Sweet, sober surrender. It’s a constant process. It’s a consistent tug on the pride strings. It takes courage. I give things up to God, my higher power, on the regular, and then I catch myself taking them right back.
One of the hardest parts of sobriety is admitting, “I don’t got this.” Surrendering to the fact that alcohol or drugs or what ever your poison may be, has actually got you, is the most difficult yet most liberating thing about the process of going sober. Something that a lot of people struggle with is the fact that sobriety requires surrender.
It’s freaking scary. When I dropped to my knees in surrender on my dark night of the soul day, I can remember feeling ashamed and defeated. As embarrassed as I was to finally admit that I had a real problem, there was a sense of peace in believing in something greater than me that might have the ability to save me.
Some people think of surrender as giving up, giving in or quitting. What I’ve come to learn is that surrender really means “giving it over.” It means that you are sharing that piece of you with God, however you might define your higher power to be.
When we surrender as alcoholics or addicts, we open up to being able to receive help because we realize we need it.
When we surrender, we allow for strength to come from sources other than ourselves.
When we surrender, humility brings us the guidance that we need because we can actually begin to hear it.
Surrender is so sweet and should not be something we fear or resist. Surrender opens the door for acceptance. By opening up to acceptance, we can then begin to actively work through our problems.
I think a lot of people avoid surrendering because they are afraid of what God could mean to their lives. Some times this misperception of a belief in something greater than us leads to the demise of many. It’s not something to be afraid of; it’s something that can drastically change a life.
There are countless testimonies of people in recovery that surrendered their lives, gave up their bad habits and got on a path of serious inner work, reflection, spirituality and ultimately opened their hearts to receive the infinite love, support and strength from up above.
Surrender is the basis of recovery. It initiates a deep level of commitment to oneself that is the crux of taking action. Most people that relapse do so because they did not fully embrace the surrender piece of the puzzle. It’s not something you do one time. It is a daily surrender and commitment.
It’s also a daily effort to take action to fuel our sobriety. We have to consistently take action and without commitment that is surrender based, our actions can easily become idle.
I believe success in sobriety comes from forward movement every single day. We have to keep taking steps every day that keep the momentum going.
[Tweet “Surrender leads to commitment, which drives action.”]
Sure, we will have our days where we feel a little stuck, but by always coming back to the first step of surrender, we can reignite the process.
Daily surrender is something I practice. Every morning I say a prayer to God that speaks of gratitude, asks for help, begs for guidance, admits that without him I have nothing and lovingly seeks clarity of his will for my life. There is peace that comes with having this to always fall back on. No matter what is happening, how stressed out I get or what life throws at me, my surrender always brings me back to square one. And sometimes that reset is exactly what I need to remind me that my sobriety is dependent on surrender, commitment and action. They work hand in hand.
Surrender is an invitation for greatness. It is the intersection between true acceptance, sustainable change and the birth of a miracle.
Surrender puts us in a position to be at peace with what is. It puts the past behind us and it opens our hearts, minds and spirits into the present. By opening to the present, we begin to see that we DO have the ability to create a better future.
By surrendering our old, messy, imperfectness we allow a new version of us to emerge. It is the death of what isn’t working and has not worked in a long time and it is the birth of something new and fresh that gives us a chance to fulfill the potential we know we have deep down inside of us.
So, if you are in recovery, know someone who needs help or are at that point where you realize you have some things you need to work on, just remember that surrender is the key. Be willing to face the music, accept what you hear and give it over to the conductor of all life.
It is as easy as saying a prayer to God, as you know him, and asking him to help you surrender all your troubles, worries and hang-ups. With this simple prayer you are on your way to full surrender. It is in the surrender that miracles happen.