To embrace reality is an act of total renewal. When we dare to see things as they truly are, it immediately brings us a feeling of liberation, strength and healing. Therefore, it is no coincidence that Buddhists describe ‘experiencing God’ as being ‘completely present’ in reality. However, in order to ‘land’ yourself fully in reality, you need to surrender to it first. To surrender means to let go of the control you think you have in your life. It means releasing your preconceived thoughts and notions about how you think your life should be. It is all about no longer forcing your personal will onto reality. In fact, to surrender is a celebration of real freedom.
Sacred moments
There are those moments in life where you simply have no other choice but to surrender all control. You know what? Those are the really sacred moments! They are opportunities to experience pure dedication and deep initiation that takes you to the secret space within yourself where everything is good. We all know that when we experience utter desperation, it usually leads us to a real turning point in our lives.
Over the years, I’ve spoken to so many people who, just like me, were forced to their knees by life’s difficulties, forcing them, in turn, to travel the road inward and find a solution inward rather than finding one in the outside world. In my own life I have noticed that just when you find yourself in the great unknown, at your most desperate, that is when the answer comes. Maybe because in those moments the thinking mind is finally silenced, it gives in because it is out of options and solutions, and the real ‘knowledge’ within you finally has a chance to take over. Each time life takes away our security and safety, it offers us a chance to surrender. Loss, in whatever form, gives birth to trust.
‘It is never the goal of the soul to become better or recover physically. The soul’s only goal is to grow’
Connection to the secret
Does all of this sound like abstract mumbo jumbo to you? Then look at it like this: don’t you think that the strength and power that manages to hold together entire galaxies and parallel universes would also be able to take care of you? That you’re just a meaningless little ant on this big earth and that all those universal and natural laws simply don’t apply to you? We are not spectators on the sidelines, watching the enormous power of life; we are an intricate part of that mystic force field, no matter how hard we want to believe we are not, no matter how much we think we’re above it all.
I experience the respect and honour I have for the secret of it all as healing on a very deep level. The choice to surrender to that power is up to us. Sometimes it’s very easy for us. But: do you know when? When it concerns unimportant things, things that don’t matter so much to us anyway. Those things we will just leave up to God. In those moments we are courageous and we dare to trust in the deeper powers of life. But when it really matters, we think we need to intervene and direct, and that it’s better if we resolve it ourselves, not God. However, if you dare, precisely during those challenging moments, to surrender all of your control, you will find that you are totally taken care of. You will find that life is not a conspiracy against you but rather a conspiracy to help you.
I have always had a deep connection to this secret. There really was no other choice for me, because starting at a very young age, so many unexplainable things happened to me in succession. The urge to understand why the things happened to me as they did in a very natural way made room for a kind of primal trust in the higher order of all things, something that transcends all of our rational thinking.
How did that happen? I have no idea. It feels like my soul entered this world with this deep sense of trust. I’m thankful for it, because when we speak about healing and any cure, in any form, two of the most disempowering questions are: How? and Why? Our need to know is part of our survival instinct. Are they understandable questions? Yes. Our need to know is part of our survival instinct, especially when it comes to the events which happen to us that determine and affect the rest of our lives, like my own disability, for instance. We think that if life offers us an instruction manual for these events, it is easier to carry out our fate. Because if we don’t have that manual to tell us the how and why, we are left with feelings such as: What did I do to deserve this, what did I do wrong? What negative thinking patterns in me caused this to happen? What did I miss or overlook?
Most people think that when they figure out this part, they can eliminate the source of the illness and that, in return, they will be rewarded with good health. Certainly, that could happen, but it’s not usually the case. It is never the goal of the soul to become better or recover physically.
From Power Of Acceptance © 2013 by Annemarie Postma, published by Watkins Publishing, London.
Cygnus Code: 231214
THE POWER OF ACCEPTANCE
by Annemarie Postma
In her new book, Annemarie Postma explores the mental and emotional blocks that keep us from true joy. She writes, Rarely has anything in my life gone the way I had hoped, expected or thought. However, in hindsight, I can see that everything turned out just as it should have.Click here to buy.