May's Word of the Month - Acceptance
by Linda Lee Sheldon on 05/01/15
I've had a lot of people ask me lately about how to deal with troubling encounters or events. We've all experienced the unfair accusation, have been swindled by someone or wished we had done something differently. None are fun life events to have to deal with!
In these situations, "forgiveness" can be a challenge. But without some action on our part the event can eat away at us mentally and emotionally. My approach to these events is "acceptance."
This month's word is Acceptance - The act of accepting; to receive willingly
I can hear everyone now... ACCEPTANCE! Are you nuts???
Let me explain. When we have an event that is challenging for us to deal with very often the reason it is so difficult is because of how we are thinking about it. Thinking can take us down that deep dark hole of despair or guilt or shame or anger.
Now I'm not asking you to accept that the event is a good thing. I'm not asking you to like it or to just brush it off as being OK or inconsequential. Frequently these things are anything but inconsequential. What I am suggesting is that you accept you are where you are in this moment in time. Take your attention to your breath. If we allow our thoughts to go into the anger or the guilt or whatever other emotions are coming up we perpetuate the emotion and the discomfort.
If however, we can move into the space of acceptance of what is happening now in this moment in time our perspective changes. This is acceptance of the moment, not the situation. Acceptance is freedom from the negative mental stories associated with the situation.
When we step out of these mental stories that create the negativity we step into clarity. Our actions are no longer clouded by the negative emotions. This allows us to more easily put ourselves in the other person's shoes, understand the larger dynamics of the situation or recognize a greater variety of options.
Acceptance doesn't remove your ability to bring about change in the situation. It actually enhances ability to bring about change and at times in the most surprising way!
Acceptance works for me. I hope it will work for you as well!
Share your stories of Acceptance with us!
