Law of Acceptance
Law of Acceptance
Affirmation for the Law of Acceptance: Today I affirm: I surrender, trust and accept that all things are working together for my highest good.
Some people believe that being happy and finding inner peace are one and the same. Nothing could be farther from the truth. A person can live a miserable existence and yet still be at peace in their inner core. When you see someone who is going through the loss of a loved one, career, finances or health issues and they seem to be at peace you never forget that person. This type of person is truly rare. This person seems to almost not notice the “bad “around them.
Happiness is usually tied to some shallow temporary fix. It is usually associated with some type of stuff, creature comfort or a position. Peace, on the other hand, is the deep seated ability not to allow you to be defined by such elusive and fleeting things or qualities. Peace comes from the ability to say “this is so” when the normal occurrences in life occur. This takes all the drama out of life.
There are those who spend their time looking backwards. These people look back over their lives with regrets. They say “If I had only done this or if I had only done that”. These people are trapped in their past. They will continually have a hard time moving forward in their lives. Acceptance says that they past has happened and however it happened it was for the best. It is ok to look at a situation and learn from it, but don’t constantly relive it. Embrace who you are be thankful for your areas of strength and weaknesses, they are all a part of the unique you.
We also need to learn to give others around us the same acceptance. Many times the thing that we dislike most in others is the thing that we dislike most about ourselves. Give others the opportunity to be who they are. Discuss with those who are close to you how the things they do are say make you feel and be prepared to allow them to do the same with you. An exercise that helps this is to have a discussion using a talking stick.
The talking stick was used for centuries by many American Indian tribes as a means of just and impartial hearing. The version of the exercise that I’m suggesting goes like this. One person speaks at a time and that is the person who is holding the “talking stick”. This can be an actual stick, a bible, a feather or whatever is chosen. While the person who is speaking the other person can only listen. They are not allowed to respond. After the person speaking had said all the wish to say they pass the object to the other person. The second person can then repeat what they heard the first person say. They are not to give an opinion or rebuttal they are only saying what they heard. While this is going on the first person is not allowed to speak. After the second person finishes the first person then says “yes that is what I meant to say” or “no this is what I was saying”. This process continues until the second person and the first person agree on what the first person is trying to say. At that point the process is reversed. This allows person number two to have their point of view heard and understood. This process can create understanding and acceptance.