Embrace the Power of Surrender
Find Fresh Energy in the Real Jet Stream
A personal disclaimer before we begin:
What I’ve been describing throughout this series has been what’s worked for me specifically. I’ve talked about the books I’ve read, the experts I’ve seen, and the steps I’ve taken to feel more fulfilled as a person. Through this journey toward becoming a better person holistically, I’ve been able to become a better, more effective leader.
This is especially true with this essay. This is my journey, my story, my truth. You have to find yours.
My goal has never been to provide a lock-step prescription toward improving your life, but to give you insights and advice about what’s worked for me. My hope is that, by talking to you about my story, I can help you examine the path you’re on currently and then locate a better path for your life and career.
My life was on autopilot, and I thought everything was great. My wife and I set clear goals for our lives, our family, and our careers. I was flying in a strong jet stream, one I thought would take us to our destination. It was all planned out, or so I thought.
But that plane crashed hard with the sudden death of my wife. Not only had my wife died, but her death showed me that, while life does have a jet stream, I was in the wrong one. I thought success came from finding whatever would set me on the path toward achieving my business and career goals.
I was clueless, and I didn’t know what to do next.
The Lessons Began
Thankfully, I started learning about life’s true jet stream shortly after she passed. She started reaching out to us via anything electrical in nature – anything that needed energy to work. She would frequently visit us at home by turning lights on and off, opening and closing the garage door, cold water suddenly turning burning hot, radio stations changing automatically in the car and tuning into songs that had meaning to us, toilets flushing.
The funniest lesson happened to one of our boys at school. While washing his hands in the boy’s bathroom, all the toilets and urinals flushed in unison! He told me,
“I knew immediately it was Mom. I didn’t look up. I didn’t even turn off the faucet. I just ran as fast as I could out of the bathroom and back to my classroom! It scared the heck out of me!”
I became curious about her continued presence in our lives. It flew in the face of what I thought I knew about how the universe was supposed to work. It wasn’t long before I learned how we are all sources of energy; specifically, she was using vibrational energy to communicate with us.
From there, I started learning about the real jet stream of the universe.
Stepping into the Jet Stream
Life’s jet stream, not the jet stream I had been riding, is the natural flow of the universe. And it’s made up of energy. This jet stream has a natural flow and strong energy source, one that propels people forward. If you can first recognize it and then tap into it, you can achieve the happiness you want and more.
In his seminal work The Power of Intention, best-selling author Dr. Wayne W. Dyer wrote:
“Allow the energy to permeate through any resistance that your body/mind might offer, and let it resonate with that inner place that is formless and boundary less— this is what is often called your soul.”
Dyer continued:
“This is a universe of vibration. As Einstein once observed, ‘Nothing happens until something moves’—that is, everything vibrates to a particular measurable frequency. Break the solid world down to smaller and tinier components and you see that what appears to be solid is a dance—a dance of particles and empty spaces. Go to the tiniest of these quantum particles, and you discover that it emanated from a source that vibrates so fast it defies the world of beginnings and endings.”
In other words, this source of energy, this flow of life, this natural flow of the Universe is our Higher Power. For those of us who believe in a Higher Power, we assign different names – God, Buddha, Spirit, Nature, Universe, Science – but they all describe the same driving force of the universe.
From the Jet Stream to the Higher Power
As I discussed earlier, the death of my wife revealed to me that life wasn’t unfolding as I wanted or as I tried to control it. But after reading The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer, I began to realize there was another way. As he wrote in his book:
“And if we stop and think about it, that makes perfect sense. The universe has been around for 13.8 billion years, and the processes that determine the flow of life around us did not begin when we were born, nor will they end when we die. There is so much evidence that life does quite well on its own. The planets stay in orbit, tiny seeds grow into giant trees, weather patterns have kept forests across the globe watered for millions of years, and a single fertilized cell grows into a beautiful baby.
We are not doing any of these things as conscious acts of will; they are all being done by the incomprehensible perfection of life itself. All these amazing events, and countless more, are being carried out by forces of life that have been around for billions of years—the very same forces of life that we are consciously pitting our will against on a daily basis.”
This was a literal light bulb moment for my life. We come from a source of energy of well-being. And this source of energy, this life flow, this state of well-being, this jet stream – it’s ours if we want it. We can create our own reality. But we get distracted from this natural force by trying to influence outcomes, seeking to please others, or simply seeking some modicum of direct control over life.
You can either summon that higher vibrational energy to yourself and allow it to flow unimpeded in every aspect of your life, or you can resist it, and by doing so, you remain disconnected from that which is all-providing and all-loving.
Surrendering to Your Higher Power
The book Ask and It Is Given by Esther and Jerry Hicks speaks to this. As they wrote,
“Like the air you breathe, you have only to open, relax, and draw it into your Being.”
With this new awareness, I focus my attention every day on how I am feeling. When I feel fulfilled, I know I’m in the flow and have surrendered to my Higher Power. And when I feel unfulfilled, I know I’m back in that earlier jet stream – the one where I thought I was in control. I’ve learned that, by consciously choosing the direction of my thoughts and feelings, I can be inconstant connection with my Higher Power.
I’ll discuss this in greater detail with my next essay, as the principles in that book can lead you to a rich understanding of your “Emotional Guidance System” and how you can locate your vibrational set-point.
Thus, when I say I’ve surrendered to my Higher Power, what I mean is that I’m in the natural flow of the universe each and every day. When I’m in the flow, I feel happy, satisfied, and in harmony with life as life unfolds. It also means that, when I feel unhappy – unsatisfied, stuck, and/or feeling of discomfort, stress or anxiety – I’m no longer in the flow of the universe. I’m no longer surrendering to my Higher Power.
I no longer walk around constantly trying to control and determine what will happen in my life. That old jet stream proved to be a very difficult way to live. Not only have I learned to choose the direction of my thoughts, but I use my free will to determine how I participate in the unfolding of life.
But it doesn’t mean I let life, people, and circumstances take advantage of me. I’ve learned through a great organization, Al-Anon, how to set boundaries. Sticking to your boundaries will set you free in so many wonderful ways. I encourage you surrender to your Higher Power by letting your Higher Power flow through you – just one day at a time.
As we prepare for the next steps in this series, I encourage you to read Michael Singer’s book, The Surrender Experiment. At the heart of his experiment is a simple question:
“Am I better off making up an alternate reality in my mind and then fighting with reality to make it be my way, or am I better off letting go of what I want and serving the same forces of reality that managed to create the entire perfection of the universe around me?”
To be clear, this experiment isn’t a call to drop out of life; it’s about leaping into life to live in a place where we are no longer controlled by our personal fears and desires. Singer wants you to see how he got pulled into living this way and then learn how to experience the journey as he did. I found his story to be an amazing journey.
Interested in learning more about how you can become a better leader? Let’s talk!