Living into Surrendering: Day 21, Stay Inspired

Living Into Surrendering: Day 21, Stay Inspired.

I have decided to live into surrender more consciously for 21 days, and share the journey with others. I invite you to join me, for the benefit of your own peace, and the peace of those around you.

How do we stay inspired to surrender? 

We must learn to walk the path of surrender, and seek ways to keep us inspired. Once we embrace surrender as a way to be in our lives–open, receptive, trusting, and with great confidence in God, then we can seek inspiration.

Here are five simple ways to stay inspired to continue living into surrendering:

  • Find prayers, poems, or books to encourage you.
  • Be in nature.
  • Share your soul with a trusted friend or companion.
  • Relax and rest in the arms of love–throughout the day, pause, take a few deeper breaths, and become more conscious of the presence of the Divine.
  • Remember what St. Benedict writes in his Rule: Always we begin again.

How can you stay inspired to continue living into surrendering?

I would like to end this 21-days of surrender, by sharing this excerpt from my book, Seeking Surrender:

From the last chapter: Learning to Walk the Path of Surrender

While walking along the path of surrender, I experienced a constant tension between surrender and resistance. Surrender pulled in the direction of ease and acceptance, while resistance pushed back with doubt and anger. I interacted with them both, until I no longer related to them as oppositional. I came to understand they moved together across the landscape of my days.

Over time, I began to see that each time I brushed up against my own resistance, I would find an unexpected invitation to surrender; and each time I opened toward surrender, I would meet some degree of resistance. In this dynamic interplay, I realized I could encourage, pray for, and choose to let the path of surrender take the lead.

Eventually, I found a new way to be in my life, one that did not parse out the last decade into piles labeled good or bad, success or failure, but instead gave me more trust and faith in my path. It was not will power that created this shift. I could only do so much on my own.

I realized that I didn’t need to rely solely on myself. I wasn’t dangling from a thin thread, or about to fall into the void. I was actually being held, carried, and embraced by the power of love, the fullness of creation, and the presence and action of the Divine, living in me and all around me. I thank Brother René for the gift of this message.

 

 

1 Comment

  1. Jane on September 3, 2015 at 8:01 am

    Thank you for sharing both your story and Brother Rene’s words, Colette. Seeking Surrender is a beautiful book – and one that I suspect I will come back to again and again. It’s a wonderful companion to have on the spiritual path.

    Blessings on your latest new beginnings!