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Ebb and flow is a pattern of coming and going

• Ebb and flow: A recurrent pattern of coming and going or decline and regrowth.  Merriam Webster
• Ebb and flow: Used to describe something that changes in a regular and repeated way.  Merriam Webster
• Ebb and flow: The way in which the level of something regularly becomes higher or lower in a situation. Cambridge Dictionary
• Ebb and flow: A decline and increase, constant fluctuations. Dictionary.com
• Nature,  Go with the flow,  Life is sunshine and storm,  Polarity

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You only have to witness the tides to know that nature has an ebb and a flow…

• To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides, to feel the breath of a mist moving over a great salt marsh, to watch the flight of shore birds that have swept up and down the surf lines of the continents for untold thousands of year, to see the running of the old eels and the young shad to the sea, is to have knowledge of things that are as nearly eternal as any earthly life can be.  Rachel Carson
• Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of the birds, the ebb and flow of the tides, the folded bud ready for the spring. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature – the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter. Rachel Carson

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Life too is a continuous ebb and flow, just like the ocean’s waves

• Action and reaction, ebb and flow, trial and error, change – this is the rhythm of living. Out of our over- confidence, fear; out of our fear, clearer vision, fresh hope. And out of hope, progress. Bruce Barton
• The great river-courses which have shaped the lives of men have hardly changed; and those other streams, the life- currents that ebb and flow in human hearts, pulsate to the same great needs, the same great loves and terrors. As our thought follows close in the slow wake of the dawn, we are impressed with the broad sameness of the human lot, which never alters in the main headings of its history–hunger and labour, seed- time and harvest, love and death. George Eliot
• Life is a cycle of breaking and mending. It breaks you, only to heal. The process should not make us hard, but strong yet gentle… John B. Bejo
• Through all creation runs the same ebb and flow, ebb and flow, which you can see in the ocean. It is the life- pulse of creation. And there is in it pulse – the long ebb and flow of spring and fall, the short ebb and flow at your own wrist. Just so there are long spiritual spring-flows and fall-ebbs, and there are the short daily ones you can easily feel. And there are infinitely smaller ones of which you are not yet conscious, but to which you subconsciously respond. The spiritual tides of the One-Power flow in all veins. We feel them, and respond, but we as yet only dimly understand.   Elizabeth Towne
• Life is a continuous ebb and flow, like the seasons, like the ocean’s waves. When we learn to “ride” with them, our life becomes easier, with less resistance.  Romy Macias
• Everything flows, out and in; everything has its tides; all things rise and fall; the pendulum-swing manifests in everything; the measure of the swing to the right is the measure of the swing to the left; rhythm compensates. The Kybalion
• Life is a series of ups and downs.
• All life ebbs and flows. Everyone is born, suffers afflictions, and dies. There is happiness and sadness, catastrophe and success, increase and decrease. The stock market rises and falls. Diseases and accidents come and go. The karmic dance of life unfolds in the karmic theater of the universe. Dr David R. Hawkins
• The ocean

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Happiness is an ebb and flow

• Happiness is not a matter of events; it depends upon the tides of the mind. Alice Meynell
• In the uncertain ebb and flow of time and emotions, much of one’s life history is etched in the senses. Banana Yoshimoto
• Only a fool expects to be happy all the time. Robertson Davies
• You search endlessly for permanent happiness in a world where nothing is permanent. Christopher Pike
• The notion that a human being should be constantly happy is a uniquely modern, uniquely American, uniquely destructive idea. Andrew Weil
• It is unrealistic to want to be happy all the time. Andrew Weil
• Happiness

