Courage, Acceptance, Peace and Joy

“Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.”

— Coco Chanel (1883–1971)

Acceptance: a grand thing that opens the door to Joy.

Joy is a thing unlimited when we have grasped acceptance over the things we cannot change. Of course, we accept that at a level. We know it to be true in theory. We may urgently need it—to let go. And now.

We may not know how to actually achieve acceptance, however. We may not know how and we may lack the confidence to plunge headlong into a season of processes venturing us toward acceptance. We may be baffled as to where to start or bamboozled about how to sustain such a thing. We see Joy simply, but it is hardly simple at all from this vantage point.

Such things as joy and peace are inherently simple, and in that, so abundantly powerful, but only when we have done our preparatory work. When acceptance is achieved a golden red-carpeted pathway avails itself as we journey to joy and peace.

Getting to acceptance is our challenge. The first thing we need is Courage.

The Courage in Letting Go

These two concepts seem opposed. The suggestion is we need courage in letting go. We accept that letting go is a key part of acceptance. Yet we may struggle in letting go.

The truth about letting go is this: it gradually becomes easier the more we practice it. Very rarely are we miraculously delivered of something to accept. It does happen, but hardly ever. But we are blessed as we persist and persevere, continuing on our commitment in letting go.

Letting go in this way—in persisting and persevering—takes courage, because it is fatiguing. If we have the courage to keep on persisting and persevering, even as fear strikes, or tiredness, or anger or frustration, our acceptance quickly grows in its capacity.

And acceptance is such a key to all manifestation of renewal: forgiveness, grace, patience, and the abundant life. All these, and more, stand at the foot of acceptance.

It takes courage to get this thing going and keep it going. We are fortunate that God encourages us in the early going: persisting and persevering on the road of acceptance is blessed and does get better.

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Getting to acceptance is our challenge. The first thing we need is Courage: to persist and persevere. Starting with courage, we slowly gain the ability to accept things we cannot change, and more and more peace and joy become us.

© 2013 S. J. Wickham.