“Surrender to what is. Say ‘yes’ to life and see how life suddenly starts working for you, rather than against you”. Eckhart Tolle
Backpacking through Bali, temples were my thing. Maybe it’s the spiritual vibes that come through or just the plain old beauty of these ancient places of worship. Tanah Lot was on my list of temples to visit.
It’s almost 25 years ago now but I remember it clearly…sat on the back of my then boyfriend’s rented motorbike heading towards Tanah Lot. I say ‘sat’ rather loosely, clinging-on-for-dear-life is more on point!
We had ridden for over 3 hours, dodging the many hazards along the way to arrive at this magnificent spiritual place, sat atop the ocean, looking holy and enchanting.
Tanah Lot is a beautiful Hindu temple built on a giant rock that sits in the ocean (about 300mtr offshore). It was built to worship Bhatara Segara (God of the Sea), who it is said, is protected by many sea snakes to keep out evil intruders.
It is renowned for amazing sunsets.
So, we waited for the sun to set and provide us with the magical experience we had heard so much about.
Unfortunately, it soon became very apparent that the heavy clouds were going to spoil our much anticipated sunset experience.
We were so disappointed. I wanted to demand our money back but of course, Mother Nature doesn’t do refunds.
We consoled ourselves with the fact that at least we had got to see it and decided to head back – even before the sun had completely set.
Back on our trusted motorbike we were riding away, when suddenly with one last look back the clouds parted and the most magnificent sun set appeared. Wow. With wide-eyed reverence, we took it all in.
Apparently, sunsets are at their most spectacular when clouds get involved in the mix. Who would have known.
And it was spectacular.
Why am I telling you all this? Well, this experience taught me something about life.
- “Never give up” would be the obvious one.
- “Every cloud has a silver (sunset) lining”.
- “Good things come to those who wait”.
- Even, “When there are clouds in the sky, the sun still shines above”.
All very clichéd. All very true.
But, what really struck me was how quickly we were willing to walk away from something that we had so wanted when it didn’t unfold the way we had hoped for.
We didn’t trust it. We didn’t trust the universe.
And the truth is, oftentimes, it is in the very last minutes that life shows up and explains itself.
Everything has its time. Like the emerging butterfly from its chrysalis, too premature, the butterfly gets stuck in the silk wrapping causing it to die.
In the words of Jen Sincero, “your faith in the universe must be stronger than your fear of not getting what you want”.
It is like holding onto what you cannot see versus all you can. A form of surrender, a letting go. This surrendering to the unknown malarkey is not for the faint hearted, but, this is exactly what we need to do. Say yes to life and fully accept, even when it doesn’t work out the way we had planned.
Give life time to unfold exactly as it should, with patience and trust. Life brings you what you need, exactly when you need it.
So remember, the next time you are faced with an opportunity to surrender, let go…who knows what magical life experience awaits you.
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