Surrender The Outcome

“what if….”

How often do we say this to ourselves or to others in our conversations? How does “what if” hold you back? Human beings are often wired to worry. We like to know what’s going to happen, how to prepare for every possible scenario, how to make sure things are going to work out exactly the way we think they should.

But how often does our worry about the future prevent us from taking the right actions now? How often do we avoid conversations for fear that someone might not respond the way we want them to? How often do we avoid a challenge because we might not succeed or it might be too hard or we feel the cards are stacked against us? Sometimes we don’t like to take steps because we can’t see the whole staircase.

What could happen today if you thought about what the right thing to do was, in this moment, with this person, in alignment with your values and your goals? What if you did the action you believe is right just for the sake of doing them, without getting hung up on if you will get what you want, if others will be happy with you, and believing you can control the universe?

Surrendering the outcome doesn’t mean that we prepare. It means that we can release what we can’t control and make little choices daily that align with who we want to be and how we want to think and behave. Surrendering the outcome allows us to be more brave and more open. It can free us from overthinking and overwhelming worry.

I had a therapist I saw years ago that used to say this all phrase all the time. Honestly, at the time it was kind of annoying. Like many of us, I like to be in control, I like to “know” what is going to happen. In fact, I took this as a good quality, and that I am just a “future-focused” person. But how often can we actually know, and how can feeling like you need to know keep you stuck?

Later in life I have realized how helpful it can be to release this need to always need to know, and how wonderful it can be when we let go and surrender the outcome.