The attitude of acceptance requires some honesty.
So come into a safe space now to practice it.
Relax your shoulders and begin to direct your breath into your belly.
Anchor your attention in the present moment with the sensations of the breath.
Feel your stomach rising and falling.
Breathing right into your foundation and core,
Grounding yourself in presence.
Focus on direct experience with your senses without going into thought about it.
Just see if you can accept this moment just as it is and accept yourself just as you are right now.
Take a moment to find courage and some commitment to this practice.
And just continue to breathe and be.
Accepting what's real allows you to dive deeply into what's true about your life and about yourself.
And when you know exactly where you are and who you are,
You can be realistic about making change or moving on.
When you're travelling,
You need to know exactly where you are on the map before you can work out where to go next.
If you wander blindly with your attention on an idea of a destination,
You'll remain lost.
Who you are or your state of being is reflected through your whole life.
As the Dalai Lama once said,
We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.
And we make peace with ourselves through acceptance of who we are and where we are right now.
So continue to create safety by holding yourself in your own loving awareness now.
Have compassion for yourself.
And in presence,
You can begin to practice accepting what is here.
You can let go of how things should be or would be and be aware of what is real right now.
Check in with yourself.
What's alive for you right now?
What's the energy of the moment?
There may be a feeling of not wanting to do this or wanting to do something else.
You may be distracted or critical or tired or relaxed and peaceful.
Just accept whatever state you're in and be here in your own imperfection.
Breathe and be with yourself,
Just as you are,
And get the full picture.
Accept when your mind wanders and takes you out of the now.
Your thoughts may be noisy and that's okay.
You might lose concentration completely.
Just accept that that's what minds do.
Breathe and be present with your body.
What sensations are alive in your body right now?
Do a quick scan and sense the aliveness.
Any comfort or discomfort?
Any tingling or energy?
Can you accept your body as it is?
Be aware of your shape and your size.
Can you accept what's physically here?
The reality of the experience of your body right now?
Can you accept discomfort or even pain if there is any?
The first step to dealing with pain is acceptance of it.
Notice any resistance to the idea of accepting these things and allow yourself to accept that you feel that way.
Can you accept your feeling and emotion as it is now?
Notice where you feel emotion in your body,
In your physicality.
Let that feeling be there.
Just sit with that.
Can you accept emotion without pushing it away?
Just breathe and be present with the thoughts that come up in response to those emotions.
Be aware of them.
Allow your response to them.
Accept any judgment.
It's all okay.
If you accept your emotions,
You can process them rather than acting out or ignoring them.
Acceptance allows you to act with wisdom.
So just be real about your emotions and listen to them without judgment.
And again breathe and be.
And as you do,
Can you get an awareness of your story as it is now?
Just a general sense of your situation.
This is just what's happening in the reality of now.
Can you accept your current situation?
You don't have to like it,
Just accept it as it is.
Acceptance isn't about being passive or giving up,
It's a very active practice.
Acceptance is something you can choose.
Once you accept things simply are as they are,
Then you can apply wisdom.
Try to welcome whatever is here,
Which can be hard when you're suffering,
But it's the doorway to freedom.
Non-acceptance can keep you stuck.
Acceptance is about surrendering to how things really are and not your interpretation of it.
Can you work with reality as it happens?
When you argue with how things actually are,
You suffer.
Are you able to accept what you can't change?
Be aware of yourself resting here.
Accept yourself as you are.
The things you like and those you don't like.
Can you accept your abilities?
Can you accept your flaws and your mistakes without judgment?
Can you accept what you're clinging to,
What you're insisting on?
Can you accept what you don't know?
Can you admit when you might be wrong or when you've made mistakes?
Can you accept what's good about yourself,
What excites you and lights you up,
Without ignoring them or pushing them away?
Be real about yourself and that acceptance can be very healing.
Can you accept others as they are?
The only way to love people is to let them be free to be themselves.
Can you accept the people in your life just as they are?
Can you let someone go or let them be,
Even if it's painful?
Can you accept your desire to change them?
Do you force,
Manipulate,
Push and demand?
Can you accept that you do that?
Do you expect others to change or understand your point of view?
Can you accept that someone doesn't agree with you or doesn't understand you and leave it at that?
As you accept people just as they are,
They become more acceptable.
Can you accept that something is over or gone and allowing it to be gone means you have to accept the pain?
Acceptance of a situation is usually associated with the acceptance of a difficult emotion or pain.
Learning to accept what is most difficult is hard to practice.
There may be hurts or anger you can't imagine letting go of.
But if you can learn what it means to be accepting,
To let things go and move forward,
You can find peace.
And this is one of the greatest gifts that you can give yourself.
So just be with these ideas for a little while longer and remain in the safety of your own heart and in your own loving awareness.
And see if you can make acceptance into one of your personal attitudes in the coming days.
