Acceptance

6 February 2014 Acceptance - coming straight after surrender, how interesting. And appearing in the Serenity Prayer that I quoted recently:   “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.” Acceptance - this also brings to mind all the things I've had to accept as I have gone through life. As the years go by and I have more memories, more knowledge (and more things that I cannot quite recall too); as time passes I have had times of falling into that trap of regrets. Regretting that I can't do the things I used to perhaps, or that there are some dreams that may never come true. Worrying about physical changes and what may come in the future. There's that worry-brain again (do I keep mentioning my great talent for worrying? I rather suspect I do.) Then I read something such as Kathy Kane's newsletter where she writes about:   "A few examples of folks who were comfortable with who they were, their value and what they had to offer: A woman in a suburban NJ town recently celebrated her 100th birthday surrounded by her family and students. Yes, her students. She teaches home economics, runs after school cooking and sewing programs and makes the school play costumes. And, the day after her birthday, she went right back to work. Oh, and she started when she was 81." I love the phrase "..comfortable with who they were, their value and what they had to offer." (There are more examples in Kathy's newsletter). With time everything changes, at any age in life. There are a lot of chances to practice acceptance as these changes occur.  When I can change in positive ways, and maybe start to accept the things I cannot change, then, maybe - I can see how I am learning to think not of 'growing older' but rather of simply 'growing'. And then a step further: remembering, rediscovering, that what I have just called 'growing' is a realisation of my true self. Finding the courage to express that true self, the eternal self that truly does not change, simply becomes more clear, more focused.  Another part of my growing over time has been the opportunity to practice acceptance with other people: to accept them how they are. Not to excuse behaviour, sometimes that has to be challenged, or at the very least moved away from. To accept each person as a companion on our journey, that each of us does the best we can in any moment, however imperfect and messy that 'best' may feel. One of the dictionary definitions of 'Acceptance' is "The act of taking or receiving something offered." Life continually offers opportunities - through the changes that go on around and within in us - to receive with gratitude, to learn and to grow. The deep blue of this card feels to me to represent the depth of the sea or the boundless blue sky on a summer's day: with acceptance I open up potential of new depths and heights to explore; being open to change rather than fearing it I can become more and more my true self and in that way connect with others doing the same. Writing this today has felt like a deep meditation and it feels right to end with: Namaste. Thank you. As always, please feel free to comment below with your thoughts and comments.  If you would like to own a set of cards to explore their power for yourself please visit the dedicated page. Thank you dear friends for visiting with me again this week and sharing my musings. Until next time, with love, Mary *if you have any difficulty accessing the 'blogspot' service, you can also read here on the Daring to Blossom website, or find 'Dare to Blossom Life Coaching' on Facebook.