When ACCEPTANCE is the key

Life is a journey and along the way we come across experiences that can sometimes challenge us on different levels of our being. The question is, what happens when things don’t go exactly as we plan and how do we respond when challenging times come knocking at our door?

The feelings of denial, frustration and of being stuck are stages that I have personally experienced. The more I refused to accept what was happening in my life, the more blocks I added to create a wall around me that not only was not going to protect me, but also kept away new opportunities from reaching me.

I’ve come to understand that certain things happen for a reason and if there is a lesson to learn or something to integrate, we may attract certain events or people that we are meant to learn from. We are all walking together in this journey of life, so is only fair to say that we might teach each other a thing or two along the way. Some of these situations may not always be easy, but they might be necessary for our own healing and growth.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned during those times, it’s that acceptance plays an important role. We know that we can’t change the events that have already happened in our life but what we can change is the way we deal with them and with similar events in the future. Through these experiences we can discover more about ourselves, our awareness and our potential so we can use these times as steppingstones for our development.

Sometimes the word ‘acceptance’ can be misunderstood because, to some people, it might seem that they must accept how others treat them. When you stand in acceptance you become aware of the fact that you always have a choice. It does not mean however that you have to allow people to treat you poorly or with disrespect. Sometimes it can simply mean that you understand you can’t change others and neither is it your responsibility to do so. Your responsibility is to change yourself. Letting go of the need to control other people’s behaviour is not only freeing us from our own frustration but is also essential if we want to maintain that peace of mind and balance in our life.

Acceptance starts with self. If we want other people to accept us for who we are, we first need to learn to accept ourselves fully. We live in a society where we’ve learned that we should compete, we should compare, and we should judge. We may say that we love ourselves but how can we, when we create so much pressure to reach our own or someone else’s standard of perfection?

Acceptance doesn’t always come easy. Sometimes it takes one or many more conscious decisions because we have become used to criticizing and judging ourselves for so long. Our own expectation of being perfect is an obstacle that we put in our own way. Perfection is an illusion of the mind. If you take a walk within nature you may notice that it doesn’t care about perfection. If we look at the rose, we can see that its thorns don’t stop it from being one of the most beautiful flowers. When you accept yourself fully, with your qualities and your flaws, you are like the rose. You see your own beauty and celebrate your uniqueness. Your qualities can inspire others in their life and your flaws can inspire you to look at the things you may want to improve about yourself and take the steps to do so, for your own growth.

If we want to live in a world where we feel more accepted rather than judged, we need to start offering the same energy of which we wish to receive. Through cooperation and collaboration, we can share our gifts and skills to build together a more supportive environment and community. It is time to replace judgement and competition with appreciation and kindness. It is time to lift others up, so that you too can be lifted and to encourage people so that you also can be encouraged.