Dear friends,
Welcome to this short period of reflection which today is on the theme of acceptance of change.
First of all let's take a moment to become present,
Take a moment to relax.
It helps at the start of meditation to remind ourselves that we have the gift of this present moment,
Right here and right now.
An opening thought on today's theme.
May I have the resilience to accept change,
Change in myself,
Change in my way of life,
Change in the world around me.
May I call up in myself the adaptability of change.
May I find the patience to pause before reacting badly when change happens.
Especially a change that is not to my liking.
Help me to realize that change will always happen.
This is the way things are.
Change will happen as surely as night follows day.
May I accept that change is not for the best and when it appears not to be for the best and when even my courage does not enable me to fix it.
May I have the serenity to accept change.
Looking around me I'm reminded that everything in nature is in motion.
From the largest galaxies right down to the largest rocks,
Apparently motionless,
Are made up of atoms,
Each of which is in constant motion.
In this world of constant motion how can I expect anything to remain still.
Let's pause for a moment of stillness to reflect on this reality of constant motion.
Naming Welcome back.
Change is something which most of us find difficult at the best of times.
We feel secure when life rolls on without presenting us with surprises.
We coped yesterday and if tomorrow is anything like yesterday we know we can cope tomorrow.
This peaceful rolling on is all very reassuring until something comes along that we don't expect.
Illness,
An accident,
The loss of a job,
A separation or divorce,
Even the loss of a life partner or child.
All these things are hard to manage and coming as they sometimes do,
A number at a time,
We can feel overwhelmed.
This is only normal.
So how can we manage to cope with change,
Especially with life changing events?
The first thing we have to do is accept the fact that change has happened.
Perhaps we don't like it,
In most cases we may not like it,
But there is no benefit in denying the fact that change has happened.
This is the reality that faces us.
So then we must figure out how to live with this new reality,
Disappointment,
Illness,
Bereavement,
Whatever the loss may have been.
This is never easy,
But this acceptance,
However reluctant,
And this figuring out are the means by which we can learn to live with the change that has happened.
In the midst of this shift in our circumstances it is a good idea to try to hold on to those parts of our lives that are unchanged.
Everything changes over time,
But we have comfort in the fact that while we are alive everything does not change for us at the very same time.
Holding on to what we still have and being thankful for the continuity we still have will be a source of comfort when we are confronted with a loss.
This continuity can represent a light in our time of darkness.
Let's try to concentrate on that light,
Focus on all that we have to be thankful for even in a difficult time.
In times of personal loss it's comforting to realise that there is a shoulder we can lean on.
All we have to do is find the courage to ask for help,
Just as we would be happy to be a help to someone in need of support from us.
Some people are energised by change,
But others and maybe the majority of us find any change really difficult.
It is most important to watch out for one another in moments when any of us are faced with some difficult situation of change.
We are social beings,
We need one another.
A world where people look out only for themselves would be a very cold and a very poor world,
Whether it was faced with change or not.
Let's pause for another minute now,
60 seconds,
Before our closing quote.
Riverside.
Welcome back.
A quote from Lao Tzu.
Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes.
Don't resist them.
That only creates sorrow.
Let reality be reality.
Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.
And how could we have a meditation on acceptance of change without including the well-known Serenity Prayer?
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
So may each of us find courage,
Acceptance and serenity to help to ease our way through the ups and downs of life.
And now to conclude.
The Divine in me bows to the Divine in you.
Namaste.
