Acceptance

While self-compassion seems like a basic human right, many people find it challenging to bring compassion to themselves when things get tough.

For many of us, our 20s can be an era of utter confusion. Pressure from all angles of life including uncertainty towards our career path, unbalanced relationships, and financial struggles appear to be thrown at us faster than a 90-mph baseball pitch. It’s as though the world is grabbing us by the shoulders and shaking us to say, “wake up, your life is about to begin.”

The world we live in requires, almost demands, a lot of us. Our time and energy, our hearts, minds, and bodies, are all given certain expectations, limitations, and confines to operate within. The demands of the external world can leave us distant and disconnected from the parts of ourselves that are able to choose; to choose how we spend our time, where our energy goes, and choose all the ways we serve our hearts, minds, and bodies in the best ways possible. When we’re being pulled in so many directions all at once focusing on the cultivation of resilience can be challenging; ironically, this exact challenge is what helps to strengthen our resilience.

We can’t always control the circumstances of our lives, but we can control how we react to them. The way we respond to what’s going on in our day-to-day can have a considerable impact on how we manage, shift, and move through difficult situations. Meeting your present reality with acceptance is a powerful practice. Acceptance doesn’t mean that you succumb and fall victim to your circumstances. It means that you shift the energy you bring into a situation, which can be influential in helping you to find peace wherever you are and navigate hardship with ease.

Enlightened teachers of every faith have exemplified a willingness to let go of anger, resentment, and vengeance toward those who have harmed them. Major world religions extol the practice. Yet, how does one move from the anger of injustice to the peace of forgiveness? What happens to feelings of rage, sadness, disappointment, or anger stemming from an offense?

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child—our own two eyes. All is a miracle. - Thich Nhat Hanh

The car is driving away. The phone call has been terminated. Your moving van is packed. You are boarding the plane. You are holding your grandmother’s hands and telling her how she has impacted you because you know this is the last time you will be able to look into her eyes. You are rubbing your cat’s chin for the last time and savoring every purr. Endings. Are. Brutal.

Las intenciones son como semillas: desde el momento en que se plantan, el potencial de crecimiento está plenamente presente. Pero, al igual que las semillas, se necesita algo más para que ese potencial no se vuelva latente. Tiene que haber suelo: suelo que sea fértil y hospitalario para el crecimiento.

Intentions are like seeds: from the moment they are planted, the potential for growth is fully present. But, also like seeds, something else is needed lest that potential becomes dormant. There needs to be soil: Soil that’s fertile and hospitable to growth.