Moving forward with acceptance

Acceptance means, among other things, acknowledging the reality of situations – but it isn’t the end of the story.

Acceptance is creative. It opens the door to possibilities.

Often acceptance tells us what to do next and can even lead us down new and interesting paths.

If you get a health diagnosis you don’t like, a refusal to accept it can leave you stuck and even failing to do what you need to do to recover or to manage the condition in the best way for you.

Acceptance, on the other hand, means you find out what you need to do next in your own best interests.

Different paths

Acceptance can also lead you down paths that are unconnected with what you are accepting. Say you disagree with a career choice your child has made but he or she is going to stick with that choice whatever you think.

Accepting this might lead you to look at something you want to do in your life and to set about doing it. Maybe you want to learn a language or how to surf big waves off the coast – nothing to do with your child’s career but much more interesting than sitting there complaining about the kids.

Acceptance can be light hearted too. It doesn’t have to be grim and heavy. Depending on what it is that you are accepting, of course, sometimes it’s done with a heavy heart – but usually it’s something we can learn to do with a smile, especially if we’re not demanding that the world dance to our tune.

Acceptance opens doors

I often say acceptance is the other half of mindfulness. And sometimes it’s the better half. So next time you have to accept something, remember acceptance can open doors and see what pathways and possibilities it offers.

Acceptance is a key aspect of mindfulness and my 15-lesson Easy Mindfulness online course can help you to build mindfulness into your life.