Surrendering to Alzheimer's

Man has nothing else to do but surrender- in deep trust, in deep love. Don't be a doer, just surrender. Let there be a let-go. - Osho

Letting go of control is one of the biggest challenges we face in life. We work so hard at staying in control and keeping things orderly in our world, that when that's threatened we experience a lot of stress and anxiety. The more we try to be in control in our life the more we suffer.

Letting go of the illusion of control is called surrendering. Surrendering is a conscious decision to accept that some things, in fact most things are out of our control. This is very profound when it comes to Alzheimer's disease. Surrendering to Alzheimer's means that we are giving up the belief that we have control over the disease and that what we do will change the disease.  A great deal of suffering in relation to Alzheimer's disease is caused by trying to control the disease. By letting go of that control we are letting go of the suffering.

Surrendering to Alzheimer's also opens up space to work on that area of our life that we actually can control, ourselves. It enables us to pour energy into finding ways to be more peaceful and less stressed. It's a huge shift, but a shift to loving and caring for yourself.

A good time of day for me to remind myself about surrendering is at night. If I have something or someone that is bothering me and I know that it is out of my control to "fix", I visualize the problem or person evaporating off my shoulders and out into the universe. I say a loving affirmation for the situation or person and then I let it go. When I've done that I bring my attention back to the present moment and ask myself, "Do I have a problem in this very moment?" The answer is almost always "no" as the problem only becomes a problem if I'm worrying about the future or dwelling on the past.

Dr. Amy Johnson wrote an article,  Let Go of Control: How to Learn the Art of Surrender.  This article includes some helpful ideas about how to actually learn to let go of control. She asked whether letting go would feel like freedom?  Do you think that's possible when it comes to Alzheimer's disease? What does surrender look and feel like to you?