.
ACCEPTANCE is one of the most powerful tools that you can have in your psychological welfare arsenal.
I discovered this many years ago and I regularly use phrases like ‘it is as it is’ or the infamous teenage phrase of ‘whatever’ much to the chagrin of my family and friends.
The Irish love to complain about the weather, but at the end of the day, complaining about the weather isn’t going to change the weather so one would be much better off accepting the weather as it is and investing in a decent raincoat and going out and enjoying oneself.
The song ‘Singing in the rain’ by Gene Kelly is a metaphor for accepting the situation as it is and enjoying the moment.
One must ask ‘why does acceptance work?’
To answer this, one must investigate the whole area of stress. Many people talk about stress or treat stress on a daily basis.
In fact there are billions of euros being spent on or lost to the economy around the world in the whole area of dealing with stress.
This is a problem in itself! Most people, if you asked them to define stress, would be unable to do so.
Again ‘What is stress?’ The best definition I have ever heard of stress from a ‘working’ point of view is Stress is ‘being Here and trying to be There’.
If that is true then surely the opposite is true. The secret to a stress-free life is being Here and not trying to be There.
It all comes back to living in the ‘NOW’. Acceptance of a situation is the one tool that will always render us in the ‘Now’.
It is easy to accept a situation when it is pleasant but may not be so easy if the situation is difficult. However it is in acceptance of a difficult situation that we come to realise the real power and benefit of acceptance.
Without doubt acceptance is always the better choice over the only other choice which is ‘non acceptance’. Non-acceptance of a situation will inevitably lead to some form of stress as we are ‘Being here and trying to be there’ as explained above.
At the end of the day there are three ways we should best react to any given situation;
1. Accept the situation as it is.
2. Change the situation (in other words take action and so something about it)
3. Accept that we are unable to change the situation (Note we always retain the power to change how we Think about the situation i.e How we React!)
Non Acceptance is never really a good option as it can result in much pain, stress and confusion for both an individual and a country.
Many great leaders have used the Power of Acceptance to great effect. Nelson Mandela brought about the Freedom of South Africa from the terrible regime of apartheid and he achieved it by accepting his situation in a prison cell.
Ghandi achieved the freedom of India by accepting that ‘non- violent’ means was the best way forward for India.
Jesus Christ used the symbol of ‘Acceptance of The Cross’ to spread the message of eternal love and to save the souls of mankind.
He died and gave His life without hesitation to teach this message. Millions of Christians around the world celebrate this message every Easter.
