The Courage to Surrender

“The everyday practice is simply to develop a complete acceptance and openness to all situations and emotions, and to all people, experiencing everything totally without mental reservations and blockages, so that one never withdraws or centralizes into oneself.” ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Do you have the courage to get still enough to discover what’s swirling beneath the surface? Do you have the courage to be so raw and vulnerable that your deepest fears and passions bleed through? Do you have the mental discipline to sift through the silt for the gold?

When we hear “surrender,” our knee-jerk reaction is to think of defeat and giving up. But what if it can mean something different for us, something deeper, more beautiful, and more fulfilling?

In this context, to “surrender” is to give in to the truth of who you really are. It’s drilling beyond the surface to tease out the silver and gold in the strata of your being. Our deepest treasures lie in the core of us, and you can’t get to that core without some concerted effort on a regular basis.

The courage to surrender, then, is the courage to dive deep within yourself and luxuriate in what you find. We all have a little bit of light and dark within us and feeling ashamed of any part of yourself only keeps you stuck in the muck. 

If you discover something about you that puts you off, like a bad habit or a weakness for something that makes you uncomfortable, put in the time and effort to transform it into something that lifts your heart.

Please understand me: I’m not saying surrender to any negativity or the critics in your head. I’m saying surrender to the Divine spark within you, to your higher self, to the qualities and strengths that make you the Queen you are.

Discovering what’s swirling beneath the surface is opening your eyes to everything going on within you so you can release the hurtful patterns and break free of the negative cycles. Doing this puts you in touch with your strengths, your deeper desires, and who you are beneath the personas you don around the people in your life. If you can face the rawness of your truth, you’ll elevate yourself to a class of one, a dynamo we can never forget.

If you look at the superstars of our world, they’re all unmistakable because they’ve tapped into the distinct flavor of their souls, an exotic blend that permeates everything they do and contributes to their great success.

With that in mind, letting your deepest fears and passions bleed through gives you access to the parts of you no copycat can replicate, and nobody can take away from you. 

The strength to admit your deepest fears frees you to face them so they don’t hold you back from pursuing your deepest passions. You may have a terrible fear of public speaking, but if you find yourself inexplicably drawn to the stage to share your story, chances are you’ll brave your fear to act on your passion if you give yourself permission to explore it.

Again, I’m not trying to make light of the process or pretending to know exactly how it’s going to turn out for you. I’m simply sharing what I’ve found to be true for myself and my clients: If you are brave enough to face yourself and follow the cues of your Soul, you will find buried treasure that ripples out into every facet of your life. The specifics, however, are up to you to discover and explore.

Make no mistake, ladies, peeling away the layers takes dedication and mental discipline. Much like panning for gold or weaving a wall-size tapestry, it’s a process that demands all your concentration and falls apart if you get distracted. It’s also a lifelong journey, so forget about crossing some mythical finish line where you’ll suddenly know everything there is to know about who you are and what you really want.

The upside, of course, is the more you discover who you are and what you want, the clearer you are on your life’s work and the kind of business that suits you best. Testing out what you discover means you’re constantly iterating and innovating, which keeps you on your leading edge and lets you trim the fat before it bogs you down or makes you forgettable. You’re here to be your truest self, not a pale imitation of what you’re capable of.

Knowing what you’re capable of comes from surrendering to your higher self and trusting the Divine spark to take you where you need to go. 

We doubt ourselves when we’ve not learned to trust who we are, and it’s that doubt that keeps us playing small and not daring to soar like we yearn to. Knowing who you are, however, minimizes the voice of doubt and lets you discover just how high you can fly.

Summoning the courage to surrender is surging forward on the wave of your intuition and the deeper truths of yourself. Instead of feeling pressured into doing what you don’t want to do or don’t believe in, you free yourself to feel into it to see if it resonates with your truth or not. 

The more you act on your truth, the more comfortable you feel reaching for it before every major decision. And the more you act on your truth, the more you embody the unique blend of your Soul that makes you unmistakable and irresistible to your right people.

Are you willing to surrender and dance in the freedom of your truth?