Have you come to a point when all efforts seem to go in vain? Despite putting a lot of energy towards achieving what you want, you do not get the desired outcome.
You feel you are left with very little positive energy to keep going whilst negative energy dominates. Realising that God or the Universe is a greater power or force in charge and wants to veer your life course, you resist and are stubborn to change. You hang on to your ego and this leads to confusion, indecisiveness, and frustration.
You question yourself ‘Am I surrendering or giving up?’
Well, I read an article by Carol Tanya Richardson from the Mind Body Green website who distinguishes between ‘giving up’ and ‘surrendering’.
When giving up, you
- Feel defeated instead of empowered, this affects self-esteem;
- Experience anxiety instead of peace and relief;
- Feel hopeless instead of hopeful;
- You are filled with regret instead of curiosity.
Whereas surrendering,
- Emerges from an abundance mindset;
- Stepping aside for the universe to take charge;
- Acknowledging that you have limited power over a person or situation;
- Admitting that you might not have all the answers;
- Invites God or the universe to bring grace, new people and new opportunities in your life;
- Involves continuing to take action when appropriate;
- Shows you are open and just waiting for God or the Universe’s right timing.
An Anonymous report states that ‘Surrender is not about giving up, it’s about letting go’!
My curiosity to understand the act of Surrendering increased. In my search for answers, I came across Christina Lopes’ podcast on ‘Surrendering’, and Michael Singer’s video interviews on his book ‘The Surrender Experiment’.
Giving up is stopping all forward motion and just sitting and accepting fate and not trying to do anything at all anymore with life.
Surrender is giving up a fruitless struggle to try and make the best of a situation while still fighting to reach your goal. The basis of surrendering is letting go and rely on faith. However, the difficulty here is when you want to be in control of the things you cannot control. It can be difficult to acknowledge but in life we are not in control of anything.
I hope the distinctions between Surrendering and Giving Up has given you something to ponder on?
When you are at crossroads what information helps you to realise whether you are surrendering or giving up? Please share your experiences.
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