SURRENDER! Sail the right ship!

Some people would consider me to have a “control” mentality, meaning I strive to control the things in my life. It’s true I do like to take control and create things my way, no doubt. However, I found a few years ago that sometimes fighting to stay in control actually takes control out of your hands.

When I made this realization it dawned on me that life is like a river. Sometimes it’s calm and easy to navigate. Sometimes there are rocks in the water that are easy to avoid. Other times, the river is rolling downhill with lots of rocks that are very difficult to steer around. It all depends what boat you’re in, really.

My old self used to ride down the river of life in a nice powerboat with beautiful fiberglass shell that sparkled in the sunlight. The problem was when the waters became rough, meaning when things happened that were out of my control, my boat would hit the rocks and by the end of the turmoil my boat was all marked up and scratched. I would hold resentment and anger for absolutely no reason.

I learned to trade in my old boat in for a more practical one. Now I try to ride the river of life in big inner tube. This is the perfect vehicle of choice. When the water is calm I can paddle and kick myself around. When a rock appears I can position my legs to gently push away from the hazard. And when the water becomes rough and things happen in life that are out of my control I can curl in my limbs and allow the inner tube to bounce off objects all the while screaming, “Weeeeee!”

This may sound exaggerated but I assure it isn’t in my world. I literally will say, “Weeee!” in my office when something comes up that was unexpected, especially when the information is not so positive. I believe the best word to express this philosophy is “surrender”.

Sometimes we need to surrender to what life brings and just see what happens. This surrender brings peace and clarity. It allows you to lead others and yourself with a calm confidence that promotes hope and productivity. Surrender with me today to the things we can’t control and help steer the things we can.

Joe Kiedinger

ACTION PLAN: Sign up for our FREE Road Show event coming up July 16th in De Pere!