The Soothing Process Of Surrender

In my previous two blogs, I wrote about two rituals that I follow every night to calm down my mind, i.e. practicing gratitude and forgiveness. There is one more ritual I follow that completes the trilogy and that is – surrender.

The spiritually wise would say that the term ‘surrender’ is a misnomer, for, to surrender something, we need to own it in the first place and we really do not own anything in the universe. We came empty-handed, we will depart empty-handed, what is there to surrender!?

We may not own anything but our mind sure gets attached to things, events and people and forms impressions that last for a lifetime. While past regrets and worries for the future pose a challenge to living a peaceful life, it is the everyday little things that consume a lot of our mental resources and leave us feeling drained at the end of the day.

Many years ago I had read a book on positive thinking and I came across a delightful ritual followed by a man who had a lot of responsibilities upon him. He had brought a small basket and kept it beside the frame of the deity whom he prayed to. He would write down every little trouble he was going through in a small piece of paper and at the end of the day, he would drop the paper inside the basket. This was symbolic of surrendering his troubles to the Divine and going to sleep with the firm conviction that he had surrendered his troubles and it was pointless to carry them in his mind now.

While I do not do the same thing as above, I do practice the ritual of mentally surrendering to the Divine. Once I practice gratitude and forgiveness, I then make a ritual of surrendering every worry, anxiety or fear to the Universe. While the problems do not disappear immediately, at least I am able to go to bed with a calm mind. It has been my experience that the mental state in which we go to sleep is often the mental state in which we wake up. When you go to sleep feeling peaceful and calm, you will wake up feeling refreshed. When you go to sleep with an anxious mind, you wake up feeling a sense of dread.

Sometimes I write down everything like a journal entry but most of the times I just mentally surrender them. Whichever way works for you, do make it a practice of giving an outlet to your mind to let go of everything that is weighing it down at the moment. You may follow the physical ritual of writing down your troubles in paper and placing them in a place of worship. You may practice mental surrender either to the Divine or to the Universe. While I feel that night is the best time to practice this ritual, do it whenever you feel the urge, whenever you feel overwhelmed.

But there is a basic requirement for the process of surrender, and that is – faith. I will write on this topic in my next blog.

In the ancient scripture of the Bhagwad Gita, it is said – mind can be both our best friend as well as our worst enemy. A calm mind works wonders for the wellbeing of the person while a restless and turbulent mind can make one sick. I am no stranger to anxiety and depression. For me the real challenge is just being able to get through one day at a time, and to get through it, I have added and keep on adding several rituals that help me to calm down and be at peace. The nightly rituals of gratitude, forgiveness and surrender pacify my mind to a great extent and help me to go to sleep in a relaxed manner. I am sharing through my blogs, all the ways that I have attempted to have peace and I share with this purpose that they will help you too. Here’s wishing you a peaceful and calm mind that will stand strong against the turbulent storms of life!