By Dr. Sandy Islands for Conch Color
At first glance, we might associate “surrender” with defeat, waving the white flag or losing. When in truth, “surrender” is an attitude, not an action. When we surrender, we become teachable. We let go of control which is always fueled by fear. For many of us, this is a default setting in our brains. Faith takes practice. In our fast paced society, we want fast food, quick fixes, and immediate solutions to difficult situations. Socrates said, “Life contains two tragedies: One - is not getting our heart’s desire. The other is to get it.”
Martin Luther King said, “I have held many things in my hands and I have lost them all, but whatever I’ve placed in God’s hands, these – I still possess.” Last week we walked up the stairway to our higher consciousness - our spirits within that are always connected to a Higher Source. Let’s entertain the concept of surrendering to win. What we’re really surrendering to is our highest consciousness. In this place we find flexibility and learn to bend in life’s breezes without breaking. Other peoples’ words and actions may initially sting because they don’t meet our expectations, but we don’t have to stay in this state of pain and hurt. We can let go and see these people as children of God. We have compassion when we know that - hurt people will always hurt people.
Surrender and acceptance are like infatuation and love. We’re infatuated when we find someone special. Infatuation becomes love when the initial connection is nurtured into a lasting bond. When we practice faith, surrender allows us to accept that an Energy exists that always has our highest good in mind. As we nurture our conscious contact with this Higher Power, we accept and receive continuous care. We become open minded to new and different opinions. We accept that we don’t have all the answers. We let go of pre-conceived ideas and open new channels for spiritual guidance.
The need to control creates struggle. We anxiously plot, plan and worry. Worry is like a rocking chair ─ something to do that gets us nowhere. It’s truly a waste of energy to frantically charge through life like a house on fire. We end up exhausted and barely move forward. No amount of manipulation will change a situation. Often times the simple act of surrender allows the answers that we’ve been looking for to automatically and effortlessly flow into our lives. By letting go and letting this Higher Energy in, we discover better ways to proceed. Often these sound spiritual answers are so much better than what our “little minds” may have concocted.
Imagine that we’ve spent our lives loading up a backpack with rocks. Each one represents a burden that we carry ─ fear, loneliness, hatred, suspicion and isolation to name a few. Think of how weighed down we feel carrying this heavy load. Instead, let’s surrender and unload the burden of trying to control anything in ourselves or others. Let’s begin to adopt an attitude that everything happens for a reason and that we are the sum total of all that’s gone before ─ both pain and pleasure. Pain comes not from surrendering, but from resisting what is. Every moment, every experience has value. Every step we’ve taken has brought us to where we are today. Let’s awaken to the gifts that we truly are. Please write to Dr. Sandy Islands at sandyislands@hawaii.rr.com