If you’ve ever had a day where it feels like you’re swimming against the tide, chances are you are. This can be exhaustive!
But imagine how much more energy you could have if you dared to surrender.
The Universe has ways of making things happen and the realities in your life are the results of thoughts and/or decisions you have made for yourself. When things are not going the way we want them to go, many of us cling to the hopes that our desires will come to fruition – we swim against the tide – and exhaust ourselves. Ultimately, we feel disappointed, discouraged, tired, and uncertain.
There Is Another Way
What if, rather than scratching and clawing tirelessly to achieve what we want, we simply let go and let things happen as they will? This does not mean a lack of effort on our part.
It means a change in perspective; an acceptance that whatever comes our way, we will know how to deal with it. It means we stop resisting the things presented to us and, instead, look at them differently.
Resistance Can Be Healthy
Resistance isn’t always a negative thing. In many ways, resistance is an important part of our lives.
- Unhealthy urges is just one way that resistance serves us in our lives.
- Resistance helps us choose to avoid doing/saying something we know we may regret.
- Resistance helps us avoid being taken for granted by those who may present us with baseless opportunities.
When Resistance Doesn’t Serve Us
When we use resistance to fight against what is, we are using it in a self-defeating way. It’s natural to want to control our environments in a way that changes our life trajectory to go in the direction we want it to go. However, when we are so obsessed with making things happen the way we want them to, we lose sight of other possibilities that may be even better options for us.
We also create an atmosphere of fatigue, frustration, self-doubt, outrage, and a host of other mental, emotional, spiritual and even physical blocks because of our unwillingness to stop resisting the things we are presented with.
How To Shift from Resistance to Acceptance
The word surrender may seem like a frightening concept but, indeed, surrender can be a life-changing choice. The trick is to know when it’s time to stop resisting and start accepting.
Stop and Breathe
Breathing has long been identified as a powerful self-regulating tool. From pain management to centering, breathing is vital to taking a mental break and giving yourself time to think. Before determining whether it’s time to resist or not, spend a few moments with mindful breathing.
Ask Yourself Why
Once you have had time to breathe and center yourself, ask yourself why you’re resisting this particular thing. It could be that you feel you are “right” and something/someone else is “wrong” but this kind of thinking can be destructive. What is it you are attempting to control and is it a reasonable thing?
Ask “What If..?”
Most of our fears are not rooted in reality and often, once you stop and look closely, you’ll find your resistances are rooted in an unreasonable fear of something. If you take a moment and ponder the possible outcomes of surrender, you may find your resistance is working against you by preventing you from seeing other possibilities. Maybe you don’t want this to happen, but what if it did? How might it help you grow? How might it shift your life?
Start Small
You may be amazed when you start practicing mindful surrender. Your journey into acceptance does not have to begin with a monumental choice. It can be something as simple as trying a food you’ve resisted tried or going to a park when you feel the urge to get a chore done. Taking small steps like these and being aware of the results can give you the courage to take bigger, more powerful steps towards acceptance in your life.
I invite you to contact me today if you want to learn more about releasing resistance in favor of surrender so that you can find your balanced, fulfilling life right now.