Surrender and Trust with No Regrets

 “God does not lead everyone on the same path.” St. Teresa of Avila

We live in a noisy world, and sometimes, we need to tune out the noise so we can listen to the voice within us. One of the best places to do this is on a retreat. It’s been a long time since I have gone on retreat. One of my favorite retreats is a silent retreat based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. I have been to four different ones, and they were all amazing. They made me realize that we are always searching for something outside, when what truly matters is already within us.

The book that I just finished reading, “No Regrets” by Allen Hunt and Matthew Kelly emphasizes this: “What you are seeking is already with you and in you. It’s not out there somewhere. Fear not. It’s right here.” We try to satisfy our lives with the world, when the most important thing is to satisfy our soul: “Your goal in life is to have your soul satisfied in love. Love for God. Love for yourself. And love for the people around you.”

We each have our own journey to discover the voice within our souls. We each have our own path. No two are the same. But if we invite God to lead us on our journey, we can trust that when we arrive to the destination, we will have no regrets. All we have to do is walk with God. All we have to do is surrender all to God. All we have to do is set our GPS towards God because God Points the Steps (GPS). And we can trust that with His GPS, we will never get lost.

As I approach the winter of my life, or the fourth quarter as explained in the book, my first goal is to simplify my life. “Simplicity is your friend. It leads directly to contentment.” I began to learn this lesson when we decided to move from a big house to a small apartment five years ago. I began to simplify my life by giving away most of my possessions. It turns out that this is one of the five keys mentioned in the book about “living and dying with no regrets.” The third key is “Give. It. Away.” It says that the more we give away, the happier we’ll be. And it’s not just about giving things away, even though it starts with that. Once we give our money and our stuff away, we must also give ourselves away: our knowledge, our experience, our love, our life… We must give it all away.

The world teaches us just the opposite. The world tells us that the more we have, the happier we’ll be. And we fall into this deception by accumulating things, not just material possessions but also power, status, positions, reputation, degrees. It’s normal to spend the first three quarters of our lives acquiring all these things, but I have gotten to a point in my life that I’m asking myself, “what’s the point?” Yes, I can continue working and saving more money, but what’s the point if I’m not going to have the time to enjoy with my family? I love shopping, but what’s the point of buying things that I won’t use? I couldn’t believe how much I had accumulated during the twenty-five years that I owned my house. When I began to empty out closets, I realized that I had boxes and boxes of stuff that I had not even looked at for years. I knew that if I kept them, I would need to rent storage, and then, I would truly never look at them again. So I decided just to give it all away. And I felt so much lighter and so much happier.

The book says that: “The happiest people spend the fourth quarter giving it all away. It’s just so transformational. The human heart is made to give. But sometimes our hearts are stopped up-constipated, sluggish, unwilling. Your heart wasn’t made to cling to love. It’s made to share it. The more you give, the healthier your heart will be.”

I still don’t know which path God is leading me to during the fourth quarter of my life, but I am so excited to find out. I am going to surrender it all to Him, and I will trust that He will lead me to an incredible adventure where I can give away all that I have learned and accumulated during the first three quarters of my life. I know that if I surrender and trust, I will live with no regrets.

In the meantime, I think I’m overdue for a silent retreat. I need to attend one, sooner rather than later. 

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