If you were ever caught in a situation where you had to choose between surrendering yourself or facing the enemy, what would you have chosen? Most probably, you would have chosen the path of survival. Because, nobody would like to die without giving a heck of a fight. Right?
But, what if I told you, surrendering yourself isn’t like giving up or simply yielding to your enemy; rather, letting go of things you have no control over? Or what if I told you, surrendering isn’t a form of a weakness, rather, a form of self-acceptance, where you focus more on the possibilities than limitations? See, surrendering isn’t about giving up or downgrading yourself, instead letting go of the need to be right.
Here Are 7 Ways To Master The Art Of Surrender
1) Always Be Mindful of Your Surroundings
When you are attuned to your feelings, emotions, and whatever is happening around you, you begin to surrender yourself to the present moment. You no longer show resistance as you used to; instead, you go with the flow and accept things as they come.
2) Let Go of The Need For Control
As humans, we have a tendency to control everything — our relationships, surroundings, people, and life’s outcomes. Even we become selfish to the extent we find amusement in others’ sufferings. While a need for control is natural, using it destructively can result in significant challenges.
On the other hand, the opposite of control is surrender. Surrender is an art that specifically teaches us how to reconnect with our higher selves. For some, it is through meditation that they find peace within themselves, while for others, it is through activities like traveling, yoga, or simply walking in nature.
Surrender doesn’t teach us that we should have a control in every aspect of our lives, rather, encourages us to be free in the moment, to surrender to the gift we call as present.
3) Embrace Acceptance
More often we go through life phases when everything in front of us seem to fall apart. And guess what? Instead of accepting the truth and working on the solutions, we start complaining about what we should have or could have done. In the very moment, we deeply know that the solutions for all these nuisances is acceptance, but our ego and unacceptance makes us fearful, and as a result we try to control everything in our surrounding; eventually falling into the spiral trap of self-doubt and negativity.
But, if we allow ourselves to be free in the moment without getting attached to what’s gone and what’s going to come, we can experience the real happiness and inner peace. Acceptance is not only about accepting yourself, but accepting the people and the world around you. Because, we are all different in our own ways and have unique ways to do things. So, when you embrace acceptance, you are simply surrendering to the now by letting go of things you cannot control or have no control over.
4) Trust Your Conscience
You can trust anyone on this planet, your spouse, you close friend and your parents. But the one thing whom you trust the most and cannot fool at the same time. It is none other than your inner voice or your conscience. You can trust anyone like your parents and off course, you will, because you’ve seen them since your birth – your soul is connected to their soul or their inner critic, forming a genuine connection that doesn’t need any magical force to unite; it just happens.
Likewise, when you surrender yourself to your conscience, and have faith that things will unfold as they should, you begin to loosen the grip from your ego and see the bigger picture within, which automatically manifests into the outer reality.
5) Overcoming the Grip of Expectations
There is a quote that says, ‘Expectations are the root cause of all sufferings.’ Is that really true? Because higher expectations lead to greater success, how can they be a cause of suffering? The answer may lie in our daily habits, life choices, and attitude towards life.
Expectations do help us to achieve success, but it also steals most of things from our lives. It steals our happiness, relationships, and the present moment. This is because they aren’t fueled by compassion and mindfulness, but by ego and non-acceptance that we cannot always be right. Rather surrendering to the calmness and patience, we choose power and control, and with time it becomes intricate to overpower the supremeness of expectations.
However, when you learn the art of surrender, you embrace the present and allow life to unfold on its own terms.
6) Practice Gratitude
Life becomes easier when we appreciate the little things, focusing more on solutions than complaints, fostering kindness and selflessness over our egoistic needs, and choosing empathy over ignorance. Simply put, the depth of gratitude cannot be fully expressed in words; it can only be felt.
In fact, gratitude is a wisdom that frees us from the burdens of status, perfectionism, and power. It teaches us humility and raises our consciousness about others’ needs.
In practice, you can maintain a gratitude journal and jot down things you are thankful for. It could be your parents who brought you into this world, a friend who supported you in tough times, or your loyal pet who comforted you when you were upset. Express gratitude to whatever brings you a sense of connection or peace. It doesn’t require much effort; a small gesture shows that you care and are willing to help when needed.
7) Self-Reflection and Self-Care
As humans we have a tendency to look into other’s people lives. Instead of finding our own authentic selves, we derive pleasure from others beauty, wealth and successes. But deep down, we all know that we’re going nowhere. Don’t we?
We’re aware that our time is limited, still we hesitate to take a risk — a risk to change our lives — to go after what we want, what fuels us from within, what makes us “us”. See, life isn’t fair, but in order to make it fair, we’ve to be fair to ourselves.
Moreover, how often do you ask yourself about your life? How is it going on? How far have you come from where you started? What your goals are? How are you going to achieve them? Do you have any plans? How often do you look yourself into the mirror and ask “is this person you want to become”? Or the person that resides deeps down within you?
When you sincerely watch your thoughts, actions, and daily life habits, you would be amaze to see that nothing has ever changed. It was you that didn’t allow yourself to change. It was you that kept on bottling up your wishes in the hope that it will become true one day. So, what’s the solution? The solution is simple! Be the change, surrender to the present, and become the person you genuinely want to become.