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Love is an ebb and a flow

• When you love someone, you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It is even a lit to pretend to. And yet this is exactly what most of us demand. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationships. We leap at the flow of the tide and resist in terror its ebb. We are afraid it will never return. Anne Morrow Lindbergh
• When you love someone, you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It is even a lie to pretend to. And yet, this is exactly what most of us demand. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationships. We leap at the flow of time and resist in terror its ebb. We are afraid it will never return. We insist on permanency, on duration, on continuity; when the only continuity possible in life, as in love, is in growth, in fluidity – in freedom. The only real security is not in owning or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, not in hoping, even. Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what it was, nor forward to what it might be, but living in the present and accepting it as it is now. For relationships, too, must be like islands. One must accept them for what they are here and now, within their limits – islands surrounded and interrupted by the sea, continuously visited and abandoned by the tides. One must accept the serenity of the winged life, of ebb and flow, of intermittency. Anne Morrow Lindbergh
• When a man loves a woman, periodically he needs to pull away before he can get closer. A man automatically alternates between needing intimacy and autonomy. The man grows to understand his own cycles and reassures her when he pulls away that he will be back. John Gray
• Love

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Personal growth and learning is an ebb and flow

• You will have wonderful surges forward. Then there must be a time of consolidating before the next forward surge. Accept this as part of the process and never become downhearted. Eileen Caddy
• Our life’s journey of self-discovery is not a straight-line rise from one level of consciousness to another. Instead, it is a series of steep climbs and flat plateaus, then further climbs. Even though we all approach the journey from different directions, certain of the journey’s characteristics are common to all of us. Stuart Wilde
• Remember, no matter how ready and willing you are, all change is inevitably interspersed with backsliding… but… everyday geniuses are programmed to bounce back. Mary-Elaine Jacobsen
• We all find ourselves in slumps occasionally, we don’t need to get stuck in them. And when you feel like you’re going nowhere or even slipping backward, you may actually be backing up to get a running start. Dan Millman
• Growth is an erratic forward movement: two steps forward, one step back. Remember that and be very gentle with yourself. Julia Cameron
• To love the plateau is to love the eternal now, to enjoy the inevitable spurts of progress and the fruits of accomplishment, then serenely to accept the new plateau that waits just beyond them. To love the plateau is to love what is most essential and enduring in your life. George Leonard
• Learning proceeds in fits and starts. Jerold W. Aps
• Learning,  Growth

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Relationships exist in ebb and flow

• The reality is that all relationships inevitably will be dissolved and broken. The ultimate price exacted for commitment to other human beings rests in the inescapable fact that loss and pain will be experienced when they are gone, even to the point of jeopardizing one’s physical health.  It is a toll that no one can escape, and a price that everyone will be forced to pay repeatedly.  Like the rise and fall of the ocean tides, disruptions of human relationships occur at regular intervals throughout life, and include the loss of parents, death of a mate, divorce, marital separation, death of family members, children leaving home, death of close friends, change of neighborhoods, and loss of acquaintances by retirement from work.  Infancy, adolescence, middle age, old age–all seasons of life involve human loss.  James J. Lynch
• Like the rise and fall of the ocean tides, disruptions of human relationships occur at regular intervals throughout life, and include the loss of parents, death of a mate, divorce, marital separation, death of family members, children leaving home, death of close friends, change of neighborhoods, and loss of acquaintances by retirement from work. Infancy, adolescence, middle age, old age- -all seasons of life involve human loss.  James J. Lynch
• Life is a tide; float on it. Go down with it and go up with it, but be detached. Then it is not difficult. Prem Rawat
• Principles for healthy relationships

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Don’t resist the ebbs in life but rather come to accept them…

• Unremitting happiness, of course, is not a possible—or desirable—state. According to the principle of rhythm, there is always an inflow and an outflow, an ebb tide and a flood tide. You’ll always have highs and lows—there’s no way to avoid that. Josè Silva
• There is an ebb and flow to life. Rather than fight it or resist it, let us embrace it. Let us adjust our expectations of what is “normal” and practice accepting the highs, the lows and everything in between.  Chris Assaad
• The ebb and flow of will is like the movements of the tides… if we cease our vain struggles and lamentations long enough to look away from the personal self…we realize life is going well with us after all. Charles B. Newcomb
• Non-resistance,  Acceptance

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… and learn to relax and go with the flow

