Republic of the White Flag

The verdict on surrender is in, and it’s two thumbs up.

Yep, I’ve officially joined the republic of the white flag.

To use a favorite phrase from the movie A Knight’s Tale, “[Overplanning] has been weighed, has been measured, and has been found wanting.”

Just in case you were interested in a bit of trivia related to this quote, it’s actually from the Old Testament, Daniel 5:27, which says, “Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.”

As you may recall from last week’s post, I was trying something new. That is, going on vacation without planning every detail down to the minutiae.

I got so into the whole surrender thing that I couldn’t even remember when my flight left. People would ask me, and I would give a vague answer that it was in the early evening. At least I knew what day I was leaving!

In my prior life, I would have checked the traffic on my route to the airport via google maps every day for at least 7 days before, to get a feel for what the traffic delays might look like on the day I was to leave. (Does this sound familiar? If so, don’t worry, there is hope!)

Butterfly, a symbol of hope

Instead, I looked up the flight departure time once, counted backward a few hours to allow international checkin time and the typical drive (which was three hours because that was the only airport with a nonstop flight), and then put an alarm on my phone for the time I had to leave the house. I never thought about it again.

Some might call that irresponsible, but in my desire to surrender and make this vacation fun and easy, I simply had faith that I would get to the airport on time.

I didn’t worry.

I didn’t second guess my timing.

I didn’t envision accidents or traffic jams on the route.

I simply had faith that it would all work out. Not just a feeble hope, mind you, but a true belief and faith that all was well.

This is a good feeling, and I’ve noticed that it really seems to work with almost everything in life.

Surrender does not mean that everything happens perfectly. Not at all.

What it means is that even though chaos may be swirling all around, if you stay rooted in your belief that your are loved and protected and that all is well, any fear or anxiety that might arise just slips away unannounced, or if it shows up, it only stays for a moment, then politely takes its leave.

Yes, there was a traffic jam on the New Jersey Turnpike, but I didn’t let it affect me.

Yes, I missed the entrance to the long-term parking lot three times before I got it right. No big deal.

And as a little reward for my faith (or at least this is what I like to think), the shuttle bus driver was the most friendly, happy, sweet, personable human I could have asked for.

We got to talking about growing our favorite vegetables and recipes that our grandmothers passed down to us, favorite family gatherings, swimming with our cousins, and lots more that I can’t even remember. It was only a 10-minute ride, but we were both enjoying the conversation so much that instead of dropping me at the main terminal, he drove me right up to the closest entrance to my departure gate.

We had a wonderful little chat, I got an awesome recipe for summertime collard greens, and he saved me about 800 yards of schlepping around the airport with my luggage.

I hadn’t even gotten on the plane yet, and the surrender thing was already working! I was a convert before I even really began my vacation.

I believe an oft-ignored secret is that when you allow God (Universe, Creator, Spirit, or whatever you like to call the Divine) to do the planning (rather than micromanaging every minute), you leave room to be blessed in ways that you couldn’t have predicted, considered, or even dreamed of.

That’s the beauty of surrender.

My vacation just got better and better from there, but I’ll save the rest for next week. Enjoy and let me know if you’ve tried any forms of surrender lately!

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