Why Acceptance Really Is Worth All The Hype
There are moments in life that feel “extra” — extra full, extra joyful, extra challenging. But even when it feels like we’re walking a path covered in extra, we can find comfort in knowing that hidden beneath the chaos is a place of calm, peace and acceptance.
It’s one thing to be tossed around in a tornado of overwhelm, reacting to each gust with intensity and impulsivity. It’s another thing entirely to exist in that very same storm, and work to see the sky from the storm.
To recognize that this moment, this experience is temporary. It’s an acknowledgement that hardship and contentment are two sides of the same coin, and that when we let go of our resistance or clinging, we can embrace each experience on its own, void of judgement or any desire to make things different.
I know this on a deep level, but let’s be honest. It’s a lot harder to internalize than it is to conceptualize. The truth is, I get swept up in the storm a lot! Not as often as I did a decade ago, but I am still human.
Sometimes, when I’m finally able to look up and see the expanse of the sky, I feel a little ashamed. It was there all along! I just needed to lift my gaze. But this too becomes an opportunity. Instead of feeling embarrassed, I smile, and even chuckle. “Yep. You’re still human!” I remind myself.
You see, living a life on purpose doesn’t mean having it all figured out.
It’s not reflected in how tidy a home is, or the sort of friends we keep. It can’t be defined by the books we have on our shelves or the types of vacations we take. It’s an internal process, often undetectable on the surface. But that’s kind of the point.
Choosing to live our lives on purpose is a choice we make for ourselves and no one else need be privy to our process! We, and we alone, get to choose how much (or how little) we share with the world. More importantly we get to decide how our life on purpose looks and feels.
Give yourself some grace.
And so, as you go about your days with the desire to act with purpose, on purpose, remember to also give yourself some grace. You, like me and everyone on this planet, will have moments, sometimes even years, when all we can see is the storm. But trust that the sky is there and that it will never leave you.
Be patient with yourself. Take one step at a time and remember that you’re not on a quest to get to a certain destination or even a pot of gold. Rather, you’ve signed up for a forever-evolving and unfolding of yourself and that, like the sky, has no end or beginning.
