Blog #5--Row Your Boat

Blog #5--Row Your Boat, by Jack Tuttle http://dreamtime3.wix.com/jacktuttlebook

Most of us grow up hearing all sorts of nursery rhymes, Mother Goose stories, “wife’s tales,” and a wide assortment of other stories. After awhile, it is impossible to tell which ones might have some truth to them. And if we hear them often enough, we stop asking questions all together and pass them off as meaningless fun.

But like we mention in the book “It’s a Secret, So Pass It On: a Toolbox For Life,” a number of old stories were created to hide truths within them since truth was often the enemy of the state. That way, only those aware enough to recognize the truisms could benefit. I gave the example of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” but there are many other examples of this phenomenon.

One example I’d never considered until recently involves the simple song “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” I’m sure most of us, in the US at least, grew up singing this song, usually as a round. As many as four groups could start at different points and then end one after the other. It is often used as a way of warming up an audience or otherwise keeping them entertained. But if we examine the words really closely, we see a resemblance to a truism that few understand.

“Row, row, row your boat

Gently down the stream.

Merrily, merrily, merrily

Life is but a dream.”

If we look at the key words, we are told to row gently down the stream. Obviously, we need not over-exert on the rowing when the stream takes us with it. This is exactly the recommendation I make in the book. When we finally realize how our life really works and stop fighting “against the current,” we develop peace of mind because the river of our life knows where it is taking us. And since we live forever, death is simply part of the story line of our lives and nothing to fear.

When we accept this concept, we can truly be merry. We can relax and enjoy our lives as if observing a dream or movie, even during the most difficult times. Of course, many people fight to perpetuate the notion that we must see this world as completely real, that we must battle for survival at all costs and experience plenty of pain and misery. But when we finally let go of that struggle, we discover an energy pushing us gently toward our most cherished dreams, whether we have any say in the matter or not. And we find our most pressing needs met.

Under these circumstances, we can be happier and have peace of mind no matter where our lives take us. Embracing a simple song is all we need to raise our spirituality many times over, if only we recognized its value and took its message to heart.

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