This quote is a good description of 2016 for me. What a year this has been! I’ve seen several memes floating around social media about how challenging 2016 has been for a lot of people. I can definitely throw my hat in with that group.
When SURRENDER presented itself as my word for the year, I knew it would be a challenging year. It was the main reason I didn’t want this to be my word. I just KNEW it would be hard and I wasn’t wrong.
Despite the difficulties, I did my best to live into my word. Here’s a brief recap of my year of SURRENDER:
Old beliefs
The SURRENDERing of beliefs that no longer serve me was probably the biggest things I let go of this year. On the surface that seems like an easy enough process but it was not.
Some of those beliefs were things I had held onto most of my life. They had been things that had shaped me and while that was once a good thing, they were now stunting my growth and that was not a good thing.
But SURRENDERing them felt like a complete unraveling. For much of the year, I felt like I was being asked to SURRENDER layer after layer of things that once defined me. It was so painful and I felt raw, naked, and vulnerable in the process.
Still, I know the unraveling was necessary. I had to become undone in order to be redone into the best expression of myself possible.
Old stories
This year also saw me SURRENDERing old narratives about who I could be and how I could show up in the world.
In many ways, I was clinging to some old stories of not being “good enough” to be really visible in my business. 2016 challenged me to look at the ways I was holding myself back because of borrowed stories of what makes someone worthy of being seen.
To do the work I feel called to do, not SURRENDERing those stories wasn’t an option. I had to let them go; my future success depends on it.
Failures
Since April of this year, I have experienced one failure after another. It has been incredibly disheartening to experience those failures and, in at least one instance, be shamed for them.
I almost gave up more than once this year and at one point, this past Fall, I thought about quitting almost daily.
But as I look back over the year, I see that those failures were the tools Spirit used to help me SURRENDER the things that were standing in my way. Each failure revealed a belief or story that I had to consciously look at it and choose to SURRENDER.
As odd as it may sound, I now believe every one of those failures was orchestrated to move me to my highest and best self. I had to experience them and then let them go so I could keep moving forward.
Surrendering into Trust
Above all else this year has taken my faith and trust in the Divine to new levels. There is a depth to my spirituality that did not exist before and I know it is a direct result of everything I have experienced this year.
Surrendering into trust has not been easy. I am in my head a lot, which means I can usually come up with a solution to any problem.
But there were many times this year when I couldn’t figure out how to fix my situation, the only thing I could do was trust.
Trust that the Divine is ALWAYS conspiring on my behalf. Trust that it is ALL rigged in my favor. Learning to trust that it’s all going to be okay in the end and if it’s not okay then it’s not the end yet.
Surrendering into that trust is what has allowed me to come to the end of 2016 still full of hope. Against all odds, I’m excited about 2017 and the things coming together for me.
I am ready to close the books on 2016 but I do so with a grateful heart for all the lessons it has brought me.
What has your year been like? I would love to hear in the comments below or head over to Facebook and share with me there.
From my heart to yours,
P.S: If you would like to be more intentional about how you experience 2017, I have a free resource for you. Enter your info below This FREE Guidebook will walk you through all the steps you need to take to release last year, plan and vision for this year, and how to create your very own vision board. 
to grab a copy of the 2017 Vision Board Guidebook. This 20-page guidebook is designed to help you reflect on 2016 and plan more effectively for 2017. Make this the year you do things differently. Download it now Grab your copy of the Vision Board Guidebook
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