An Act of Surrender

“Places in the wild draw many of us to experience a vitality greater than our own, but it may take an act of surrender to let the gates give way between ourselves and nature.”

-Rosamund and Benjamin Zander, The Art of Possibility

Experiencing something greater than ourselves: are we up for it? What would it be if we could do this and be okay? Be open for a better world, for stewardship, for voices to be heard, for peace, for that which moves us … and be okay? Crazy some might say. Isn’t possible, others counter. No money, no time, just a pipe dream, how am I going to live on that… But again, suspend all of that just for a moment: what if we could experience that which we all may have experienced at one time? What if we dared to look at it? What would we see?

I ask these questions because I believe too often we shut ourselves down before letting ourselves really entertain possibility. What happens to us as we grow older? We encourage our kids to go for their dreams, no matter how big. In fact, we don’t ask them to think about it, but to dream what’s possible and to go for it. Why?! Because it’s our fervent hope that they’ll do it.

So what does it take to move from the place of fear to the place of possibility? It’s first and foremost a willingness. A willingness to look there and suspend your reality for a moment. Then it’s simply a choice - an act of surrender. A letting go of the outcome to let come.

Easier said than done? Nah. Just practice.

Try it with the smallest thing. Your husband’s way he folds the laundry. Your child’s way of making the bed. Practice letting go little by little, so that when you’re ready, experiencing a vitality greater than our own is a simply a matter of being open to the possibility.