Life in Small Bites

Insights from my good friend, Dr. Jeff Alexander

August 27, 2014

Surrender is the most important thing you can do to bring about growth and positive change in your life. Surrender does not mean to be passive or defeated in the face of challenges.  It does not mean to give up or cease taking action when needed. When one becomes aware that life is designed for soul evolution and growth, then every unpredictable event becomes a step towards self-realization.

True surrender is accepting not opposing life experiences.  The joy of life is fully experienced only in the present moment. By accepting the present moment and whatever lies within it, you move in harmony and flow with life. Resistance to the present experience fights with life. It is within this resistance to life experiences that suffering arises. This often occurs when negative experiences appear. You “don’t want” the feeling that comes from that experience. So the battle with the present moment becomes your reality.

The mind decides it does not like the present moment and wants the feeling associated with it to leave. This non-acceptance of what is present causes tremendous discomfort and drains energy from the body. The battle begins and the heart reacts by stimulating an anxiety emotion felt deep in the body. The heart is reacting not to the event, but to the mind’s programmed reaction to the event. The mind often misinterprets this communication from the heart and gets to work attempting to fix it by trying to manipulate the outside condition. It can’t recognize the fact that it is the reason for the pain.

The mind likes to think of itself as your personal lifeguard pulling you out of turbulent waters. It can’t recognize the fact that it is the culprit always throwing you in. Life will come at you and by now you know that things can go wrong.  Surrender is key to accepting this fact and relinquishing the pain of suffering from your life.

Resistance is generated from the mind, and blocks your experience of the present moment. It robs the soul from growing. Soul grows often more from negative experiences than positive ones.  The mind says, “I know what is good for you and will not allow this learning to come forth.” So, it persists. The message of the experience never gets embraced by the soul and will continue to arise in different forms, events and conditions of life.  Until you surrender to the experience by not judging or resisting it, you will stay on the wheel of pain and discomfort.

By surrendering you give up judgment as either good or bad and are able to immediately, without the distraction of mind, take the necessary focused action to change the condition.  You are not diluted by the ego screaming in your ear and are more able to enter a more powerful state of intention and action.  You no longer waste energy on worry or guilt, but get immediately to work attending what needs your attention without the resistance.

Life will offer you the best classroom to practice the art of surrender.  And you will have many lessons to strengthen your spiritual endurance.

PS -Here is a wonderful video of Dr. Jeff telling a story about service. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=436821813511281&ref=sharing