Yielding is nowadays most commonly used in the sense of being compliant or submissive to something or someone. But the original meaning of yielding is to pay, to give, or to restore. In its essence, yielding is a movement, a flow of giving and giving in.
Some of the most powerful and transformative experiences of my life have emerged during times when I was able to give and to give in. Like deciding to move to a new country and giving myself the gift of welcoming change with so much gratitude and joy that it outweighed any fear. Letting go of my pride and apologising to someone I'd hurt, offering myself humility. Or deciding to leave a relationship and surrendering to an inner knowing, a truth, even when the pain of doing so felt like my heart and my life were being torn apart.
When I was unable to yield, the truths I resisted became like a current pushing me in a different direction, growing in strength day by day, until releasing control was inevitable. Not yielding felt as if I was becoming increasingly stiff, cold, and lifeless.
The current, growing in strength day by day
Today, as I find myself in a time of transition and a new tide has started moving me in a different direction, I know that I am invited to practice yielding once again. A part of me is scared and doesn't want to leave my comfort zone, to step into the Unknown. Yet, a deeper part within me knows, from experience, that the Unknown holds the very answer to what my heart seeks. This change has been coming for a while, or perhaps forever, and I've chosen to ignore it, to avoid the discomfort, to delay the truth. But the truth whispered to the seas so that I may be helped to yield and be carried into a new flow, a more authentic version of myself.
I could choose to fight the current: life itself. But I am reminded that each transition in my journey has left my heart forever more abundant, colourful, and light. The people I met, the tears I shed, the songs I sang and the dances I danced brought deep teachings and healing.
"The truth whispered to the seas, so that I may be helped to yield and be carried into a new flow."
So I choose to yield in recognition that this force is greater than the egoistic voice in my head, than my illusions, or my fears. I choose to yield in honesty, in truth, in Love. I yield in the depth of my being, in the wisdom of my Soul.
Yielding is like a metaphorical death.
It is having to leave the old, what no longer serves your evolution, behind. It is giving yourself the gift of courage and faith — jumping in deep waters and submerging completely without knowing how you will draw your next breath.
