Giving Up and Giving In

From Merriam Webster's online dictionary:

Giving up:  to yield control or possession of (surrender); to desist from (abandon); to declare incurable or insoluble

Giving in:   to yield under insistence or entreaty;  SYNS: surrender, yield, submit

We usually look at giving up as a negative...if only we would try harder we could reach our goal...if only we put in more effort we would win.  We are encouraged to keep trying, keep going, keep pushing, keep giving time and energy to the task.  Athletic coaches are fond of the phrase, "winners never quit."  Winners don't give up.

In the same way, giving in is, basically, losing.  When a river bank collapses after a heavy rain it gives out or caves in.  Whatever words we use, they signify disaster.

But it has been on my mind lately that sometimes giving up and giving in are exactly what is required.  Sometimes we need to give up control, give up trying to answer unanswerable questions, give up trying to make sense and give in to life. Surrender to the universe.