How This Year Taught Us To Surrender Control

There is immense power in letting go of control, and 2020 will be remembered as the year that taught us that. I know about holding on. My father’s death to illness and facing my mortality meant I tried to control every facet of my life out of fear. This year life taught me the power of letting go and the grace that comes with it. I feel relieved not having to control every aspect of my life anymore. It felt strange at first, because I was fearful things would spiral out of control. However, I wasn’t in control anyway, and this pandemic reinforced that. This year, I faced my fears and surrendered to the unknown. Every day, I made a vow to let go of situations, thoughts, and beliefs I’ve held on to for years.

The result has been life changing, for in surrendering, my life has improved. Just to be clear, this is not a midlife crisis but a gradual awakening that has been developing in my consciousness for years. This pandemic has been the catalyst to surrender control of our lives. Author Michael A. Singer wrote a book titled The Surrender Experiment: My Journey into Life’s Perfection, in which he writes: “I clearly remember deciding that from now on if life was unfolding in a certain way, and the only reason I was resisting it was because of a personal preference, I would let go of my preference and let life be in charge.”

The notion of surrender is a difficult concept for many, because who or what are we surrendering to? What about you? Has this year taught you important life lessons? Whatever they are, there’s a significant shift taking place throughout the world and humanity. There is immense power in surrendering control. For me, surrendering requires dropping the mental chatter about situations, events, people or beliefs I’ve held on to for years. Like Michael Singer, I experimented with letting go and saw positive results. But who am I surrendering to, you might ask? Surrender means conceding control to a greater intelligence, whom I call God. You might call it Source, The Universe, Mother Earth, Divinity, etc. It doesn’t matter what label you affix to it, as long as you let go of control.

The act of surrender is more important than what we call the source of intelligence. This is not about invoking religion but recognizing a greater energy permeating throughout our lives. To demonstrate this idea, when I retire to bed at night, I often review my day and think about what worked well and what didn’t. I contemplate how things could have gone wrong, such as being involved in a car accident or losing loved ones to unfortunate events. In that instance, I’m reminded of an energy field functioning behind the scenes like a glue, holding the fabric of my life together. I am filled with a deep gratitude and humility that life is supporting me as long as I abide by the natural laws of the universe. Let’s be honest, life is not always smooth sailing, and unfortunate things will happen unexpectedly. But as I’ve reiterated in countless articles, these are opportunities to awaken our inner wisdom to grow and expand our lives.

Are you satisfied that you are taken care of by a greater power, irrespective of what you call it? This power operates efficiently, orchestrating a multitude of events throughout the cosmos. It has a good handle on its role, even though it may not look that way. Similarly, what appears as chaos is actually Ordered Chaos. Therefore, nothing in life is random and even though we may not know the meaning and purpose to random events, we can trust things are taking place for a greater cause, whether or not they are directly linked to us. This idea is supported by the psychiatrist and consciousness researcher Dr. David Hawkins, who wrote in The Map of Consciousness Explained, “There are no accidents in the universe, nor are they even a possibility. ‘Accident’ simply means that something is unpredictable or incomprehensible to the linear ego…”

So, how can you learn to surrender control? First, choose an area of your life not performing as you would like. It may be a relationship, your finances, health, or career. Second, surrender it and observe whether the situation improves. For instance, if you had an argument with your partner that resulted in an exchange of negative emotions, surrender your thoughts about the situation. There’s one thing I am certain of: This energy field is present within everything in the universe, and it doesn’t matter what label you give it; it recognizes your act of surrender. So, you might say, “Dear universe/God/Source, I surrender this situation to you. I let go of my fear, worry, anger and frustration. Take it from me and transform it into peace, love, and harmony. Thank you.” Then go about your day without worrying about it anymore and trust you will be guided to act at the right time. It might come as an impulse or through intuition; that is the universe/divinity working through you.

So, can you give yourself the gift of letting go and allowing a greater energy to permeate your life? Can you give yourself the gift of healing and transforming your life? I encourage you to start with something small and not focus on a big problem, since it requires building faith and trust with this energy source. I’ve been practicing this for months and have seen delightful results. I’ve read countless books on surrender and understood it intellectually. But when I practiced it, I experienced wonderful results throughout areas of my life. So now it’s your turn. Are you willing to release parts of your life to a greater intelligence? Despite everything, this year taught us the power of letting go lies in our ability to surrender that which we have little control of anyway.