SURRENDER!

“Surrender is faith that the power of love can accomplish anything, even when you cannot foresee the outcome.”  ~ Deepak Chopra

Surrender as described in the dictionary is to yield to the power, control, or possession of another upon compulsion or demand, to give up completely or agree to forgo especially in favor of another 2 a : to give (oneself) up into the power of another especially as a prisoner b : to give (oneself) over to something (as an influence) intransitive senses : to give oneself up into the power of another : YIELD synonym see RELINQUISH.

Surrender, it sounds a little scary doesn’t it?  Even if the power we are surrendering to is the power of the Universe! I don’t know many people who would even consider such a thing…until life becomes horribly painful, absolutely unworkable, or entirely impossible.  I certainly know that was the case for me!

15 years ago I was in a place of emotional devastation and there was no place to go but to my knees.  On the floor on my bedroom floor of an apartment I could no longer afford, I surrendered utterly and completely.  My attempt at being the director and creator of my life had failed miserably and it seemed I had no choice but to give up.  I had a heart to heart conversation with Spirit and said I wanted to come home.  Almost immediately I had a sense of warmth and compassion wash over me like nothing I had experienced before.  I felt I was being assured that everything was going to be O.K.  I just needed to relax, keep breathing, and be open to signs and support from God.

I had never lived my life in that way, I had always tried to figure things out, push, and control.  It was clearly time to do something radically different.  Rather than tell God what I wanted, I surrendered and now asked God what He wanted from me.  I asked for synchronicity and support and it didn’t take long for it to arrive. Signs showed up as messages from people, dreams, and intuitive hits.  I listened to inner promptings and information from friends and found myself going in a very different direction in my life.  I ended up in school, I also ended up painting and writing - all things that I had never considered while living in my head.

I love this saying “The same energy that can move the planets around the sun, turn seeds into flowers and trees and turns embryos into babies, can take care of your life…if you let it.”  But we live in a choice-based, free-will world, so before Spirit or the Universe can take care of us, we have to invite it in; we need to surrender to it.

I now understand the act of surrendering is really about relaxing and silencing the limited, fear-based, incessently chattering monkey-mind.  When we do this Spirit, Love, or our Higher Self can be accessed and heard.  Surrender is ultimately releasing control, fear and resistance.  It is consciously choosing to place faith and trust in something far more vast and far more capable than our small, scared, separate-feeling self.

Here is another wonderful quote about surrender from Chuck Danes: “The power of surrender, just as the miracle of nature effortlessly produces the beauty of its surroundings, you have been provided with and hold the power to effortlessly attract and create YOUR desired miracles in each and every area of your life if only you will trust, surrender and allow it to be so.”

I thank God for my rock bottom experience of years ago.  That was the day I opened my heart fully to Spirit and let Him take over the drivers seat of my life.  Today, I have a truly blessed, love-filled, miracle-filled life - and I am abundantly clear I did not do this on my own! My life is a co-creative process, and Spirit my constant companion.  Now rather than God being an afterthought, He is number one on my list. When I think I want something I give it to God (often articulating a preference, but releasing my attachment)  and know however things work out was/is God’s highest ideal for me - because I invited Him to drive!   I now trust this process implicitly and completely and recommend to it anyone who asks me for support or my opinion.

The surrender process is simple, you can take any liberty with this you would like, but here is an example I have used a lot with great success.

“Dear God, I am in some discomfort, pain, confusion, fear, etc.  I don’t know what to do, or what the highest good for me is, but I know You do. So, just now, I invite you in.  I am requesting your support, God, You decide for me."

And then RELAX!   Know your situation, be it financial, a relationship, a health issue, or whatever the challenge may be, is now in God’s hands…and what better place could it possibly be?  The next step consists of you paying attention to signs from the Universe.  Those signs can look like dreams, inner promptings, information from people, a billboard, something on television, a phone call and more.  Just keep your eyes, ears, and heart open!

At first surrendering may not be easy, but with some practice you will relax, knowing you can really trust that the Universe is on your side.  This process can support and guide you to your highest path, your greatest good, and the pinnacle of your potential!

Do you have any thoughts or feedback?  Please write to me, I would love to hear any stories or support you in any way I can!

CHAOS!

I long to be centered, aligned with Spirit, and feel the world solid beneath my feet - that is why the name of my website, blog, and radio show is “Journey to Center.” Unfortunately life in its natural color is not always so balanced, clean and clear. Chaos, yuck, it brings to mind messiness and discomfort. Chaos comes from the Greek word “khaos.” To the ancients, chaos was the first state of the universe, or the emptiness of the outer darkness. In modern times, chaos has come to mean disorder, confusion and a total lack of organization. Most of us probably would not consider chaos to be positive - but are their gifts or an upside to chaos? I was assured by some of my recent guests on my radio show on Empower Radio that chaos can indeed be a very good thing.

I was informed by my experts chaos can shake up the status quo, support us in breaking out of habits and patterns and uplevel in our lives. It may be a good idea to set the intention to make friends with chaos if you are on a journey of awakening, self-discovery, or have the desire to expand in consciousness, because it seems periods of chaos are going to inevitable!

I have experienced periods of profound chaos, where at the time, if I were asked, I would have described it as horrible, awful, and tragic. However, in retrospect, the chaos was exactly what I needed to shift, change, learn, grow and expand. Like the phoenix rising from the ashes those periods of confusion, messiness, and discomfort supported me in journeying to a place of higher altitude and greater awareness. Although uncomfortable I feel the quality of chaos certainly contributed to helping grow up spiritually.

In his book Cracking Creativity: The Secrets of Creative Genius, Michael Michalko says, "It is impossible to think unpredictably by looking harder and longer in the same direction. When your attention is focused on a subject, a few patterns are highly activated in your brain and dominate your thinking. ... If, however, you change your focus and think about something that is not related, different, unusual patterns are activated." Chaos sometimes involves deliberately looking at something in a new way, forcing new associations to form new and different patterns.

Now while in the midst of chaos, I find ways to support myself. I allow myself to rest more, meditate more, and I have found it helps immensely to put order into my environment. This seems to assist me in moving through those strange and uncomfortable times with a bit more grace and ease.

On a final note, I love this quote from American writer Henry Brooks Adams: “Chaos often breeds life, when order breeds habit.” So know I am sending you blessings of LIFE, love, expansion along with a generous dose of grace and ease!