Surrendering to Life

Letting go is not an easy thing to do. One of the things I and many others have discovered is that surrendering to life is key. 

From what I can see life is supporting us all the time; however, when we find ourselves in a difficult place, there can be a resistance to that support. I remember I pushed people away during some hard times, and most of those people stopped calling. However, life did not give up supporting me. In lieu of friends to help, I often turned on the TV and would find to my amazement that a program was on that offered the support I needed perfectly. Life's support shows up that way, squeezing through every crack of resistance. It needn't always come in human form. It can show up as a hummingbird nest appearing on the tree outside your bedroom window or a kiss of a gentle wind on your cheek. Life's support is ever-present. The lack of perceiving it is the problem.

When surrendering does happen, all resistance falls away--and what I have found is life's support has a massive opening to show up. The deeper the surrender, the more swift and pervasive the support. But when someone is in a state of profound resistance, you cannot tell them to surrender. The idea of surrendering for them is terrifying for they do not believe life will be there to support them. Ironically, it is only by taking the leap and surrendering can such a person, through the experience of seeing life support them, realize the support was always there. This often can change someone profoundly, and a kind of faith emerges never known before.

When I get messages of life's support what I hear is, "You are loved." The kiss of the wind on my cheek, the sparkle of the ocean, the hummingbird's nest, the TV program that comforts, the smile of a stranger--and much more than these--is life saying, "I love you." I do believe it does love me, though I sometimes forget. But it always nudges me with gentle reminders, both large and small, that I am worthy of taking up space on this planet.