This is where we begin. Acceptance.
Acceptance means welcoming things as adequate or suitable, receiving those things as they are.
Today, I’m asking you to accept basically everything.
Not an easy task. So…
Why is this important?
We tend to spend a lot of time and energy resisting things in our life that just… are.
We are who we are. Other people are who THEY are. There’s nothing you can do to change what’s happened in your life so far bringing you to this point. You might as well accept it.
Stop spending your valuable energy fighting against the things you can’t change.
When we resist our current circumstances, we can’t see them clearly. We blind ourselves to opportunities in the current moment for expansion, satisfaction, and pleasure. We leave ourselves uncomfortable, biased, blind, and powerless.
When we start with full-blown acceptance, even for the things we *do* want to change – racism or sexism within our society, our relationship status, or our bank account balance, for instance – we become better able to see ALL sides and contributing factors so we can come up with the most comprehensive & lasting solutions possible.
That’s why I’m asking you to start by accepting everything as it is.
Recognize & receive yourself, others, and the world in general – as is.
It doesn’t mean these things will never change (though it could mean that, and that’s part of the deal with acceptance).
When we stop resisting and start accepting ourselves & our situation, the unworkable becomes workable. You will find more opportunities to thrive regardless of your situation.
As you change within your situation, your situation will change.
Accept yourself, first and foremost. Accepting yourself is at the heart of accepting others & the world around you. All of your quirks and oddities. Allllll of your different personalities, including your absolute worst traits. Everything you were told is “too much” or “not enough”… screw that. Accept yourself & love all parts of you fully.
Accept the full spectrum of emotions. Happiness, Sadness, Anger, Jealousy… Joy, Excitement, Despair, Loneliness, Nostalgia, Misery, Numbness and everything in between. All emotions are acceptable and they can all teach you something valuable about yourself and where you’re going.
Accept your body exactly the way that it is. Yes, exactly the way it is. Right now. It’s perfect because it’s complete & you’re alive and breathing. Especially if you’re reading this right now, your body is working beautifully.
Accept the world exactly the way it is right now. All of the ugliness, all of the injustice… it all exists inside of each of us. Accept the part of yourself that relates to the ugliness – it’s in there.
Accept other people for the imperfect humans they are. Love them hard anyway.
Accept that you are worthy, you are good enough, you are loved. Right now.
Accept 100% responsibility for the way your life is right now. Accept 100% responsibility for your part in making life better for yourself & everyone around you. Recognize that you can impact anything about your life when you want to.
This and more is acceptance.
Take a deep breath, tune into the wisest part of you, and ask this question: What am I most resisting in my life right now? How can I be more accepting of myself today?
Share in the comments, or check out my free FB group The Cocoon, and share your answers in there. We would love to witness & support you!
If you really want to take this deeper, I would absolutely love to have you in our upcoming group coaching round of Mental Wholeness – you can sign up to join us here.
The next strategy in this series is Body Buzz.