Acceptance is a Practice

The word “acceptance” can inspire strong reactions from people. How can we possibly accept the world, or challenging life situation in which we are currently living? How can this be accepted? How can it be “okay”? How can we possibly believe that it is acceptable? That’s the pushback I’ve heard when I’ve had conversations about the principle of acceptance. And to be quite honest, it’s how I used to feel myself.

I understand the resistance to acceptance. When I first heard about acceptance from a Buddhist friend of mine, I could not imagine that I was supposed to accept my life the way it was. I was miserable. How could I possibly accept my misery? I don’t remember when I began to accept my life, my situation, career, etc., but I got there. And you can too.

For me, it was helpful to think of “acceptance” as being of this moment. It can sound something like, “This situation isn’t perfect, but I will accept it as it is in this moment.”, or “My situation is challenging, but in this moment, I am safe and have everything I need.” From that perspective it was easier for me to find acceptance.

Remembering that the situation is what it is and that no amount of resistance, stress, or fear is going to change it, is helpful. Even if the situation is far from ideal, acknowledging that we are okay in the moment is acceptance. For me, acceptance means a releasing of resistance, stress, and fear. It means the situation is what it I and it won’t always be this way. It will change.

When I find myself feeling disgruntled about a situation, I remind myself, “I accept this situation how it is in this moment because I know it won’t always be this way.” If I need a little more energy, I’ll surrender. “I surrender to the flow of my life.” Is an affirmation that I use. Sometimes, I raise my hands in the air and surrender to Spirit. Do what serves you.

For me acceptance isn’t a one-and-done-and-let’s-move-on thing. For me, it’s a practice. I bring awareness to the resistance, stress, and fear that I’m experiencing. I release any judgment that comes into my awareness. Then, I practice acceptance of what is. Once the old energy is acknowledged, expressed, released, I can focus on reconditioning my thoughts and beliefs.

Practicing Acceptance.

Acceptance is found when we acknowledge our current situation as it is, imperfect and challenging. Once we ease whatever resistance, stress, or fear there is, we can then move into new energies. A new thought process and belief system is built with intentional thoughts and affirmations. Acceptance is a practice so use whatever you have in your own toolkit to create a practice that serves you.

How I practice acceptance:

I start with a reminder for myself that none of that resistance, stress, and fear energy is serving my path. If it’s not serving our spiritual/life goals, it needs some work. No amount of worry will bring positive energies to our current situation and sometimes we need a reminder of that.

Then I affirm acceptance. I often use the affirmation “I accept this situation how it is in this moment because I know it won’t always be this way.” Another suggestion, “Life changes and so will this.”, or “I release resistance and choose to flow with life.” It’s important to affirm a more positive energy.

If it serves in the moment, it helps to nurture myself a little. Often, I use, “I am doing the best I can.” I will also nurture myself with hugs or a gentle rocking. Nurturing ourselves is important self-care and helps bring more ease into our lives.

Again, if it serves, I will surrender. That can sound like, “I surrender to the flow of my life.”, or “I surrender to spirit’s plan for my life.” Surrendering can be as challenging as accepting what is, do what you can. Let’s meet ourselves where we are, do what we can, and be gentle with ourselves.

Then I focus on the things that are working, even if it seems small or insignificant. It’s important to affirm the positive energy of the situation if available, but we can affirm the positive energy in general if that serves better.

I repeat this process as frequently as I need to, anytime I feel myself experience anger, resistance, or any sort of unwillingness to accept what is. For me, acceptance is a practice. It’s part of the work that I do while navigating my spiritual awakening path and I know anyone can find their way to acceptance.

Our lives are not perfect. Every single one of us faces challenges. It is worth the investment of our energy to find acceptance of what is. It is not healthy to carry the energy of resistance, stress, and fear. By choosing acceptance, we can find a little more inner peace. By practicing acceptance, we can ensure that we have a little more inner peace in our lives.

Today’s image was made in Canva. 

I’m grateful you’re here.

I love you.

Be well,

Nikki