Surrender to Win
It’s been a little longer than usual since my last blog post. I’ve had my hands full. Funny I choose that cliché, because for the last month or so I have been thinking a lot about our hands.
I’ve had hands my entire life. However, I have not given them much thought. When I was little I used them to explore and play and reach for help. As I got a little older I used them in learning to write, painting a picture, molding play-doh, turning a page while reading, and dialing a phone number. In sports I used my hands to shoot and dribble a basketball, swing a golf club, and hang onto a ski rope. My hands have helped me to climb trees, wipe up infinite messes, pick up my babies, and the list goes on and on.
I also realize that some of my poor choices were acted out by my hands. Like maybe an occasional middle finger, a hurtful text, a rough touch, an impulsive purchase, etc. I also think of other devastating habits humanity has developed that involve hands- the harmful substances we bring to our mouths or inject in our bodies. Robert Downey Jr. once said, “I understand reversal of fortune; that usually has come through my own hand, but you know, you live life on life’s terms.” He’s struggled off and on with addiction and the difficult consequences addiction leads to. At its worst our hands pull triggers, abuse children, end lives, and drop bombs.
It seems there is a neutrality to our hands. They are not inherently good or bad; like money, it is all in how we use them.
In the past ten days I have faced some challenges - ones that life throws at all of us. A loved one had an accident that has resulted in surgery, hospitalization, and a long road of rehab. A very special mentor and friend from my college years passed away. To make it even more difficult, my husband has been away with our oldest son so I have been caring for the other children and the puppy and getting very little time to process the difficulties. So it’s been exactly what Downey refers to as “life on life’s terms.” Stuff I can’t control but must endure.
In the midst of the sadness of it all, I keep getting a picture in my mind of hands- open in surrender. Hands no longer neutral. Hands no longer mine.
Among all of the hundreds and thousands of things our hands can do, we can lift our hands in surrender. We can open our hands, palms up, recognizing our humanity and our limits, releasing our grasp so we can let go of ourselves and our burdens, seeking the help of a power greater than ourselves.
That amazes me . . . what we can do with our hands. These hands can create beauty. Or they can effect death. L. A. Seneca said, “A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer’s hand.” These hands can build and restore. Or they can annihilate and destroy; others or ourselves. They can comfort and soothe. Or they can be the knockout punch. Remember the children’s book, Hands are not for Hitting?
Such a weird musing, I know. But it’s a concept that keeps coming up in my thoughts and it has me pretty astonished. I realize that when I let go of my grasp and open my hands in an act of humility and surrender, my days go much better. I’m much kinder and softer. There’s less anger, less need to control, less anxiety and angst.
I think our greatest power to live a life well-lived starts in the form of surrender. We open our hands and choose a posture of humility, openness, and surrender. I’ve heard it said, “surrender to win,” and sometimes that surrender, if we can’t do it in our minds and can’t quite get it to emanate from our hearts, can start with the physical positioning of our hands.
So I encourage you as you read this, to at least take one part of your life that you know is beyond your capacity (or maybe all of it), admit your limitations, and open your hands as a form of surrendering your humanity to a power greater than yourself. And if anything changes- if you feel different, perspective changes, or if the mountain shifts as a result of this act, let me know. I’d truly love to hear all about it.
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