In my last post I mentioned the four words my teacher, Miao, has suggested to guide us as we confront challenges in our lives: courage, trust, faith, surrender. I’m thinking about how they support us to be fearless: to release our attachments and to embrace the impermanence which is inevitably a reality in our lives.
As I opened my journal this morning, a paper given to me long ago by my friend, Nancy, falls out. On it is the following quote entitled, “Giving up the Struggle,” from Gloria D. Karpinski’s book, Where Two Worlds Touch.
“During surrender, we eventually give up the struggle itself. That my be the hardest release of all. We know how to struggle, how to survive by forcing ourselves to cope, and push through odds. What we don’t know is how to relax, to trust, to allow the universe to carry us.”
For me, much of the struggle is about fear. I want to control the outcome because I am afraid of what might happen if I am not in charge. It’s admittedly tricky. Drifting through life with no plan may not be the best course, but I know that when I get hyper-focused on forcing a particular plan into reality I miss other possibilities which might have presented themselves along the way.
A wonderful teacher of mine used to say, “The universe is not a place of scarcity, Susan, it’s a place of abundance.” When I remember that, it’s easier to give up the struggle and to be more fearless.
