March 26    

Today's quotation:

Acceptance of one's life has nothing to do with resignation; it does not mean running away from the struggle.  On the contrary it means accepting it as it comes. . . .  To accept is to say yes to life in its entirety.

Paul Tournier

Today's Meditation:

I've spent so much of my life trying to make things happen the ways I thought they should happen--or hoped they would happen--that I haven't been able to simply accept the ways that things are and let them be that way, and deal with them as they are.  That is, until relatively recently.  In the last few years, I've finally learned to just accept life the way it is and work within its parameters rather than trying to make life be what I've thought it should be.  One of the most important things that I've learned is that there's no way that I can change or improve anything in my life until I accept things just the way they are, and then work from there.

Accepting the bad and the beautiful does not mean that I simply resign myself to being completely passive and not trying to improve things in my life.  Acceptance compels me to face things just as they are rather than deny that certain things are certain ways.  Life does as it will, and other people do as they will, and it's up to me to accept all that with a sense of equanimity so that I can deal with what I need to deal with.  If I get a sickness, I need to accept that I'm sick if I'm going to treat the illness.  If a loved one dies, I need to accept the death if I'm going to be able to deal with it effectively.  If I win a million dollars, I need to accept the win and the newfound wealth if I'm going to be able to take advantage of it.

Life is as it is, and denying the reality in the hopes of avoiding having to deal with it is a strategy that's doomed to failure.  When I accept life and all that it has to give me, I can give myself a chance to deal with things effectively.  And it's important to accept life and to be able to deal with life effectively if I want to give myself a chance to be truly happy.

Questions to consider:

Why do so many people consider acceptance to be a form of weakness?

What things do you have a difficult time accepting?  Which things are easier for you to accept?  Why the discrepancy?

How does acceptance relate to denial?  Which are you most likely to practice?  Why?

For further thought:

Acceptance is a letting-go process.  You let go of your wishes and demands that life can be different.  It's a conscious choice.

Gary Emery

more on acceptance

   

  

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