The Surrender Experiment
This Book Is for You If…
✔ You’re curious how stillness can lead to divine direction.
✔ You want to strengthen your relationship with God, the Universe, Life, or your higher self.
✔ You love real-life stories that blend business, spirituality, and surrender.
Reading this reminded me to stop pushing, start trusting, and embrace the present moment.
The Sacred Flow of Trust
Book Review & Reflection by Lindsay Smith, LCSW
The Surrender Experiment: My Journey Into Life’s Perfection
By Michael A. Singer
Mood of the Book:
Engaging, quietly powerful, uplifting
5 Gems to Fuel Growth…
I am Christian and refer to God—this can be interchanged with Life, the Universe, your higher self. I believe these are all aspects of the same thing. Please take what fits for you and release anything that doesn’t resonate.
Stop fighting life. Accept what is. Open up to what life has for you.
The shift I needed: Letting go of control creates space for trust and joy in the current moment.
For most of my life, I tried to orchestrate outcomes—especially when something felt uncertain. I’d plan, push, and strive. But I’m beginning to see how often that striving steals the joy of the present moment.
Right now, I’m in a season of waiting. I know beautiful things are coming—but they’re not here yet. And instead of trying to force the future, I’m learning to pause and receive the gift of the current moment.
One simple example: the weather. If I expect sun and it rains, I can resist it or embrace it. Maybe the rain brings something unexpected—quiet, stillness, even delight. That small choice is teaching me how to surrender in bigger ways.
It’s not always easy. My mind still wants to resist or rush. But when I release the illusion of control and trust what’s unfolding, I feel more peace and enjoyment in each moment. I find that joy is already here, quietly waiting to be noticed.
Challenges aren’t obstacles—they’re invitations to grow.
The shift I needed: What feels like a setback is often a sacred setup for the next version of me.
Over a year ago, challenge after challenge came at work—difficult situations, tough decisions, unexpected breakdowns. I wanted it all to stop. But eventually, I realized that each situation was shaping me into someone stronger, steadier, and more prepared.
I didn’t navigate them perfectly. Looking back, I wish I had brought more grace and less resistance. But I kept showing up, asking: What can I learn here? And little by little, I grew.
Mickey, the author, wrote, “Life was molding me each day to become who I needed to be in order to handle tomorrow’s tasks.” That’s exactly how it felt.
We often think peace comes when life is smooth. But what if peace comes when we stop fighting the rough patches and trust their role in our transformation?
Now, when new challenges show up, I still feel the discomfort—but I also feel a quiet strength rising in me, whispering: You’ve trained for this. You’re ready.
Every task is sacred when done with heart.
The shift I needed: Joy flows when I show up with full devotion—no matter the outcome.
There’s something powerful about choosing to treat what’s in front of me like it came from God—not just the obvious assignments, but the quiet, everyday ones, too.
Right now, that’s what these book reflections are for me. I haven’t started sharing them yet and don’t know who will read them or what will come from them. But I felt divinely led to begin writing them, and when I do, something inside me lights up. When I write with intention, care, and soul, it feels like I’m honoring the nudge God gave me to create—not for results, but simply because it’s what I was asked to do.
This lens brings more joy to everything. Whether I’m writing, leading, coaching, or sharing my story—when I bring my full heart to what’s in front of me, the task becomes sacred.
As Mickey said: “I treated each job as if the universe itself had given it to me—because it had.” And when I do that, purpose, peace, and joy naturally follow.
In stillness, we hear the Divine.
The shift I needed: Silence isn’t a void—it’s a sacred space where divine wisdom and guidance can quietly meet us.
For many years, I filled every moment with doing. I didn’t realize how much I was missing until I couldn’t “do” anymore.
In 2019, a traumatic brain injury forced me into stillness. For months, I had no choice but to be. And in that space—quiet, vulnerable, surrendered—I began hearing God consistently.
Since then, I’ve built a daily practice: each morning, I sit in silence and ask, God, what do You want me to know today? And something always comes. That quiet space has become my source of alignment, peace, and divine direction.
Noise blocks the very clarity we’re seeking. But when we pause, the whispers of wisdom we’ve been chasing finally have room to be heard.
In silence, I don’t have to try so hard. The clarity comes. The inspiration flows. And I feel guided—not by effort, but by presence.
Surrender isn’t weakness—it’s strength.
The shift I needed: Surrender became the sacred pause between purpose past and purpose still unfolding.
When it became clear my time at the counseling centers I built over 15 years was complete, I felt both clarity and grief. I knew it was right—but letting go of something so foundational wasn’t easy. I didn’t know what was next. I only knew I was being asked to trust.
And so I did. I surrendered. Not because I had a clear path ahead, but because I felt God saying, It’s time.
There’s a misconception that surrender is weakness—like you’re giving up. But the kind of surrender I stepped into took everything I had. It required faith, patience, and the strength to let go of certainty in order to have the opportunity to receive something greater.
When things don’t unfold the way we hoped, it’s easy to feel disappointed. But what if we’re being protected or redirected? What if life has something better?
That’s how I choose to see it now. My job is to do what I can, then release the rest and trust that life is happening for me—always, in all ways.
That’s not weakness. That’s strength with an open heart.
My 3 Core Ratings (1-5)
Absolutely. Mickey is a gifted storyteller, and his journey was captivating from beginning to end. It was deeply satisfying to witness how trust and surrender kept leading to unexpected beauty. This book left me feeling lighter and more connected to the flow of life.
The lessons in this book are truly transformative. I don’t desire to surrender as fully as Mickey did—but I absolutely want to flow with life more than I have been. I know God/Life has incredible things in store for me, and I don’t want to block the flow with my own expectations. I’m learning to embrace life as it comes, one moment at a time.
The concept is easy—but applying it is challenging for me. It’s something I get to remind myself of throughout the day, especially when things don’t go the way I expected. Surrender takes practice.
Mic Drop Moment:
“Life was asking me to get out of the way and let her do her thing.”
–Michael A. Singer
Notes, Nudges & Nuggets:
✔ Trust doesn’t always feel like clarity. Sometimes it’s a quiet sense that you’re meant to keep going, one step at a time.
✔ If you’re someone who overanalyzes, this book offers a powerful reminder: you don’t need to mentally sort every detail before taking aligned action.
✔ There’s a difference between doing what you want and doing what life brings. Sometimes they overlap—but this book shows the magic of honoring both.
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Final Reflection:
Sometimes the bravest thing we can do is stop controlling and pushing—and instead, trust what is unfolding. Peace begins the moment we choose to embrace the present.
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What if your next step isn’t about effort—but about embracing what is already here?
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