We have the freedom to choose, but not the consequences that follow. We often forget this principle. When things go wrong we blame life for our difficulties and struggle. When we do something good and don’t get the expected result, we blame life for being unfair. Sometimes we feel guilty and hold ourselves fully responsible. And sometimes when things go better than expected we tend to take ownership and believe we were responsible.

This inconsistency in our thinking causes emotional upheaval within. We get tossed with the ups and downs of life like a reed in a gushing river.

It will serve us well to understand the two fundamental principles at play. Firstly, the choices we make have consequences. We cannot escape that. Secondly, the consequences play out in a time frame and dimension over which we have no control and sometimes don’t understand.

Interestingly, this brings about a paradoxical twin feeling of empowerment and surrender. We feel empowered to act and make choices, knowing we have the freedom to choose. And the moment we complete our action, we feel the sense of surrender that the outcome is not in our control.

A student who has studied hard and given her best in an exam, will be foolish to waste her vacation worrying about what her result will be. But if she studies with a sense of empowerment and the moment she finishes writing her paper, she lets go and surrenders her result, not only will she be stress-free, she is now fully available and empowered to take on her next step in life.

Some of us live with empowerment and feel we can control results as well. And we wonder why after being so dynamic and powerful, we are stressed and agitated. And some of us surrender not just the outcome but surrender giving our best and wonder why we don’t move ahead in life.

The music of life is always playing. Empowerment and Surrender both want to dance with us. And we realise we dance best, when we learn to dance with both.