Think of losing your balance in a waist-high rapid. Without warning the colored stones under your feet are shifting, you are moving, all clever maneuvering and dignity lost, bashing your knees bloody on looming river rocks. Splashing, you flounder in a panic to the steep tangled bank and claw your way into unfamiliar territory. Discovering a tumor grips the body with the same corrosive force. You desperately try to keep pace with where your life is taking you.

Excerpt from "Awakening," The Art of Surrender; Image: Descending Harbinger, Copyright © 2005 Becca Smith, All Rights Reserved