1 min read
My mind was once still water.
Calm on the surface.
Predictable in reflection.
Comfortable in familiarity.
Still water holds clarity —
But only when untouched.
It resists disturbance.
Avoids disruption.
Protects what it already knows.
Ideas settle there.
Opinions stay fixed.
Beliefs grow roots.
And over time —
Certainty becomes stagnation.
Running water thinks differently.
It moves.
Adapts.
Finds paths around resistance.
It doesn’t hold shape —
It discovers direction.
Running water questions itself.
Re-evaluates constantly.
Learns through motion.
It crashes.
Splits.
Rejoins.
Flows again.
Out-of-box thinking
Lives in running water.
Because movement creates perspective.
And perspective creates possibility.
Still water seeks stability.
Running water seeks progress.
One protects identity.
The other evolves it.
Still water avoids mistakes.
Running water experiments freely.
Still water memorizes solutions.
Running water invents them.
I notice it daily —
When I cling to certainty,
My thinking becomes still.
When I explore alternatives,
My thinking begins to flow.
Flow invites new connections.
New interpretations.
New approaches.
It reshapes obstacles
Into routes.
It transforms delay
Into learning curves.
It converts confusion
Into creative tension.
Running water doesn’t fear change.
It expects it.
And because of that —
It moves faster than resistance.
Out-of-box thinking
Isn’t about avoiding stillness.
It’s about knowing
When to move again.
To let ideas circulate.
To let beliefs evolve.
To let assumptions dissolve.
Because clarity isn’t always found
In staying calm —
Sometimes it’s discovered
In flowing forward.
