How To Get Your Life Back!

Imagine this scenario. It’s late at night, my dogs are barking up a storm, and I look out in the back yard to glimpse something in the corner. I grab a flashlight and focus in on a furry little ball, some animal my dogs have no doubt been tormenting.
I draw closer, afraid they’ve killed the little thing, praying that it’s still alive.

I don’t see a head, only a grayish body, curled up, breathing faintly. I don’t know what to do so I run inside, grab a broom and dustpan, and try to lift the thing from beneath to see if it’s wounded. First I stick the broom handle under it to pry it up and when that doesn’t work, I try to slide the dustpan under it to scoop it up.

Then the most amazing thing happens. The furry ball starts moving, unwrapping itself like a snail coming out of its shell. The critter looks up at me with the most bewildered look: “What on earth is this woman doing??” Then it crouches down and creeps away into the bushes.

I’m still concerned that it’s wounded—after all, it didn’t do anything when I touched its wiry back—so I press back the bushes with the broomstick. There it is, mouth hanging open and head, limp. “Oh God, it’s dying,” I think. I gently prod it a bit more, just to see if it will move. It doesn’t.

I scurry inside, call my wildlife rehabilitator friend, who, bless her heart is such an animal lover that she answers the phone even though it’s 11:30 pm. She tells me she is on her way and just to hold tight.

I say a prayer and let go, but I continue to worry. She arrives a bit later and we go out back. You guessed it. The little guy is gone. He’s high-tailed it off and there’s no sign of blood anywhere.

Yep, it was a possum playing dead. I’m amazed since I’ve seen a number of dead possums in the road but never one faking it in my back yard. I laugh at the ruse.

Do you have a situation in your life that is worrying you to death? Do you keep trying to change it, to exercise your will, to push it along until you get the results that you want? Do you keep messing with it, prodding it, determined to not let it get the best of you?

What’s the possum in your life?

When you’ve tried and tried and that spouse or co-worker, that tense work situation, or that difficult health condition just won’t budge, wouldn’t it be good to put down your broomstick, ask for help, and say a prayer?

I’d like to propose that 2006 be the year of sweet surrender in which we let go of what is worrying us and position ourselves in the flow of life, laughing at our own vulnerability.

What do you get by letting go? More energy for the present, for your dreams, your life. In effect, by giving up worry, you get your life back!

Are you going to get sucked into someone else’s drama, someone else’s agenda, someone else’s negativity, or are you going to reclaim your own power? The process is as simple as this:

Surrender is sweet. Isn’t it time you tried it?