Emotion : Acceptance - An understanding

“Of course there is no formula for success except, perhaps, an unconditional acceptance of life and what it brings.” ~Arthur Rubinstein
You see, sometimes you’re an observer of other people’s lives and you think you’ll never experience what they’re living, whether it be a positive or negative situation. You think, “That will never happen to me.” Part of the real beauty of life is that it’s unpredictable. Nothing is permanent, everything changes; and of course, a lot of things can happen that will transform who you are and have an impact on your life. The problem is that we need to cultivate the ability to truly accept whatever comes and embrace it.

We need to develop the habit of looking at whatever happens through a positive mindset, instead of a negative and defeatist one. Of course, life will bring many challenges, and it’s not easy to embrace them when we’re suffering and wishing those things would have never happened. But if we start cultivating acceptance in our lives right now, we’ll likely cope with future crises in a different way and view them from a different perspective. We will accept instead of resisting.

Yes, acceptance is a choice—a hard one most definitely, but in the end, it’s a choice that only we can make at any given situation of our lives. There are two ways out of a problem: accept what’s happening, see the positive, and choose a peaceful state of mind; or fight against it, be miserable, and struggle against the universe.

Learning to accept things as they present themselves is a helpful tool in different aspects of life. Whether it’s a family loss, a missed opportunity, or a sudden change in your plans, being able to accept things as they come (when they are out of our control) will help you maintain inner peace and happiness.

Acceptance is the key to convert momentary happiness to enduring happiness. It helps you move from feeling happy to actually being happy. Practicing acceptance prepares you to live in this changing world, where you never know what’s going to happen next. Acceptance is like protecting yourself with your own shield.

Acceptance is not at all related to weakness and is definitely not a synonym of conformism or mediocrity. We need to learn how to identify when it’s time to persist and when it’s time to accept.

Finding the lesson or purpose behind every challenge will help you embrace it, instead of fighting it.

Choose not to judge what happens to you. Instead believe that everything happens for a reason and that better things will always follow. That’s the beginning of true acceptance. When something unpredictable happens, instead of complaining and over-thinking it, we could choose learning to live with it.

It’s hard to practice acceptance when you deeply wish things aren’t the way they are. But the truth is, sometimes we can’t change our reality, even though we try.

So instead of staring at the closed door in front of us, or getting tired and bruised while we try to break it down, let’s turn around and see how many other windows we have open.

Author and Credits: Guest author - Tiny buddha