What We Resist, Persists... What We Receive, Transforms

We’ve all heard the phrase "What you resist, persists."But what does it actually mean to receive something instead — and how could it possibly lead to transformation?

Receiving doesn’t mean we’re passive, and it doesn’t mean we like or agree with everything that happens. It means we open ourselves fully to reality as it is, without fighting it, without hardening, without trying to control the outcome. It’s an active, courageous form of surrender, one that allows life to move through us, heal us, and carry us somewhere far more beautiful than resistance ever could.

I learned this lesson in a way I’ll never forget.

My Story of Learning to Receive

In the spring of 2019, I felt guided to do a toad venom ceremony. If you’ve never heard of it, it’s an incredibly intense 30-minute ceremony where you inhale crystallized toad venom, and it catapults you into a deep spiritual experience. (Not for the faint of heart, I will say)

During the ceremony, it felt like my body was shutting down. I honestly thought I might die. My instinct was to fight it, to resist, to hold on. But amidst the chaos, my spirit guide kept whispering to me:"You're trying too hard, Marinna. Just receive."

Over and over again, I would consciously relax my entire body, surrendering to whatever was happening. Every time I let go, something softened. Something moved. Even when the ceremony shifted into blissful states of pure love, my guide still said the same thing: "Just receive."

It was one of the most powerful lessons of my life and it was preparing me for something much bigger.

Receiving in the Face of Real Life Pain

Two months after that ceremony, my brother was tragically murdered. It shattered me. Every old wound from my childhood surfaced... all my anger, my sadness, my deep resistance to living on a planet where so much abuse exists generation after generation.

I didn’t want to be here anymore.

In my desperate search for answers, my guide appeared again.He said something that landed deep in my soul:"I could tell you the purpose of all this, but you don’t yet have a paradigm to understand it. You have to receive this too, Marinna."

So I did. For three days, I practiced what I had learned.

I relaxed my body and received the devastating news reports, the horrific pictures, the uncertainty about whether we’d even get my brother's body back from Mexico. I received the grief, the confusion, the anger, the unbearable heartbreak of his wife and kids.

I didn’t fight it. I didn’t brace against it. I let it all be exactly as it was.

And after three days, something miraculous happened. It was like I broke through a barrier I didn’t know existed. I didn’t grieve in the same way after that. Instead, I was connected to a love so deep, so alive, it was as if I could feel it in the very molecules of the air. I stayed in that state for about ten more days then it gradually decreased.

Since that day, I’ve practiced receiving again and again, and I’ve witnessed transformations around me unfold faster and more gracefully than ever before.

The Power of Receiving

When we resist life, we get stuck. We stay tangled in the pain, in the fear, in the longing for things to be different.When we receive life... when we meet it with open hands and an open hear... life moves. Life transforms.

And here's the incredible part: you don’t have to figure it all out. You don’t have to "make" transformation happen. Your job is simply to stay present, to allow, and to trust the deeper intelligence at work inside of you and around you.

Presence is the ultimate alchemist.

If you're struggling right now, I invite you to ask yourself: What would happen if I stopped fighting this and simply received it?

You just might find the freedom you've been searching for.

Ending Invitation:

If this touched something inside you and you're ready to explore how receiving, presence, and deeper emotional healing can transform your life too, I'd love to walk with you. Visit simplyrelatable.com or reach out to me privately to dive deeper into courses, free resources, and ways to work together.

You're not alone — and you don't have to do it the hard way anymore.