Wisdom Day 9
The Wisdom in Surrendering to What Is
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“I detach myself from preconceived outcomes and trust that all is well. Being myself allows the wholeness of my unique magnificence to draw me in those directions most beneficial to me and to all others. This is really the only thing I have to do. And within that framework, everything that is truly mine comes into my life effortlessly, in the most magical and unexpected ways imaginable, demonstrating every day the power and love of who I truly am.”
~Anita Moorjani, Dying To Be Me: My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing~
[revised 9/30/2012]
Greetings!
Today’s Wisdom focuses on the power of surrender.
So much of our daily human experience is bombarded with physical, emotional, mental and spiritual drains and perceived attacks on our well-being. From the moment we wake up until we lay down at night (or just pass out from pure exhaustion) we’re “ON”. We’re expected it to know it all, do it all and to be plugged in 24/7/365 to get it done … like yesterday!
And we’re always working towards some goal, heading toward some destination, trying to accomplish some task or to make something work (a job, a relationship, a desired outcome). We plan with the information we have at that time. The problem is, we never (and I mean ever) have all of the information. In Christian parlance, even at our best we only see through the glass darkly.
So we’re on high alert, trying to please “him”, satisfy “her”, impress “them”. All of that pleasing keeps us on edge as we play various roles, prepared to fight the good fight or to abort the mission altogether and run like hell to escape.
But our bodies are not wired to remain for an extended length of time under “stress-producing” conditions arising in a fight or flight response, intended only to be a short-term acute reaction to fear-producing stimuli. That physiological response to perceived threats has a sound basis in our evolution. But worrying about whether you’d get trampled by a wooly mammoth is one thing; stressing all day everyday over a parking space or a taxi or whether others are judging you for being you is something entirely different.
Some things genuinely do require our full attention, to be sure. But worry is not attention (not the productive kind, anyway); it’s a distraction and an energy drain. And it takes a toll physically, emotionally and, yes, spiritually.
“The fight or flight” state of readiness takes its toll on our overall well-being if we remain ready for battle all day every day. It can wear us down, drain us of our vital energy, distract us from our higher calling and purpose and keep us from being who we are really meant to be.
Existing in a perpetual state of fear causes us to shut down, to build emotional walls, to act out of Ego instead of Spirit and to prepare for battle — even if the battle is more imagined than real.
So what’s the remedy to our Flight or Flight addiction? What Les Brown calls “flow”. Les says, “if you can’t fight and you can’t flee … flow.”
To flow means to lean in, to accept, or as Moorjani says to surrender. That doesn’t mean you have to justify or condone “bad behavior”. But accepting what actually is is the best and only way to actually figure out what needs to be done (if anything), who needs to do it and when. Only when we stop fighting what is (or running from it) can we assess what is and what is not needed in each moment.
So today, resolve to let go of the destination, loosen the tight reigns you’ve held over your life — much of which you have no control over anyway — and trust that come what may you are well equipped for the challenge and the journey.
Don’t fight, don’t flee … just surrender and flow!
Be well … and WISE!
Tonya Marie
Wisdom in the Whisper™ and WisdomintheWhisper.com by Tonya Marie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at www.wisdominthewhisper.com.
Wisdom in the Whisper™ 