Acceptance is the first step.

One of my friends often says, “Acceptance is the answer to all of my problems.” She is good at practicing acceptance. At seeing the opportunity, the silver lining, in what might be interpreted as the hard stuff in life. In meditation, we practice opening, softening and relaxing enough to allow all that arises. We practice this so that we can embrace reality in our moment to moment living. To let go of resistance so that we can flow WITH life instead of against it.

So how can you practice acceptance in the face of chaos, destruction and horror? How can you accept the unacceptable?

You start by allowing your feelings. You sit with the emotions of anger, grief and fear and let them take up space in your being. You let them tell you something about your own truth, your own values, your own inner voice. This is powerful. To know who you are and what you believe. To know that no one outside of you can change that. And to know that you are strong enough to hold it all in your own being.

You also accept the unacceptable by knowing that the only constant in life is change. You become stable enough in your being to allow change to happen without judgement. Recently I played an Alan Watts recording of The Story of the Chinese Farmer to my 15 year old son. If you don’t know it, look it up. It is exciting to think about what new possibilities are being created, dreamed up and initiated right now in the face of all that is unraveling.

It’s courageous to accept the unacceptable. To allow yourself to be the sovereign being that you are. To not give your power away at any cost. To know what you stand for and what you are willing to create in your own life. To dream of the world you want to live in and start living it now. Acceptance is the first step in allowing the movement of life to transform you, to free yourself to truly BE yourself. To unlock the creative energy that can change the world.