Welcome,
And I hope that each one of you will come to find peace within yourself.
Today,
I'm gonna talk about acceptance.
And this meditation is based on a recent live session.
Acceptance isn't passive at all.
It's an active,
Steadying gesture.
The moment you stop fighting reality.
Long enough to actually see it.
Not a proof of it.
Not like it!
Not surrender to it.
Just see it without distortion.
I've accepted that I won't ever be famous.
I've accepted that I won't ever be rich.
And I've accepted that in less than a hundred years,
No one will remember me.
Which makes it a logical conclusion that the only thing that really does matter is what I do right now.
The things I do,
The things I say.
The kindness I offer,
The love I give,
Those are the things that matter.
The children I can guide,
The people I can teach,
The times when I can set an example for others.
Those are the only things that matter.
I'm an expert in acceptance,
But I haven't always been.
When I was 29 years old and had my first two strokes,
I did not want to accept it.
In fact,
I had my second stroke lifting my car out of the snow because I didn't accept it.
And then I had my worst stroke.
The third one.
The year I was 30.
And my body finally got my attention.
My entire left side was paralyzed.
I didn't have any gag reflex in my throat.
My vision was impacted.
And my main doctor told me later that they thought they would find me in a coma the next day.
Yes,
My body had my attention.
But what really changed after that stroke wasn't just that my body was a wreck.
But it was how I started to look at it.
It was what it was,
And there was nothing I could do to change that.
They told me I would never walk again.
They gave me five years to live with tears in their eyes.
And I couldn't change any of that.
But what I could do.
Was change my attitude.
I could accept what was and work to make my life better.
To give my daughters a father who was present and a part of their lives.
I could live my life the way it was.
I could accept what was and move on.
And that's what acceptance really is.
It's clearly seeing.
It's a shift from saying this shouldn't be happening to saying this is happening.
And that shift alone softens your nervous system.
It's not the same as agreement.
It's simply dropping your internal argument with the moment.
So once I accepted.
.
.
My new state and what was new.
When you stop spending energy resisting reality,
You free up all this energy to respond to it.
And that's what I did.
I did physical therapy three days a week.
I ran my household while my wife worked.
I raised my daughters.
I ran Girl Scout troops.
I went on school field trips and helped out at the school.
And I did all of that while dragging myself around with a cane.
I learned to adapt.
And I accepted.
What I was with all my imperfections.
Close your eyes now and let's get in touch with our breath.
And it doesn't matter if you're sitting,
Standing,
Lying down,
Or kicked back in your favorite recliner.
The only thing that truly matters when you meditate is that you're comfortable and alert.
Now let's start to get in touch with our breath.
We're just breathing in and breathing out.
One breath at a time.
And then the next.
And then the next.
And that is the present moment.
One breath.
One inhale and one exhale.
And we breathe constantly,
But when you meditate,
Notice your breath.
Notice where you feel it.
A cool sensation in your nose as the breath flows in.
Or the movement of your chest and belly as your breath flows in and flows out.
Let's scan our body.
Relax your face,
It's too tense.
Unfurl your brow and unclench your jaw.
Relax your neck.
Relax your shoulders.
These are common places of tension in today's world because we're hunched over phones and tablets and laptops all the time.
Relax your arms and your hands.
Look for any tension in your chest and belly.
And then relax your legs and your feet.
And as you begin to relax,
Let's focus even more on our breath.
Our breath is our anchor.
It's there for us in all moments.
When we're happy,
When we're sad,
When we're denying and we're accepting.
Our breath is like a river as it flows in and flows out.
Just notice the movement of your chest and let your breath become deeper and slower.
If you have thoughts,
Just let them go.
They're like waves on a lake,
Or leaves going downstream on a river.
The same goes if you hear sounds in the room.
We're just sitting here breathing.
Relaxing.
Getting in touch with our breath.
Here I want to introduce a metaphor about acceptance as the river and the swimmer.
Imagine you're standing in a river.
The curd is moving whether you like it or not.
Doesn't ask your permission.
It doesn't slow down because you're tired.
It doesn't speed up because you're ready.
