Do we live pushing against the current or do we let life flow through us?
When I was seventeen, I made the decision to leave my country. At the time, I felt like I was pushing with all my might against the circumstances around me, seeking a different future. However, over time, I came to understand that there is a subtle but powerful difference between pushing and flowing.
Pushing involves constant effort, a never-ending struggle to control every aspect of our existence. I confess, I like to have everything under control. It’s like swimming against the current, exhausting and often fruitless. Flow, on the other hand, is allowing life to guide us, trusting the process and adapting to circumstances with grace and flexibility.
In my projects, such as Mederi KOI®, our motto is “We Swim Against the Current” – it is the motto that defines us. I am inspired by the legend of the koi fish, a story that has always fascinated me. It is said that these fish swam upstream, defying the current. Many gave up along the way, letting themselves be carried away by the force of the water, but a few persisted. They faced imposing waterfalls and brutal drops, but they kept moving forward. Legend has it that those who managed to reach the top of the waterfall were rewarded by the gods and transformed into dragons.
This story is more than a fable. It is what defines us as a team and as people.
Pushing against the current is not easy. It means getting up when no one believes in you, working on your project when everything seems stagnant, and moving forward even when the comfort of resignation seems a tempting option. But those who truly transform their destiny are those who, like the koi fish, do not give up.
Many talk about “going with the flow,” of letting go, of accepting whatever comes without resistance. And yes, there are times when adapting is necessary. But there is a difference between going with the flow and conforming. Going with the flow does not mean giving up; it means finding the best way to keep moving forward without wearing yourself out unnecessarily. I have pushed against the current many times. It hasn’t been a matter of luck or letting things “just happen.” It has been a matter of swimming with conviction, even when the current against me seemed stronger than me.
Fish that let themselves be carried away by the current end up falling with the waterfall.
– RENE DE PAZ
However, if you ask me if I am one of those who push or go with the flow. I would say it depends on the circumstances. I have learned that forcing situations rarely leads to success; instead, being in tune with the environment and responding consciously allows us to move forward with less resistance. I recommend reading the book “Flow” by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, he talks about the optimal state of experience, where we are completely immersed in an activity, enjoying it to the fullest and performing at the highest level. It made me reflect on what we mean by flow. And as I said before, flow is not giving up, it is not leaving things for tomorrow, it is not waiting for something to happen. When we understand the idea better, we begin to see life in a different way. Because it is not one or the other, life is not black or white.
As Csíkszentmihályi (a difficult surname to memorize) says, Flow is, among many other things: Total focus on the present; When we are in a state of flow, we stop worrying about the past or the future and focus completely on the task at hand.
When you are an entrepreneur you know how to value time a lot, you are completely willing to be productive, do more in less time and have order in the schedule. Meeting with the team at 9:00 AM, Working on aspects of the new campaign at 11:00 AM, business dinner at 8:00 PM. In short, we force time, situations, moments. Now, as a writer, you go through creative blocks and sometimes it takes you an entire afternoon to write a few pages that you won’t be too proud of, you have to allow yourself to lose time to write. And it’s that when we are in tune with what we do, time seems to disappear. We lose track of time and that is a way to let ourselves flow.
My first novel, Climbing Mountains, the idea of the novel is to convey the life of Paulo Vargas, and his process. Being the first part of the Mountains Trilogy, we focus on his past, so the novel is based on, and also conveys it in, a process. Pushing is continuing to climb the mountain, and letting yourself flow is enjoying the process of climbing it. Seeing it this way, perhaps pushing and flowing do not have to be such opposite words.
Life should be like this, a balance between pushing and flowing. That way everything makes more sense.
English 
Spanish