• When the tides of life turn against you and the current upsets your boat, don’t waste those tears on what might have been, just lie on your back and float.
• Life is a cycle, it won’t stop for anyone, so you better buckle up and get ready for the ride of your lifetime.
• Let go of control and allow yourself to be swept away by the powerful currents of life. Leo Babauta
• Going with the flow is responding to cues from the universe. When you go with the flow, you’re surfing Life force. It’s about wakeful trust and total collaboration with what’s showing up for you. Danielle LaPorte
• Flow is the natural, effortless unfolding of our life in a way that moves us towards wholeness and harmony. Charlene Belitz & Meg Lundstrom
• It is possible and desirable to steer your own course, within the general direction of the flowing tide. It is just not smart or productive to try and row your little boat against the strong current of life. That is a sure way to get shipwrecked! Amanda Harvey
• Relaxation means releasing all concern and tension and letting the natural order of life flow through one’s being. Donald Curtis
• When I struggle and try to organize the Atlantic to my specifications, I sink. If I flail and thrash and growl and grumble, I go under. But, if I let go and float, I am borne aloft. Marie Stilkind
• Relaxation,  Go with the flow

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Trust in the ebb and flow of the universe and its divine order

• I trust in the ebb and flow of the universe. I trust that life’s bigger than what I can see. I trust that there is a divine order beyond my control. And I trust that no matter what happens, I will be all right. Oprah Winfrey
• But where we cannot understand we may trust. As I wandered in the wilderness of “ups and downs,” as I descended from Transfiguration Mounts to deep Valleys of Shadows, and then asceded again, and yet was never quite lost, I learned more and more how to trust; until in time I came to know that ‘all things work together for good’ to those who work with them. Elizabeth Towne
• The Universe is in perfect order. The stars, the moon, and the sun are all operating in perfect Divine right order. There is an order, a rhythm, and a purpose to their pathways. I am part of the Universe; therefore, I know that there is an order, a rhythm, and a purpose to my life. Louise L Hay
• Trust in God,  Divine order

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The lows are as important as the highs to give life balance and harmony

• The fact is that there is an ebb and flow to life. There are highs and lows. There is bitter and sweet. There are grey days and sunny days and it’s all part of the package. If it were peaches, sunshine and roses all the time we’d probably get bored pretty quickly. Chris Assaad
• Life’s like a piano. The white keys represent happiness, and the black keys show sadness. But as you go through your life’s journey, remember that the black keys make music too.
• An experience can’t be happy, eternally. We are bipolar beings.  If we were purely happy all the time, it would get so damn monotonous we’d wish for some sorrow or problem to overcome, just for the sake of a challenge.  Richard Rose
• Moments of splendor and moments of gloom – they help maintain life’s balance. One thought is key: they all pass… Joan Marques
• The word “happiness” would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. Carl Jung
• Perhaps there could be no joy on this planet without an equal weight of pain to balance it out on some unknown scale. Stephenie Meyer
• Balance,  Harmony

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If there were no ebbs, the flows would not be half as wonderful

• The hilltop hour would not be half so wonderful if there were no dark valleys to traverse. Helen Keller
• How would you know what happy is if you’ve never been otherwise. Malcolm Forbes
• I believe you can’t feel real joy unless you’ve felt heartache. You can’t have a sense of victory unless you know what it means to fail. You can’t know what it’s like to feel holy until you know what it’s like to feel really fucking evil. And you can’t be birthed again until you’ve died. Kelly Cutron
• It’s not good for all of our wishes to be fulfilled. Through sickness, we recognize the value of health; through evil, the value of good; through hunger, the value of food; through exertion, the value of rest. Greek proverb
• When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight. Kahlil Gibran
• There are moments when I wish I could roll back the clock and take all the sadness away, but I have a feeling that if I did, the joy would be gone as well. So I take the memories as they come, accepting them all, letting them guide me whenever I can. Nicholas Sparks
• What is joy without sorrow? What is success without failure? What is a win without a loss? What is health without illness? You have to experience each if you are to appreciate the other. There is always going to be suffering. It’s how you look at your suffering, how you deal with it, that will define you. Mark Twain
• If we are to feel the positive feelings of love, happiness, trust, and gratitude, we periodically also have to feel anger, sadness, fear, and sorrow. John Gray
• The truth is that in order for you to experience true happiness in your life, you must experience sadness. It’s required. Without sadness, we really can’t even understand what happiness is. Karl Moore
• A man is insensible to the relish of prosperity ’til he has tasted adversity. Sa’di
• Only if you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain. Richard Nixon

