Here’s a big subject! If you can master this one thing…it will change your life! In the beginning of my journey, this was the biggest piece. It was glaringly obvious by where I was in life and how I felt inside that whatever it was that I was doing was not working. I was emotionally, mentally, physically, financially and spiritually bankrupt.
Most of my life I tried to “never give up”, I was relentless. I felt like Rocky…I’d get knocked down and somehow kept getting back up. Unfortunately, this didn’t work. I kept doing the same things that got me knocked down in the first place because it was all I knew. At times I also tried giving up (because those are the only two options right? Never give up or give up). However this didn’t work either because giving up is not surrendering.
Giving up sounds like: I quit, I’m not playing anymore, I give up, it’s not fair, I can’t do it, I can never win anyway. I’m done.
Surrender sounds like: My way isn’t working so I open up to another way, Thy will not mine be done, I can’t but we can, I’m fully participating without an attachment to the outcome, I turn my will and my life over to a Power greater than myself, I know that I am loved beyond measure and I put my trust in that which loves me, I surrender to a Power that has a larger perspective than I.
Feel the difference? One is quitting and one is a new beginning. One has despair and one has hope. Letting go of the false sense of control that we don’t truly have anyway is completely liberating. Understanding that we can’t possibly have the perspective to know the mind of God and what is best for ourselves let alone the rest of the world is freeing. We have what we need, we are cared for, loved, watched over…but we have to let go of the control aspect.
We have to let go of who we think we are to open up to who we truly are. The very thing you are holding onto, is the thing you need to let go of to be free. I felt myself holding onto a part of myself and it felt like it was the last part of who I was and contained my entire identity…or what was left of it anyway. In the moment I let go of that last piece of what I thought was me, everything settled and there was peace. I instantly understood that what I was holding onto wasn’t actually me, it was the thing that was holding me back from being me…my True Self.
So begin where you are. You can surrender in a dramatic and huge way if you’re capable or you can begin implementing surrender in smaller ways in your daily life. Take a small issue that you’re struggling with and give it over to a Power greater than yourself, then watch and see. Test God…he doesn’t mind! He doesn’t have an ego that’s going to get hurt. Hand something over and see how it turns out. After you see that it worked out in your favor (not necessarily how you wanted it to…but in the long run in your favor), then hand something else over. Build your trust and faith through the act of surrender…you won’t be sorry!