Dear Reader,

You are carrying too many things. Like when you hold five paper bags–the last one by your pinky–on your way from the car to the house. You know it’s gonna rip, or that your pinky will suffer, but you do it anyway.

Some of the things you carry are mental. Are you carrying any of these stories?

• I have to stay at this pace
• It's up to me to figure out
• Once I push through this, things will be better

Other things you carry are in your heart. Are you overloaded with any of these?

• Fear about what’s next
• Resentment toward someone else
• Sadness about how it is
• Shame that you messed up
• Panic about our world

And then there are all the things you carry with your behaviors. Are any of these ringing true?

• You consciously double-book your calendar, hoping to figure it out later
• You put your AirPods in and listen to one thing while doing three others
• You tell Siri to text someone, "Yes," even as your body tells you a whole body no

If you don’t put something down, something will drop and crack.

Your relationship

Your health

Your self

That's why you need to surrender. I think it’s a better word than acceptance. And it’s the ultimate act of Wise Effort.

​As poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer read on the Wise Effort podcast​

…The medicine of surrender

never tastes the way you expect,

never tastes the same next time,

seldom has the hoped-for effect…

Or what Columbia University addiction psychiatrist Dr. Carl Erik Fisher said when he described being hospitalized for alcohol abuse while in residency. “I tried to prove to myself that I’m ok and that I don’t have a problem…it worked until it didn’t.”

And what I share with you this week on the podcast is what I’ve been learning lately about surrender. We need to spend less effort adding things on, keeping things going, and put more energy into cultivating a stable heart and clear mind.

Stop: take a noble pause

Put down what you are carrying: mentally let go of the story

Sit at the back of your heart: find a place of refuge within

Remember, everything is impermanent: it's all going to change

Prioritize love: it's the most important thing

Put that load down for a minute. And take a listen.

Wishing you a stable heart and clear mind,

Diana

P.S. Check out my poll below.

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Dr. Diana Hill Your Wise Effort Guide

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