60-Second Mind Shift: Letting Life in - The Power of Acceptance and Vulnerability
Supporting you to free your mind so you can live from your heart!
"When we surrender, when we stop fighting life when it calls upon us, we are lifted, and the strength to do what needs to be done finds us.
— Oriah Mountain Dreamer, The Invitation
Our brain often wants to argue with reality. It fights for our limitations, clinging with claw marks to how hard life can be. Ask me how I know:-)
This is an innocent mechanism. It's part of the survival brain that knows no other way.
If your life has felt like a battle recently, there are a few guiding principles that can help end the struggle. I’d love to share them with you.
One is acceptance. When life feels unbearably hard, there’s often something we’re not accepting. It could be a truth about ourselves, another person, or a situation we’re unwilling to face. When we’re in the the fight, we might feel strong emotions like resentment, anxiety, bitterness and sadness. However if we can accept life exactly as it is, just for this moment, the energy shifts. Only then can we see that we have a choice: we can change our relationship to what’s happening.
For example, if you’re in a job that is no longer a fit for you, the fight might sound like, “This shouldn’t be happening. I hate this.” Acceptance sounds like, “This is where I am right now. It’s hard, and I don’t like it. But I see it clearly. I am willing to look at my part in this." From there, you’re no longer trapped. You can see you have a choice about how to respond.
The second principle is being vulnerable.
Several years ago I was introduced to a new definition of the word:
“Vulnerable: allowing the winds of life to blow freely over my soul. To let life in on life’s terms. When we are vulnerable, we also become defenseless—because we see that there is nothing to defend.”
There’s a profound difference between trying to control life and choosing to allow it.
When the fear-driven part of our brain goes unexamined, we operate in protection mode. We walk through the world with our jaws clenched and hearts guarded, braced against a world we believe is out to hurt us. But in this control mode, we miss the beauty and love that’s already here right in front of us. We become restless, always chasing a “better” future, not realizing that true power lies in the present.
When we become vulnerable, when we drop the fight, we realize that life is not our enemy. We allow it to move through us. We begin to trust its rhythm and wisdom. We start to see that even our biggest obstacles often carry hidden gifts.
This is the way of surrender.
And it’s not weakness - it’s strength.
Surrender doesn’t mean giving up. It means giving in to the deeper current of life. It means saying yes to this moment, exactly as it is, and letting it guide us.
May we have the courage to drop our guard and soften, the strength to accept what feels hard so that we can see where our agency lies in creating a different outcome, and the grace to let life in on life's terms.
Step By Step,
Jessie
Step By Step,
Jessie
