Control or Surrender

If we look closely, nature has a way of teaching us what we most need to remember.

When we returned from being overseas, my daughter remarked that the trees, once full of golden leaves in autumn, had become bare. In just a few short weeks, winter had settled in. There were no dramatic goodbyes, no resistance, just a quiet, natural letting go.

Nature doesn't argue with the season it's in. It releases what no longer serves in order to prepare for what’s to come. Yet as humans, we often resist this cycle. We cling tightly to plans, to routines, to identities we’ve outgrown because control gives us a sense of stability in a world that rarely offers certainty.

Over the past six weeks, I was reminded of this truth in a way I couldn’t ignore. Despite my best efforts to stay well, eat clean food, and take the right supplements while travelling, there were still so many things I simply couldn’t control. And in trying to manage everything, I found myself missing the quiet opportunities that were asking to be noticed.

Control can be alluring. It convinces us that if we can just plan enough, work hard enough, or be careful enough, we’ll be safe. But the truth is, control is often just a survival strategy. 

An illusion that shields us from the unpredictability of life. And in that illusion, we lose touch with the deeper intelligence that lives within us and around us.

Surrender, on the other hand, asks us to do something far more courageous. It invites us to trust: in ourselves, in life, and in the unseen unfolding of our path. Not in blind hope, but in the deep knowing that we are still whole…even when things don’t go to plan.

When we let go of the need to control everything, something remarkable happens. We create space. Space for new insight to arise. Space for our truth to speak. Space for life to meet us in ways that planning never could.

This is the wisdom of winter. It reminds us that there is a time for activity and a time for rest. A time to gather and a time to let go. And that letting go is not a failure, it’s a necessary part of growth.

As I reflect on this season, I realise it’s not about never making plans or striving for what we want. It’s about holding those intentions lightly. Listening more closely. And remembering that sometimes, the most profound shifts happen not when we control, but when we choose to surrender.