Surrender

Surrender…the message that has been hitting me from all sides for awhile. I didn’t truly embrace the message. I thought…just let it go. Give it to God. Lighten up. This was on repeat in my head, but I seemed to keep taking all the struggles right back. It wasn’t working. I would let it all go….then it would be right back, as soon as I would let my guard down. Then I read this…

“The universe sends you a problem and it stays there until you get the spiritual lesson.” – Tony Robbins

And this….God will often disrupt your comfort, to confront your dysfunction.

We all have struggles, challenges, and strongholds that grip us and keep us from feeling our joy. Things that we feel like we can’t come out from under. It is different for all of us, but usually these are all normal human struggles. Sometimes the more we try to walk our joyful, patient, kind, christ-like path, the more the devil tries to trip us up. I mean, around every corner.

As much as I kept seeing the message of surrender, I finally looked it up. The first words I saw were “to stop fighting”. For me this doesn’t mean to give up. This means that there are some things that continue to challenge us, and quite frankly, are not worth the fight. They are not ours to control.

For me, this meant….

If the lens continues to be blurry and bleak, look at the situation through a different lens.

When it doesn’t feel good, change your perspective, see it different.

When it isn’t working, approach the situation differently.

When you start to judge, choose again.

Let go of this one, and use your energy for something else.

When you want to react and get upset, try to choose again.

Don’t let other people’s opinions affect your opinion of yourself.

Don’t let other people’s choices affect your choices.

Cut strings with habits that don’t serve you anymore.

Embrace new habits that you want and need.

Be who you are, and stop fighting who you “think” you should be.

Letting our kids truly be and become who they are, not who we thought they would be.

Letting others be who they are and respond as they are, not how we thought they should be.

Embrace or leave social media. Either find discipline and boundaries, or get off.

Let go of guilt. Choose from the heart, do the best you can, and that is enough.

Stop feeling other people’s stress and pressures. Do not take that on. It is theirs, not yours.

Let go of the past. Quit reliving it in your head. Forgive. Forget. Live for today.

I have been given a life to live, and I am choosing to live it with joy, because this is a choice.

Gabrielle Bernstein explains in her book, Judgement Detox, “Physical separation was not enough to end a negative connection–it needed to be cleared on a spiritual level.”  Cut the cord. Take time in your mind to cut the cord of what is holding you back. Cut the cord on what keeps playing on repeat in your head. Some of our struggles we haven’t truly dealt with, or even admitted to. We need to admit them, cut the cord, let them go and put love in their place.

Sound crazy? Nope. It is possible. This is opening your mind and heart and soul, and letting what is supposed to be there IN. Let it in. Let love in. Let joy in. Let acceptance and understanding in. In Judgement Detox, Gabrielle takes you through meditations, that help cut the cords, bring quiet and peace to your mind. With all the noise in this world, a few minutes of quiet for your mind each day can do wonders.

There are many seasons of life. New seasons can be hard. Letting go of old seasons can be really hard. This is life. Finding the beauty in a new season can be a true challenge, but is possible. It might not be the beauty you were looking for. It might not be your beauty to see. It might be about someone or something else completely.

Sometimes when you go through a hard season in life, you pick up some baggage that wants to stay with you into your new season. You don’t even realize that it has come along. Think about this. Has something in life left you with anger, resentment or put a damper on your heart. It is time to acknowledge it, cut the cord, and leave it behind. This isn’t serving you. You are free when you cut the cord. Then, and only then, can you truly embrace your season, love again, and let go of these beliefs that are holding you back.

Surrender to what is and what will be. Surrender to God. Yes. THIS is what true faith looks like. Truly having faith that this is God’s plan and not yours. We have the ability to embrace what God gives us and find the joy and truly live our life, or we can fight it, lose the joy, and miss out on truly living our life. Surrender and stop fighting. See what God is giving you and take it all in. Don’t give up. Just let go of battling what is and realize that this is right where you are supposed to be.

You have truly grown when the word of God, his plan, your faith, love and peace means more to you than the word and opinion of people. When you can not just say this, but actually live your life this way. For you, for your kids, for your family. Live for God, not for people. If this is a struggle for you, it might be time to surrender.

Enjoy today,