17 Comments

On the mark! For me, these essays are you showing up for your real work and lining up with Reality. "Surrender, I’m coming to understand, is not resignation. Rather, it’s an active choice to redirect all of the energy that is typically devoted to refusing to accept the hand that has been dealt—all that mental groping and grasping and squirming and flailing that does nothing to affect reality—and instead to funnel that energy into action." Damn yes!

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Appreciate it Rick!

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So good. So Alex. Your voice totally shines here 🤌🏼

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Thank ya Grace!

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Just kidding lol.

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The Serenity Prayer has been a significant, guiding light throughout my life. Surrender captures much of its meaning. Well done!

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Thanks Mom, that's a great parallel!

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“Do or do not. There is no try.” You ARE doing it. Plus, failure is simply part of a process of elimination until you land on what works. It’s a necessary phase of (your) evolution.

This I don’t fully resonate with: “… and instead funnel that energy into action.” In my personal practice I would say that energy goes to introspective self/skill development (which I suppose is technically “action.”)

This essay felt rich to me like the first one. Thank you for sharing it!

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Appreciate you Christine. Yeah, the action piece is a bit ambiguous, and a lot of action could definitely be antithetical to the idea of surrender. But yes I think that introspection and skill development fall into the category of action for sure.

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This was such a good read.

The word you’re using (surrender) sounds a lot like acceptance to me.

That can absolutely be a spiritual practice.

The first line of the Serenity Prayer is “Grant me the serenity to ACCEPT the things I cannot change”.

I grew up immersed in a church that practiced “faith healing”. I don’t mean any disrespect to those who still practice, but it didn’t exactly get results and even worse, it often looked just like avoidance. for instance, a lot of believers ( not all, but you would be surprised) avoided saying “I’m getting sick” because to accept that you had a runny nose and sore throat was a sign that you didn’t have enough faith.

To more extreme believers, taking medicine or going to the doctor was a sign of a lack of faith. Denial and faith looked reeeal similar in the circles I was raised in. It’s like you were supposed to pretend your way into being well.

As an adult, I just shut it all down and went back to my factory setting of no faith for about 14 years. Honestly, I needed a hard reset.

Like you, I eventually started looking inward and upward and wondering if maybe there was something more.

This time around, I’m committed to accepting what is. Accepting the feelings I have instead of shoving them down or trying to change them. Accepting the things I cannot change.

I suck at it. But you know what? I accept that I suck at it!

I’m enjoying these daily essays. Keep it up!

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Thanks for the kind words Pam. Yeah, acceptance is absolutely the same idea.

That sounds like a heck of a church to grow up in. Definitely sounds like avoidance and a lot of other things that are the opposite of acceptance, haha. I don't blame you for needing a hard reset - sounds like the only appropriate response. Glad to hear you're returning to exploration and that we're in the same boat of accepting the suck!

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Τύχη. Translated from Greek to English most popularly as luck. Used by Greek philosophers, is more like fate or, as you said, the cards you are dealt in life. Like poker, it's how you play the hand. And, as I remember our trips to Vegas, you play a great hand of Texas Hold 'Em. Life can be full of restarts and, thankfully, we live in a country where opportunities abound. Restarts by resourceful and talented people like you usually lead to better opportunities.

The truly beautiful part of restarts is the opportunity to be creative in a place that is better suited for us. I can't wait to see where this adventure leads you.

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This made me smile. Agreed wholeheartedly. Thanks PM.

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Good read.

I like that part the most:

“Last week, on another neighborhood limp with the dogs, I decided to try this surrender thing. I told myself that the potential bankruptcy and the upcoming surgery were exactly what I wanted, that the universe knew what it was doing. “

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Appreciate it Martin.

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This feels very you. Love the journey you took me on. Your challenge is going pretty well so far!!

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Thanks man!

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