In my recent post Forgiving Ourselves, I talked about how hard it is to forgive ourselves. Although I do believe that is indeed a very difficult thing to do, we often miss the beauty of acceptance for the same reason; it’s just plain hard.
But the beauty of acceptance has the power to transport us into a different way of living.
I am reminded as I write, of the first line of The Serenity Prayer: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. I think there is a reason why acceptance is the very first lone of that prayer. It takes the most energy…it takes a lot of energy to let go, and letting go is the very essence of acceptance.
The definition of acceptance is: the action of consenting to receive or undertake something offered.
Letting go is something you receive. Acceptance is a gift. There is much beauty in acceptance and letting go.
Acceptance and surrender seem to go hand in hand as well. Surrender is another way of letting go. They are attitudes that open doors to a new way of living. Acceptance and surrender are often looked upon as a kind of hopeless giving in or a weakness of character. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Acceptance is simply admitting that there are things you cannot change. It’s surrendering the idea of thinking you can.
Surrendering is letting go of the idea that by shear will-power you can change things that you have no power to change.
The ultimate beauty of acceptance comes in knowing that you are not alone. God is there to help. There are people able to help too. Don’t go it alone.
The beauty of acceptance is there for the taking, or rather, I should say, receiving
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