On Surrender
It is everything in our nature to control. To try to control events that happen to us, the way other people see us, and the way we heal. We all have a vision for how we want our lives to look, who we want to be with, various circumstances. However, the truth is that we are never in control. No matter how much we’d like to think we have any semblance of it, no matter how many “manifestations” we work for, the truth is, we are actually, terrifyingly, in control of nothing. I could work so hard for one goal, manifest every day, and get hit by a car before it is ever fulfilled. Plans and delusions of control are almost jokes. Because we’re powerless to nature, to the universe, to god, to a power higher than our own.
Real power comes from knowing that we are not in control of anything, especially outside of ourselves. And by surrendering to this, by not swimming so hard upstream, relaxing into the flow, to divine guidance, to a will greater than our own, we achieve inner peace, because nature knows what’s best for us more than we do. I am so guilty of this. I have done everything in my power to try to control everything in my own life. Everything. And it’s only made me unhappy, unfulfilled, and wanting more all the time.
When we surrender, knowing that we are in control of nothing, we can truly come back to ourselves. Work smarter, not harder. Plug in. This is not to say don’t work hard or work for what you want, or any statement against ambition. No. However, it is really time to step back and ask ourselves: Are we working the most efficient way possible, or are we playing God?
I’ve often heard the term 'surrender' used as a practice when things become chaotic. Life is always chaotic, we are never in control of it, and when the tides are a little calmer, maybe there’s no impetus to surrender because we think we have a grip. But this is an illusion. We never do, and we never will. So surrender. Close your eyes, go inward, connect to yourself and your higher power, plug into the flow, and ask yourself critically, are the goals you’ve been working towards even in line with your true purpose, with nature’s will?
We think we know better. We think we have all the answers, but the truth is, we are a planet of children. We are raising children who are raising children. We don’t know better. I have operated under assumptions I believed were right because they were my own, and have come to learn years later that I was led so far astray by my own deception and faulty messaging. And if I tuned into my heart, my higher power, and really listened honestly, I would have gotten much better direction. So surrender. Yes, “manifestation” works. But are the things you’re bringing into your reality really in your best interest? Do you really know what’s in your best interest? Do we ever?
I speak a lot about trusting yourself, and I stand by this, but I think this practice is best executed when connected to our truth, our hearts, and to the true force that gives us life. Let the flow guide you, let your higher power, let the universe, let god guide you, and just surrender in knowing that you don’t know everything, you can’t control anything, and in that, you will attain everything. And be at peace.
This piece was originally featured in a July 3, 2019 post on Instagram.
