Surrender

How do you surrender and at the same time live your life the way you want to live, to live life to the fullest?

Perhaps the easiest way to explain my interpretation is to tell you to get out of your head and into your heart. One of my favorite sayings is: “Thinking is hazardous to your mental health.”

I’m not talking about surrendering to rules and regulations or to the government nor to any other organized or formalized type of association. I’m talking about surrendering to the Higher Power that resides within you.

And the only way you are going to find that connection is to go inside your own self, say “hello” and wait for an answer and wait and wait. The hard part is to not beat yourself up while you’re waiting. Oh, you’ll get all sorts of thoughts and thinking popping up. But when you get beyond the thoughts, even for a moment, you come to a place of connection which will expand and become an inner peace which develops into an incredible freedom.

Sound familiar? It’s also called meditating. (Stop sighing and keep reading.)

One of the major reasons for meditating is to get out of your brain. Give it a rest. Let go of the incessant chatter, stop planning and conniving. Just be.

You’ll get to meet yourself. The real You that lives inside; the part that is connected to All That Is. What you’ll find is a handy ability called intuition that will grow and develop the more you use it, the more you rely on it.

I used to meditate because I thought I had to. Now I meditate because it feeds my soul, my inner self, my Higher Self. Now meditating is a necessity, like breathing.

No one can tell you what to do, how to live, who to be. I can only share with you my part of the journey and the extra steps I learned on the walk to Assisi.

I surrendered to the day, the walk, the direction (straight up at all times until it became straight down the other side), the weather (we walked in the rain two days), and the snoring.

Oh, let me tell you about that, the snoring, right now.

The 41 of us stayed at convents, hostels and small hotels (none 4 star I assure you), for 1 or 2 nights. Each establishment had different accommodations, either 2 or 3 or 4 to a room, we never knew which we would get. We never knew who we would share a room with and often heard, “So, who are you sleeping with tonight?”

Since I’ve lived by myself for several years I’m not used to someone snoring the minute their head hits the pillow. This one particular night there were 3 of us sharing a room. As I was gratefully pulling up the covers, the first woman was already comatose and sounded like she was sucking the plaster off the ceiling. The woman in the middle instantly regretted being in the same room and wished for plugs for her ears or duct tape for her cacophonous friend.

My one voiced remark was, “I wonder if St. Francis snored?” We both fell asleep without another qualm.

Part of surrendering to “what is” is being able or choosing to change perspective. Drop your plans. Take a different tack. Release the issue. Give up your expectations and every one else’s. Let go. What are you holding onto anyway? Whatever it is it’s really only a thought in your own mind. Give it up.

Surrender to the music and dance.
Surrender to the joke and laugh.
Surrender to the embrace and love.
Surrender to life and live it to the fullest.
Surrender to your Self and Be.

Pace e Bene.