Acceptance is the first step to dealing with any issues we may have in life, whether they be internal emotional, psychological issues or problems in daily life.

Life happens to each of us, all day, every day, and some of what we experience may not be to our liking. Much has been said in the last few decades about positive thinking, focussing on the best in life and not dwelling on the negative and while this may be a useful technique that can yield powerful results it is only a small part of the program. Often this behaviour is nothing more than a way to try and avoid dealing with the  problem because it overwhelms us. True acceptance is a long way from the avoidance attempts we see so much of today.

Whatever bothers us does so because it is not in accord with our needs or expectations. We have resistance to the situation, we try to fight it, deny it or change things without understanding and this causes further resistance. Where there is resistance there is friction and this is what causes us pain.

It is not being suggested that we simply accept things as they are and allow them to be whatever they will be. This is akin to letting our life be dictated by our environment life a leaf on the wind. As conscious, evolved beings we have a certain degree of influence on our reality and it would be silly to give up on that. What is suggested here is that we take a moment to stop our inner struggle and accept that the situation exists in our life and, just for now, be okay with it. In this very moment we most likely cannot do anything to change it.

By choosing to fully accept things as they are in the moment we release the struggle and the stress that results from it. We can stop our fear based reactions, move from the flight, fight or freeze response to a calm, rational state of mind and we will immediately feel better at every level and regain a sense of being in control. More importantly we can then think clearly, see the bigger picture and address the situation from a place of rational or even intuitive perception.

Simply put the act of full and unreserved acceptance can quickly transform our sate of our mind, our body’s stress levels, our perception of reality and our ability to function effectively within it. Unless we choose this simple step in dealing with our problems we will tend to continue in the stress cycle and be forever reacting to life’s trials as crisis to be overcome rather than a challenge to be met, mastered or even milked for it’s opportunities.