I used to think that surrender meant to be defeated. That if I surrendered, it meant that I lost. I would think back to my childhood days and think of the movies when the Japanese officially surrendered on board of the USS Missouri. They were defeated and we won.
Because of the 12 Step programs and in order to bring a new understanding of God into my life, I now see and understand surrender to mean something else for me.
In essence, all 12 Step programs are for people who “think” they are in control and then eventually realize they are not.
Once I gave up the “stinking thinking” that I could control my disease, I was given freedom over it. But that freedom was certainly contingent on Who I knew to be in control.
In order to gain my newfound freedom, I had to give up the illusion I was in control of something I wasn’t. Once I gave up that illusion, I gained a freedom that has been ever increasing each day of my life since July 31, 1990.
So in essence, surrendering something is not losing something. It opens the doorway for something greater. Even when the Japanese announced surrendered on August 15, 1945 and formally surrendered on September 2, 1945 they gave up on an illusion they could control the world. During that 14 years the Japanese campaigned for that dominance over 3 million of their people laid dead at the end of it. Once they surrendered, the healing began and shortly thereafter they became a dominating power in the world again.
During that 14 years, the Japanese campaigned for that dominance. Over 3 million of their people laid dead at the end of it. Once they surrendered, the healing began and shortly thereafter they became a dominating power in the world again.
