In a world that glorifies hustle, perfection, and control, surrender can feel radical. In this episode of WandHERwild™ Podcast, host Monica Virga Alborno invites listeners into a timely and deeply personal conversation about what it truly means to surrender, not in theory, but in the messy, unpolished, and very real moments of motherhood, entrepreneurship, and personal evolution.

After walking away from a 13-year corporate career, Monica has spent the last year learning how to navigate uncertainty with grace. Her reflections are grounded in lived experience: building a purpose-led business, raising children, grieving unexpected loss, and learning to trust herself and the unfolding path in front of her.

This episode is not a highlight reel or quick fix. It’s an invitation to breathe deeper, to loosen your grip, and to ask better questions.

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Surrender Isn’t About Letting Go, It’s About Letting Through

Early in the episode, Monica offers a powerful reframing of the often-misunderstood word surrender:

“Surrender isn’t about letting life happen to you. It’s about letting life happen through you.”

This isn’t about passivity or giving up; it’s about consciously releasing the illusion of control and softening into the mystery. It’s about taking aligned action and then stepping back, allowing space for what wants to unfold.

Monica shares that surrender has shown up in her own life in deeply humbling ways, from leaving corporate life to navigating grief and recalibrating her business. These experiences have helped her distinguish between effort that is in alignment and effort that is rooted in fear or attachment to outcome.

What Surrender Looks Like in Daily Life

Throughout the episode, Monica emphasizes that surrender is not a one-time act; it’s a daily choice. It shows up in the tension between presence and perfectionism, in motherhood’s unpredictability, and in entrepreneurship’s ever-evolving terrain. It’s found in the pause between doing and receiving.

For Monica, surrender looked like letting go of business relationships that no longer felt aligned, even when it was uncomfortable. It looked like showing up to her daughter’s birthday with presence rather than perfection. It looked like choosing softness over self-judgment.

“Surrendering does not mean giving up. It does not mean that you’ve done anything wrong.”

This message is especially resonant for those who feel they’ve followed the rules, done all the “right” things, yet still find themselves facing detours and delays. Surrender is about shifting the question from “Why isn’t this working?” to “What is life trying to teach me here?”

Nine Reflection Questions for the Journey

At the heart of the episode are nine journal prompts Monica has been personally working through. These are not surface-level questions. They are invitations to explore resistance, to uncover hidden fears, and to reconnect with what truly matters.

Here are a few of the questions she shares:

Where in your life are you trying to force something to happen?
What would it look like to accept the season exactly as it is?
In what ways is life already supporting you, even when you can’t see the whole plan?
What does your intuition want you to know about this situation?

These questions are designed to create space. They’re not about fixing, they’re about feeling. They invite the listener into a dialogue with their own inner wisdom.

“What would it feel like to move forward from a place of flow and not force?”

It’s in these subtle shifts, away from gripping and toward grace, that surrender begins to work its quiet magic.

The Roller Coaster of Realignment

Monica openly shares that she’s in a season of transition, re-routing her entrepreneurial journey, deepening some parts of her work, and letting go of others. Rather than presenting a polished narrative of “having it all figured out,” she models the kind of vulnerability and self-trust that intentional living requires.

“This isn’t personal. You haven’t done anything wrong. There’s just a set of instructions here, riding this roller coaster.”

This reframe, that even chaos might come with hidden instructions, can be a powerful balm for mothers and creatives navigating growth. It gives permission to feel disoriented and to still trust that something meaningful is unfolding.

From Resistance to Reverence

Monica reflects on the emotional layers of surrender: mourning old versions of herself, releasing the need to control outcomes, and softening into gratitude. She recalls moments when she missed the status of her former corporate identity but chose to meet that grief with appreciation rather than guilt.

“How can I honor what I’m letting go of with gratitude and not guilt?”

This level of honesty is what makes her work resonate so deeply. There’s no spiritual by passing here, only grounded, embodied awareness.

Motherhood, Business, and the Mystery

The episode also touches on how surrender uniquely intersects with motherhood. Whether it’s dropping expectations for how a day should unfold, or trusting that a child’s emotions will pass without fixing them, surrender allows for more connection, more peace, and more truth.

Similarly, in business, surrender means making strategic decisions and then releasing attachment to how they play out. It’s about acting from alignment and trusting that the right opportunities will meet you.

Monica points out that the discomfort of surrender often gives way to freedom. It creates space for what is truly meant, rather than what is tightly controlled.

A Practice, Not a Destination

Perhaps the most comforting reminder from this episode is that surrender is not a static state; it’s a practice. A return. A remembering.

Listeners are encouraged to jot down Monica’s questions, respond through journaling or voice notes, and use them as a way to release the pressure to have it all figured out.

“Voice notes are awesome. Even if it’s just for your ears—it’s powerful to express that energy somewhere.”

This approach makes surrender feel not just possible, but practical. It’s something that can be woven into the everyday rhythms of life.

Final Thoughts: You’re Not Alone

The episode closes with a reminder that no one is alone in their season of surrender. Whether you’re navigating loss, uncertainty, reinvention, or rest—there’s space for all of it in the WandHERwild community.

As one of Monica’s fellow retreat speakers shared:

“That dizzying mix of exhaustion, expansion, and reorientation you may be feeling? You’re not off track, you’re upgrading.”

There is something sacred about trusting the unknown. About letting life move through you, not just at you. And about remembering, again and again, that you’re held by something greater.

5 Highlighted Pull Quotes

“Surrender isn’t about letting life happen to you. It’s about letting life happen through you.”

“Surrendering does not mean giving up. It does not mean that you’ve done anything wrong.”
“What would it feel like to move forward from a place of flow and not force?”
“How can I honor what I’m letting go of with gratitude and not guilt?”
“This isn’t personal. You haven’t done anything wrong. There’s just a set of instructions here, riding this roller coaster.”

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