by Susan
| photo courtesy of Dr. Holly Oxhandler |
It's
not 'surrender' in the 'defeat' sense
of the definition... it's more of a... letting
go.
Life
throws us challenges... some good... some great... and some...
not-so-good. Those challenges can
be brought on by ourselves, family members, friends, co-workers... and people
we don't even associate with.
There
are challenges that make us better people.
There
are challenges brought on by others... that test who we are.
There
are challenges we bring unto ourselves.
There
are challenges to our well-being, our health and that of loved ones.
There
are also those challenges that when we see people we love and care for, make
poor choices.
Now,
back to my word for 2015. Surrender. It came about one day, last month or so ago, in a
conversation with my daughter Holly.
She wanted to share her word for 2015, which was surrender and thought that maybe it would ring true with me too.
She's got a lot on her plate... and she knows that I do, too... but the reality
is, I think we both bring on a few more things than we can actually handle each
day. So she shared her word, surrender. And let me tell you the minute I
heard it... it was like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulder. Surrender
became something I would repeat nightly, under my breath as I closed my eyes. I
realized that there were some things in my life that I could control... and
things that I could not. I realized that repeating this word... helped me
sleep. Repeating this word brought
clarity and new found joy.
To
me, surrender isn't about giving up
at all. It's not about
defeat. It's a calming word during
a challenging time. It helps make clear choices.
With
that said, I'd like to thank all of my FOL sisters for the conversations, the
joy, the time we had together in Galveston. You
see, this is my last post here at FOL. So, thank you ladies... thank you so
much for allowing me to be a part of this inspirational and creative group. I've loved being a part of this group
and wish I could stay, but due to an exhaustive growing work schedule and
travel, and family members needing me more than ever at this time, I've had to
let go of some things... and FOL contributing member is one of them.
Life
brings challenges, the good... and the not-so-good. When it gets overwhelming, maybe you too will find the
clarity... the calm... the serenity of this one word, surrender... take a breath... and let... it... go...
*Special
thank you to my daughter Holly for the image above. We both have this same mug
that sits on our desks as a gentle reminder throughout the day.*
xo ~ susan