Last month I had the pleasure of talking with Trevor Kaucic of Best Self, LLC. Trevor is a personal trainer, mindfulness & meditation coach, and host of “The Best Self Blueprint” podcast. We had a really wonderful conversation about going after meaningful things and purposeful experiences that require us to reach beyond our comfort zones. There were lots of real-life experiences discussed to describe how starting a business or working on athletic accomplishments, etc. calls for us to just get started and learn as we go in order to build upon our own internal resources and confidence in ourselves.

We also talked about my word for 2023. I typically pick a word for the new year as an intention of how I would like to live with awareness and growth from day to day. Surrender is my word, and this has a couple of meanings for me. Surrender was a clear choice in that this is something that I need to work on to welcome greater peace and acceptance in my life. It helps me to focus on having more tolerance for others and more importantly myself. I am reminded to let go of the small things that cause frustration and raise my blood pressure so that I can invite greater patience and understanding when dealing with challenging situations. On the other hand, we can surrender to letting go of continuing keep trying to tolerate or accommodate that which is beyond either our capabilities or fundamental values. 

Surrender requires us to take a deep breath, get still, and notice exactly the emotions and thoughts moving through us. We can then make the decision to accept the reality of the moment and take the best action to problem solve, or leave it altogether.

We work within this continuum to harmonize towards equanimity. A balanced psychological state of being calm and composed even in difficult moments.