Three years ago yesterday, I was completely and utterly broken. I was loading up in my car in Atlanta for a drive I didn't want to make to some place near Nashville. Driving along the winding river road (curiously named River Road) I thought about swerving off the road so I wouldn't have to go that day. When I drove under the arches that led to the treatment center, I felt a release I couldn't describe. I now know that was what surrender felt like.
I was still scared and wasn't sure I wanted to live, but I was done fighting. It can be done.
Surrender is not to be confused with giving up. For me, it was much more a process of opening up. As John Clark says at the end of his brilliant podcast, Forest Fires, "Stay Reachable, Stay Teachable, and Stay Humble".
I would also add, "Stay Connected". I love you guys. Let's keep doing this.