Water doesn't wish that it was a different temperature, nor does it pretend to be other than it is. It merely accepts its present state and continues to flow. Unlike water, laments Reynolds, people deny reality. They also struggle with their feelings and hamper themselves by focusing on the way things should be or might have been. Water doesn't fight obstacles, says Reynolds, it simply flows around them, not getting distracted as people so often do by their feelings.
Water is flexible and adapts to the particular circumstances it's in.
Water flows at a natural pace. People on the other hand, appear to be dashing around attempting to manipulate their lives or feelings into fitting into their particular notion of how things ought to be or how they wish them to be. Reynolds reminds us that feelings are neither good nor bad, they simply are. The best way to deal with painful feelings according to Reynolds, is to simply recognize them, accept them, and then carry on. Like water does.