The Grace that Comes with Letting Go

None of us make it through life without experiencing a few big bumps. Try as we might to keep our ducks in a row, life occasionally has some unforeseen loops in store for us. An unexpected change can be frightening and leave us feeling clueless about how to handle the crumbling pieces of a once seemingly stable situation.

Challenges that are difficult can also be wonderful periods of growth, which afford opportunities for us to take a quantum-leap into new and expanded worlds.

How we deal with a situation is the crucial element in determining our experience of the outcome. If we leave it up to our personal, conditioned and limited mind, the outcome will usually be relatively limited growth.

But expanding and opening our minds to the unlimited force that animates us and surrendering the outcome with an intention for it to create the highest purpose for all involved, can lead us to an experience of great freedom. Sincerely letting go and asking Existence to show the way, changes us forever. The results are usually far greater than anything we could have imagined.

My first and most profound experience of surrender occurred during an emotional crisis. My marriage was falling apart, it was clear we had to separate, but I had no idea what to do. I didn’t know who would leave, where we’d go or how we’d handle it financially. What would my daughter do? How could I stand the dissolution of my sweet family that I was so attached to and loved so much? My mind went blank by the shock and sheer sadness, absolute fear and utter not-knowing-ness. In a moment, I threw my hands up and said, “ Existence, I give up, put me where I’m suppose to be and guide me.” It was a literal and deeply sincere, “thy will, not mine, be done!” experience.

The relief that came over me in that moment was sublime. I realized that I didn’t even have to think about it. It was not for me to decide, create or even concern myself with. This surrender was an abandonment of all strategies and a request for guidance. I knew my job was to relax, trust and follow the directions I would be given and have faith that the highest purpose would unfold.

What happened seemed truly miraculous to me. A few days following the experience, I received a phone call that set in motion unfathomable changes. I could have never been able to personally orchestrate the events that needed to happen in order for this ‘miracle’ to unfold. It was as if all the balls on a pool table smoothly glided into the pockets and I wasn’t even holding a cue stick! I watched as things fell into place and astonishingly complex details took care of themselves. Dozens of people were relocated, things were closed down, others opened. The ripples went far and wide. And whatever I wanted seemed to be the decree of the Universe.

Though it seemed I had no choice, I was very grateful that the surrender was so deep and that I was effortlessly able to stay out of the way and allow the grace to come in and shower me in love.

It’s ironic that we strive to demonstrate our ability to control our environment and circumstances and avoid appearing clueless, like the plague. And yet our greatest blessing may just be our ability to open to, accept, and surrender our limited knowing so we can…

Experience the magic!