Acceptance

Acceptance is such a simple word-but is something many people find difficult to put into practice. It is especially useful to be more aware of this as the holiday season engulfs us, because we often find ourselves thrown in with people from our past, and that can get dicey.

A few years back I heard of this rule that somebody was living by, and I was very intrigued. This person made it a practice to never talk about something that happened more than two weeks ago- that was the limit. The goal was to steer each conversation into the present , and the immediate future, as much as possible. I have tried to do the same thing since I heard about this. I have succeeded for the most part, but there are times when somebody else insists on talking about something that occurred years ago. When that happens, I try to bring things back to the present by saying “that happened too long ago,” or, “I can’t see where that is relevant to this situation,” or if that doesn’t work, I might say, “I am really not comfortable talking about this.”

If I am insistent and graceful enough, I can usually steer things back to the present by one of the above methods, but not always. And the more I practice doing this the better I get. I like to think that by making more of an effort to be in the present. I am more accepting of whatever occurred in the past. After all, I am reminded that whatever occurred in the past, I am powerless to change it. The only real choice, other than constant churning, is acceptance.

My increasing acceptance of the past has not only rooted me more in the present, but has given me more faith in the future too. Since I am less prone to invest anything that occurs with too much energy, I find increasing clarity about the future. As a result, my immediate choices seem more effortless, and things often have a synchronicity about them that is uncanny. I have also observed that if things don’t go “my way,” whatever that really is, it is no big deal: I can let it go much quicker than before, and other, even more appealing options, rapidly appear .

I can honestly not say enough good things about accepting what is immediately available to me in my life. What has been your experience with this?