that purposely slows things down. And when it comes to waterfalls, friction plays a big role in how fast or how slow the water flows.
What if we considered friction to be guideposts or channels for focused flow?
Friction can help build up force in certain areas at certain times, and then release more power as and when needed. Friction builds up inertia, energy, abundant potential power that is realized as you release the flow.
I’ve been sharing this teaching over the years, and every time I do, the shifts, new perspectives, insights and ideas that emerge are so powHERful.
They always make me smile.
For more learnings and connection like this, we invite you to join one of our seasonal PowHERcircles, a free 5-day recalibration to find your focus and chart your path for the upcoming season.