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Just as in nature, lives will have days of sunshine and days of rain – and the trick is to learn to dance in the rain

• For every day that there is sunshine, there will be days of rain, it’s how we dance within them both that shows our love and pain. Joy Teolbert
• Life is filled with rhythms-day and night, hot and cold, summer and winter, spring and fall, cloudy and clear. John Gray
• Whether the weather be fine, whether the weather be not, whether the weather be cold, whether the weather be hot, we’ll weather the weather, whatever the weather, whether we like it or not. John Ruskin
• If I accept the sunshine and warmth, then I must also accept the thunder and lightning. Kahlil Gibran
• Life is not about getting through the storms, but about dancing in the rain. Bunny Armstrong
• Life isn’t finding shelter in the storm. It’s about learning to dance in the rain. Sherrilyn Kenyon
• Life is both sunshine and storm

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When the tide is going out and you’re feeling low, know the tide will turn again…

• The tide ebbs, but always flows in again. Fred van Amburgh
• Life is a cycle, always in motion. If good times have moved on, so will times of trouble. Indian Proverb
• This too shall pass. Sufi Saying
• When you remember that all things come and go, it allows you to keep your perspective, an open heart, and even a sense of humor during all the phases of your life. Richard Carlson
• If you’re going through hell, keep going. Winston Churchill
• This is an important lesson to remember when you’re having a bad day, a bad month, or a shitty year. Things will change: you won’t feel this way forever. Kelly Cutrone
• Nothing is permanent in this wicked world, not even our troubles. Charlie Chaplin
• When you are on a down swing, do not feel bad. Know the swing will change and things will get better. There are good times coming. Think of them.  Bob Proctor

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… as sure as day follows night…

• No matter how dark the night, somehow the sun rises once again and all shadows are chased away. David Matthew
• The darkest hour was just before dawn. Paulo Coelho
• The black moment is the moment when the real message of transformation is going to come. At the darkest moment comes the light.   Joseph Campbell
• We should never forget that after every night, there is a dawn. We should never lose our optimistic faith. Amrithanada Mayi Devi
• Wise are they who have learned these truths: Trouble is temporary. Time is tonic. Tribulation is a test tube. William Arthur Ward

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… for every flow has an ebb and the lowest ebb is when the tide turns

• The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
• Every flow has its ebb. French Proverb

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Harness the natural ebbs and flows of your energy

• Organize your days according to your natural rhythms and cycles. Stever Robbins
• Customize your schedule around your rhythms to keep your energy smooth and flowing all day long. Stever Robbins
• The morning is not stationary or static. The freshness of morning gives us energy. The atmosphere is peaceful and it is easy for the mind to concentrate. Rig Veda
• We are so dominated by the cultural organization of time that we get alienated from our own natural rhythms. Martin Boroson
• Energy management

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… making time for rest and renewal during the inevitable ebbs

• All nature works, and then rests; works and rests. I caught its rhythm and worked and rested with it. When I felt that inertia stealing over me, I rested; and while resting my power recuperated – the tide rose in me. Elizabeth Towne
• Without time for recovery, our lives become a blur of doing, unbalanced by much opportunity for being. Jim Loehr
• To maintain a powerful pulse in our lives, we must learn how to rhythmically spend and renew energy. Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz
• We, too, must learn to live our own lives as a series of sprints—fully engaging for periods of time, and then fully disengaging and seeking renewal before jumping back into the fray to face whatever challenges confront us. Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz
• Rest and renewal

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