“I put on a courageous face and move bravely forward, but I feel lost and displaced. My heart dies, one piece at a time, behind a gate that rusts away.” So does the verse begin that accompanies the next topic in the book, Surrender of Pretense.
Surrender of Pretense
Can you relate? Are you dying inside while you present to the world that everything is fine? Are you trying to numb those feelings of pain with alcohol and drugs, with shopping or food, trying to keep them at bay?
It doesn’t work, at least, it didn’t for me. It caught up with me big time and my drinking drove me to a horrible emotional bottom.
There is a solution. It is to surrender the pretense that all is fine. It is as simple as letting go of the facade and asking for help from others and from the powers that be.
Easily said… let go… and difficult to do. Yet, the energy it takes to keep you from showing yourself and your pain is no doubt taking its toll on you.
Another way to say let go, is to say give up. Give up trying to prove that you’re strong, that all is fine with you.
Go ahead, try it. You will find that people are there with open arms, willing and able to guide you through your journey to healing. They will not think you are less than, or a failure, or a weak person. Oh, no. Instead, they will admire your strength.
So, go ahead… surrender the pretense that all is fine behind your gate of false bravado. Let go, give it up and see what magic appears.
