The Surrender Experiment

“What manifests in front of us at any given moment is actually something truly extraordinary – it is the end result of all the forces that have been interacting together for billions of years. We are not responsible for even the tiniest fraction of what is manifesting around us. Nonetheless, we walk around constantly trying to control and determine what will happen in our lives. No wonder there’s so much tension, anxiety and fear. Each of us actually believes that things should be the way we want them, instead of being the natural result of all the forces of creation.” – Micheal A. Singer

Let’s first start off this blog by telling you what led me to this book in the first place. I’ve constantly been driven to this idea of control. If I worked hard enough and did everything the right way then things would turn out perfect. This concept of perfectionism took over my life and not only gave me this strong sense of constant anxiety, but led to a lot of disappointment. I’ve always been the type of person to prepare, prepare, prepare. I constantly told myself that I needed to be ready for anything - that I had to arrive with a game plan so that the unexpected could never scare me...I’m sure by now you can see what the real problem is.

The Surrender Experiment made me realize that being prepared and working hard is great, but that it is only one part of the equation. You can’t control all outcomes. Because there is just so much more to the equation that your mind cannot even begin to comprehend. So rather than controlling situations and trying to dominate the world on your own, it is important to understand that the world isn’t going to be exactly how you want it to be. And when you accept this fact, it will minimize disappointment and may actually end up surprising you when things do work out! 

“What I saw is that no matter who we are, life is going to put us through changes we need to go through. The question is: Are we willing to use this force for transformation?” - Michael A. Singer

This, I believe, is the best perspective we can all have. When there are closed doors, there is something better waiting. When hard times come, there are great transformative lessons to be learned. And at the moment we may not realize, but down the road when we reflect on those hard times we are able to realize how crucial they were to the growth of who we are today.

The goal is to be the best that we can be, to do as good as possible, to work hard, and to let the second half of the equation play out. Surrender to life itself.