5 Positive Psychology Books for a Happy, Fulfilling Life
Never give up. If you just work hard, you can achieve any dream.
How often have you heard those words? In songs, in books and movies, in motivational speeches, we celebrate the ones who stand up for what they believe in, keep going against all odds and never surrender, no matter the costs.
And part of me loves that. After all, you don’t want to be a victim of circumstances, you want to be in charge of your own life.
But at the same time, life doesn’t always work like that. Sometimes, you do all you can to get healthy, but genetics, environmental influences or previous trauma are not working in your favor – at least not now. Sometimes you work hard towards your dream job or you try everything within your power to strengthen your relationships, but you rely on other people to make those goals a success. Sometimes, the only thing you can do is surrender.
Surrender happens in situations outside of your control; when you realize you don’t have the answers and that you can’t think or plan your way through it. Instead of fighting your reality, you try to take life as it comes, good or bad, and adapt as best as you can.
Surrender doesn’t mean that you give in, or sit back and do nothing. You still need to take action in the direction of your goals – you just fully accept that the end result is not within your control.
You don’t necessarily have to put your fate in the hands of a higher power to surrender – although trusting God or the Universe to guide you through your problems can definitely feel encouraging. Maybe you even experience the joy of surrender, as Deepak Chopra calls it, when you mentally let go of limitations and step into the wisdom of uncertainty to open up to the infinite possibilities of life.
Whatever your beliefs are, surrendering implies some faith that everything will somehow work out, and you will be able to make it to the other side of your struggles.
Get inspired by these 16 surrender quotes to let go of the things you can’t control.
Which one of these surrender quotes resonates most with you?
Read more on why acceptance is not the same as giving up, and how you can learn to accept your new reality while keeping hope alive during tough times.
