Acceptance as a Key to a Better Life
What images spring to mind when you think of acceptance? Do you conjure up a sense of resignation to situations or people that you find difficult but can’t change for the better?
Within our culture, we frequently assume that acceptance is a metaphor for resigning ourselves to the inevitable. That explains why the term usually carries a hint of disappointment in its wake. But acceptance is not necessarily a passive response to circumstances that are beyond our control. It’s a concept that holds the seeds of a powerful expansion of our ability to enjoy life on a more deeply fulfilling level. In brief, it’s the key to a much better way of living.
In its essence, complete and unconditional acceptance holds the power to free us from our ingrained habit of judging ourselves and others through a very critical lens. When you discover the healing balm of self-acceptance, your life will change forever. When you apply the same principle to everyone you encounter, whether with strangers or with closer members of your entourage, your relationships will enter a new stage of development. You will experience contact and communication without the old, biased barriers that disguised the deeper nature of our connections to the rest of the world. In the presence of absolute and unconditional acceptance, we are transformed. ?
Complete acceptance is certainly rare enough because we live within the limits that were defined by our early childhood conditioning that encouraged us to judge everything and everyone without considering the alternatives or the implications. The adults around us passed judgement all the time and we learned to adopt the same behaviour. Acceptance takes us beyond the limiting attitudes that obscure the richer potential of a closer connection with ourselves as well as with the people we encounter.
Mindfulness is a perfect way to become aware of the constant chatter of our internal dialogue. A moment to breathe more deeply and unhitch our senses from the overladen train of judgements that divide us from our deeper sense of self. It’s a magnificent step forwards on the path to personal development. It’s a perfect way to discover the richness of your true self.
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