Acceptance... what's that about, really?

Acceptance... what's that about, really? Is it liking something? Endorsing it? Desiring it? Or does it somehow mean that you're just laying down, playing the doormat? Let's unpack this, because understanding acceptance—truly getting it—might just be the golden key to happiness.

So, imagine this: you're sitting there, coffee in hand, and you're pondering why people are the way they are, why things just are the way they aren't. It’s confusing, right? The term 'acceptance' itself seems shrouded in mystery. What does it actually mean to accept something?

To get to the heart of acceptance, we first have to talk about its antithesis: resistance. Resistance is that instinctual, gut-level recoil you feel when something comes your way that you just don't want. It’s an ancient response, etched into our DNA; it’s an intricate part of nature.

Think of resistance as your brain’s old, knee-jerk security system. It’s the mental equivalent of flinching away from a hot flame. But here’s where it gets interesting—what happens if instead of flinching, we lean in? What if we embrace acceptance not as passive resignation, but as an active engagement with what is? Let’s dive deeper into this and see where it takes us.We’re all experts in resistance, aren't we? We tense up, push back, or outright flee from situations. This kind of reaction is lightning-fast and feels "normal," yet it often doesn’t really serve us, maybe not ever.

And then there's this intriguing concept: non-resistance. It's counter-intuitive, really. We toss around the word "intuition" like we truly understand it—yet, perhaps we’ve been getting it wrong. Intuition, the real deal, is that wisdom that seems to stream in from the cosmos, the collective, the everything. In contrast, resistance? That’s just our inner Neanderthal kicking in, echoing ancient, psychological genes.

Let's consider non-resistance as a form of higher intelligence. When you resist, it’s almost like you shut off parts of your brain that are there for thinking, evaluating, planning—basically, for being smart about things. Most events in life are fleeting and benign, impacting us minimally, unless, of course, we resist.

Imagine if instead of clenching up, we flowed with the current of life’s events, engaging our minds to navigate rather than to negate. How might our experiences shift if we embraced this form of intelligent non-resistance? Let's chew on that thought a bit. Thoughts flutter in and out, emotions ebb and flow, feelings rise and fall, just like the weather. They're all transient, yet how often do we cling to them, fixing them in place with our resistance?

This habit of ours to resist—it harms us. It’s like walking around with a pebble in your shoe, but instead of shaking it out, you just keep walking, pretending it's not there. This kind of resistance doesn't just cause us physical discomfort; it strains us socially, financially, and emotionally. It affects us in every conceivable way.Yet, imagine this: you can dislike something without resisting it. You can dislike someone and still let them be. You might even feel hate and choose not to push against it. It’s entirely possible.

Acceptance isn’t about passive resignation; it's about peaceful co-existence. It’s allowing things and people to be exactly as they are—and as they are not. There’s no pressing need to change them because, just like a passing cloud, they are temporary.What if we practiced this art of acceptance more often? How much lighter might our lives feel, simply allowing things to exist as they are, without feeling the urge to control or alter every aspect? Let’s think on the freedom that could bring into our lives.

The phrase, 'This too shall pass,' holds true 100% of the time... unless you resist it. Think about that—resistance can actually pause the natural flow of life's events, like pressing the freeze frame on a movie scene. If you stiffen up, you risk becoming merely a spectator in your life. And if you go limp? Well, then you're just floating aimlessly, not steering your life in any direction.

The true art lies in discovering the golden middle: not too rigid, not too loose—simply allowing. It's about engaging with life consciously and graciously, understanding that the nature of things is inherently transient—they come and go on their own timetable.

Consider love. You can truly love something and accept it just as it is. You can love someone and accept them just as they are. A friend of mine has been experimenting with feeling love as a continuous emotion, and let's just say, it’s not going with the flow. People can say irritating things, have peculiar habits, or hold opposing views, making it challenging to continuously feel affection. However, what if, instead of trying to feel love all the time, he simply accepted people without resistance? There lies the path to genuine love. Love is about accepting others exactly as they are and exactly as they aren’t, not resisting their quirks or wishing they’d change.

It sounds counterintuitive, but it's effective. This approach makes life more manageable, your days easier, and you, happier—to the extent that you can embrace this counterintuitive stance and stop resisting. Let’s ponder on how much smoother our journey could be if we simply embraced this kind of loving accepta