<!-- bryant-content-generator:start --> # Sometimes we hurt ourselves the way we struggle... > {{Sometimes we hurt ourselves the way we struggle and resist. Acceptance can be its own form of dominant resistance — because survival is sometimes the best resistance.}} Sometimes survival is all we have. Everyone wants to be powerful and thrive and soar high, but life's challenges sometimes demand we contract rather than expand. Retreating is not necessarily a loss, but often a strategy of survival. The defense processes you observe in the natural world, in animals and in cellular biology have their analogues in your psychology and spirituality. {{You are not weak because you must sometimes retreat and contract; it is a part of your brilliance. It sometimes is natural and genius to fail. There is often wisdom, strategy and intelligence in loss. Surrender is not just a spiritual, meditative or transcendental philosophy; it is often pragmatic, worldly and rational.}} Detachment and surrender are both rational and transcendental. Non-engagement or retreat can turn certain defeat into victory. {{Do not be ashamed of what you perceive as your weaknesses, failures and losses, which may have been your greatest moments of brilliance and survival.}} **Source:** [[books/Simple Reminders Book (2014-2018)|Simple Reminders]] <!-- bryant-content-generator:end -->