Just move.
Because that's what rivers do.
Most of us meet life like a swimmer fighting the current.
Bracing against what's already happening.
.
.
.
Pushing back against what we can't control.
Exhausting ourselves trying to make the river flow our way.
That's resistance.
And acceptance isn't lying back and letting the river drag you.
It's this.
You stop fighting the current long enough to feel the water as it actually is.
You let your feet feel the riverbed.
You let your breath return.
And from that steadiness,
You choose how to move.
The river hasn't changed.
You have.
And acceptance doesn't change the flow of life.
It changes your relationship to it.
It gives you back the energy you were using to fight the water.
It lets you navigate instead of struggle.
It lets you respond instead of react.
And sometimes acceptance is simply this,
Standing in the river and saying,
This is the water I'm in today.
Not forever.
That is a verdict.
Just as a moment of truth.
Now here I'm going to pause for a minute so that you can just breathe and think about these things and then I'll be back.
Now in your mind's eye,
Imagine you're walking a soft path through tall grass.
The air is warm.
The light is soft and kind.
Ahead,
You hear the steady murmur.
Of a river.
Not rushing.
Not loud,
Just a quiet,
Honest flow.
So you step towards it.
And the river widens into view,
Moving with a rhythm older than your worries,
Older than your thoughts.
The river doesn't hurry.
It doesn't resist.
It simply flows.
Let yourself sit at the riverbank.
Feel the earth beneath you.
Feel the soft breeze brushing your skin.
And let the river become a mirror for your own inner life.
Notice how the river accepts everything that enters it.
A fallen leaf,
A broken branch,
A swirl of mud after a rain.
Nothing is rejected.
Nothing is judged.
Everything is carried.
Transform!
Softened by time and movement.
And as you breathe.
Imagine your thoughts.
Emotions.
And sensations.
Drifting into this river.
Not to get rid of them.
But to let them be held by something spacious and gentle.
And if a feeling arises,
Tightness or sadness or uncertainty,
Let it float on the surface of the water.
Let the river hold it for you.
You don't.
Have to solve anything right now.
You don't have to be different than you are.
You are allowed to simply be here.
And let that settle like a stone.
Gently placed at the river's edge.
Now watch how the river keeps moving.
Even when it meets a rock,
It doesn't fight.
It curves,
It softens,
It swirls,
It widens,
It finds another way.
Acceptance is not giving up.
It's choosing not to exhaust yourself by resisting what already is.
Bring to mind something in your life that feels heavy or unresolved.
Don't analyze it.
Just hold it lightly like a pebble in your palm.
And now imagine placing that pebble into the river.
Watch the ripples expand.
Watch the river take it in.
You don't lose it.
You simply stop carrying it alone.
Let your breath lengthen.
Let your shoulder soften.
Let the river do the holding.
And feel the quiet around you.
Feel the steadiness of the earth beneath you.
And feel the river's presence.
Patient.
Ancient.
Unhurried.
Acceptance is not a moment of perfection.
It's a moment of honesty.
A moment of saying this is where I am and this is enough for now.
Let your breath move like the river,
In and out,
In and out,
Steady and natural and unforced.
And let that truth ripple through your chest,
Your belly,
Your jaw,
Your hands.
Now,
If you're willing,
I'd like you to repeat the following positive affirmations,
Either silently or out loud,
And I'll say each one twice.
I allow myself to feel what I feel.
I allow myself to feel what I feel.
I trust myself to meet life as it comes.
I trust myself to meet life as it comes.
And last one,
I am enough in this moment.
I am enough in this moment.
Now take one more look at the river.
And know that you can return here anytime.
To lay something down.
To breathe.
To remember your own softness.
Now begin to feel your body again,
The weight of your legs,
The rise and fall of your breath.
And the room around you.
And when you're ready,
Open your eyes and come back into the room.
Wiggle your fingers and toes and stretch and feel how good it is to be alive in this moment,
Just as you are.
Carry the river with you.
It's always here for you to return to.
I hope this has been a beneficial and calming session for each and every one of you.
We can learn everything from the river.
Till next time.
