Learning the lessons of my life mostly involve feeling what I feel, surrendering control, and leaning into trust. Again, again, again.
I think that’s the way to live — or at least, it’s the way I want to live.
Above all else, I am devoted to trusting my energy. My body will always take me where I need to go. I am committed to trusting that what is meant for me will not miss me, and that the more I lean into feeling things as they arrive — even as they shift and unfold — the deeper and truer my life will get.
A call to surrender.
The Buddhist concept of ‘clinging’ refers to when we wed ourselves to ideas of what we think will happen, or what will probably happen, or what (god forbid) *might* happen. Clinging creates suffering, and to stop suffering, we must stop clinging. Basically, human minds want to control — and so, we spend mountains of time ruminating on the past, agonizing over the future, and missing out on the present moment. The more we resist reality and attach ourselves to specific thoughts/feelings/outcomes/plans, the more we suffer (collectively and individually).
To stop clinging, surrender to what is happening right now, and be with it as it changes.
Future trip!
Can we feel and hope and want and dream, and then let it all go? Can we live intentionally while surrendering control?
Regardless of what you think you want in the future — that job or success or person or way of being — how you live your way to the destination is more important. To get ‘there’ and feel good when you get there, focus on what’s happening right here.
Since you cannot be certain about what will happen tomorrow, nor can you control what other people do, focus on the little things you can do to invite satisfaction and peace today.
Choose the mug you like best and sit in the sunshine. Clear out what’s not up to par, get rid of what doesn’t make you feel good. Take care of your body and listen to it, again and again. Keep breathing, and see what happens next.
Let yourself dream about what you want. This is how the world can transform, by daring to dream up newer and truer. Delight in the possibility of what could be so good. Imagine what the most beautiful love and life could be like, of how it could be better than this.
And then, let it all go.
Thinking about what we want the future to be like must involve doing what feels most right in this moment. If we don’t live life as if it were precious and sacred right now, then it will never be better than this.
If we can’t enjoy our dream life until we get there, what’s the point? What if we never get there, because ‘there’ just keeps moving farther away? Snow Patrol asks this question — what if this is all the love you ever get? If it is, shouldn’t we feel into it and let it open us right now?
What if this moment is all there is?
How heartbreaking, how relieving, is that.
xx, maggie
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Can we live intentionally while surrendering control? Great question. Great invitation.