Acceptance

Acceptance can mean a lot of different things to different people. This is what Wikipedia says, ‘Acceptance in human psychology is a person’s assent to the reality of a situation, recognising a process or condition without attempting to change it or protest it. The concept is close in meaning to acquiescence, derived from the Latin acquiēscere. ‘ So is this what it means to me? There are many things in life that I have had to accept whether I wanted to or not, like losing my home and having family members die. You can’t do much about that and have to accept that it has happened. But there are many other things I find hard to accept and I think this holds me back sometimes.

After an accident while out on my cycle when I was 18, my physical health has slowly deteriorated. I have tried hard to deal with the arthritis and the muscle problems of myofascial pain and continue to do as much as I can. This is despite the pain it causes but as I near the grand old age of 80 I am thinking should I start to accept this deterioration and just enjoy my life as much as I can without the pain. I am one of those people who try to be independent and do everything myself but some things are really beyond me.

Currently I am in the process of moving house to somewhere where help will be available at the pull of a cord. This will give me peace of mind as recently I seem to have a tendency to fall over! However, in the current situation I am having to do all the packing myself and I have hundreds of books and files. Writing and researching family and local history as well as doing various kinds of arts and crafts means you have a lot of things to move. But they tell the story of my life and are important to me so I have to accept that I must do this packing and get on with it.

At this time of the pandemic we are all having to accept restrictions which curtail our daily lives. This is extremely hard for some and less so for others but it takes a mental toll as well as a physical toll and the consequences will be for everyone to accept and deal with including those at the top. But there are many things in life that we should not accept, like abuse of any kind and neglect of our planet. We must fight to save those who are neglected and especially care for our planet.

Dealing with disappointment

I have been working on the words for this blog since Friday and hope that my words will help some of those who are feeling let-down and disappointed after the recent election in the UK. (although this can apply to other situations) First of all, it has happened and it is done and cannot be changed so acceptance is the first thing. Getting angry is no good either as that only hurts you and no-one else. So try to accept what has happened. I have heard some people gloating but that does not say much for them. Gloating over someones else’s misfortune is not good and shows a shallow personality. Ignore these people.

Next sit down and look inside yourself. Have you changed or are you still the same person? Are you still compassionate and caring for those less able, are you still loving your family as before, are you still aware that we are all connected? Whatever our colour or political beliefs we are all members of the human race. We come from the same source and we all have a spark of the divine within us. Find that spark and allow it to help you through the next days and maybe years. There is much for us to do if we are going to eventually get the change that the world needs. We have to care for others, look out for those needing our love and help and most of all we have to look after ourselves. If we are angry and frustrated then we won’t get anything done as we will be trying to do it while in the wrong frame of mind.

I believe there is a larger plan out there and often it takes time for the real plan and the truth to come out. Over the last few years you may have noticed that hidden things are coming to light much quicker than they did in the past. It is harder for those in government and high places to get away with wrongdoing. Have hope that all will be well in the end but we will have to work to get there. Success built on lies will always founder and the truth will come out.

Take heart, care for each other and those less fortunate, speak your truth and stay calm and centred. I send you all love and peace and the blessings of our Mother Earth.

Acceptance

Acceptance can be looked at in many different ways. The simplest way maybe is the acceptance of compliments and small gifts which were unexpected. I always find it hard to accept compliments but that is just me!

Some things are difficult to accept. Such things might be a debilitating illness, a disability or even death of someone close. I know from personal experience how hard these things are to accept. But you have to accept so you can move forwards.

But there is also the acceptance of being part of a group. Acceptance in this case means being accepted by others. This can include work situations as well and sometimes that can be hard too. One of the problems with being accepted by and into a group can be just the fact that you are new to the group and those already in the group have formed close friendships. In these cases it can take a long time to feel that you are accepted by the others.

Another important part of acceptance is accepting others for who they are and not expecting to change them into something else. I am one of those people who try to stay true to myself and if someone doesn’t like what I do or say or how I dress, then I tell them it is their problem not mine. Acceptance of others is important in the world of today. You can’t change other people, you can only change yourself. You can however encourage others to change in good ways so they become better people but they have to do that themselves.

There is a lot more to acceptance than what I have written here. I would love to know how you feel about it.

 

Being happy

So often I hear words said about being happy. I hear people asking others what will make them happy. Will a new gadget make them happy, a new car perhaps or something else. I have also heard people say that they can’t be happy unless their partner is happy too. So what is happiness?

Happiness can be defined as contentedness, satisfaction, delight and joy or even just good spirits. For me there are deeper levels of happiness. You can have what I call the more superficial levels of happiness where you feel happy because of something you did or someone else did and you felt happy at that. Listening to music can make me feel happy too  But there is a deeper level of happiness that resides in me, somewhere deep down in my soul. It is about being contented with who I am and what I do. It is accepting who I truly am and allowing me to be that too. I am happy as I am, I do not want to have more material things as they do not make me happy and so on.

My happiness has a deeper sense of meaning and purpose. I know who I am and what I have to do to keep this level of happiness and I am not likely to let others get in my way or try to change me. Are you happy? What makes you feel happy? Bear in mind that happiness comes from within, no-one else can make you happy. How do you define happiness?

Sometimes tiny things can enhance that happiness like the bunch of flowers given to me the other day quite unexpectedly. But those kind of gifts are not necessary for my happiness. Of course we all have days when we might feel sad or other emotions but if we have that deep seated happiness it will still be there after those days and the bad days are less bad because of this if that makes sense.

The photo here today made me feel much joy inside me and enhanced my happiness.

Acceptance and compromise

Acceptance is something we possibly do not actually think about but just accept things as and when. But acceptance is about accepting things as they are in reality and it is not always an easy thing to do. Acceptance can also be the key to finding happiness. But let us take a look at what kind of things we accept without question. We accept our families and what they do generally, we accept the fact that we have food and clothes and other things which we consider to be essential to our lives. But what happens when something happens that we find hard to accept? This can be when a friend or family member decides they no longer wish to part of that group, or when illness strikes and you do not want to accept that this will change your life.

There is a saying about acceptance –  change what you can change and accept the things you can’t change. So this brings in the idea of compromise. So how do you compromise? In this sense, compromise is about finding ways to learn to live with whatever it is that you cannot accept. Where I am concerned, this has meant that I have had to accept the fact that I can no longer climb or walk in the mountains but that does not stop me from enjoying the natural world via books, films and other means and also enjoying the short trips out into the countryside by car. I have also had to learn how to do things in the home without making the pain worse and this again is a kind of compromise. I get people to help with the things I can’t do easily by myself but I have learned how to adapt to working in the kitchen and preparing food.

But it is very hard to accept some of these things that are happening in my life. Some days it seems easier than on other days but even though my spiritual beliefs as a druid keep me going, I still find some things very difficult. Being an indoor druid is totally different from being one who can go outside whenever they wish and work with the trees. I work with the trees in my memory when I can’t get near to one but when out I do love to give them hugs and appreciate their healing energy. Being housebound, however, has made me appreciate so much more the things I used to be able to do and also appreciate it more now when someone takes me out.

How do you feel about acceptance and compromise and have you ever been in that position where it is really hard?