We are all on some kind of journey. Better put, it’s plural; we’re all on lots of different varieties of journey. Some we’re happy to be on. Others, well not so much. Those journeys we’re on that are not-so-much, we may have a great battle reaching the land of acceptance.
Journeys that hold us apart from peace reveal great potential for acceptance. To arrive at acceptance, or better put, to practice acceptance is the goal.
If we have a great deal of a challenge accepting any particular thing, we have opportunities in peace right there. There is no good denying it. It’s something to face, because without facing it we can’t address it. And when we face something difficult it can no longer overcome us.
Those things we found easy to accept we’re likely to become flippant about. If others struggle to accept what we found easy to take, it’s more likely our challenge of acceptance is accepting they struggle to accept what we found easy.
Every frustration we feel has some form of root of unacceptance at its core.
Every inner conflict, difference of opinion, blocked goal stems from a lack of acceptance.
It doesn’t really matter what others think either if we’ve resolved to stay in a place of acceptance for the peace that belongs in that place. Of course, acceptance by its very nature means we take everything as it is, and it can only be done because we covet nothing. It’s not always an easy position to arrive at or maintain. In fact, it’s a perennial challenge for all of us.
Of course, there are some things we should not accept — aggression, tyranny, manipulation, intimidation, etc. We’re wise to find effective ways to resist abuse, wherever and however we can.
But for everything else, acceptance breathes grace into situations.
It is an amazing spiritual power in and of itself, because AS we decide to deploy it, we RECEIVE its power. It’s something that actuates in the mode of use. A little like Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am.”
In practicing acceptance, what’s really happening is we’re agreeing that the things we cannot change are okay the way they are, or at least we’re at peace knowing we cannot change them.
Acceptance is important for activists, because it helps them accept the status quo in the short term in faith they can shift things in the longer term.
When we arrive at this acceptance, we find we’ve transcended the normal human limits of tolerance, and we also find we’re less perturbed, less flustered, more gentle and more balanced, and even more resolved and better directed.
We’re also more available for others and we’re also more accommodating with all (not just some) and we find others draw on the peace we embody. Such a peace that oozes from a person is a gift to all who benefit.
Photo by Pietro De Grandi on Unsplash
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