This morning I am reading about acceptance. Did you know that acceptance is not the opposite of rejection? APPROVAL is the opposite of rejection. Acceptance does not have the value judgment implied by rejection and approval; it is simply... acceptance. What is, is. What is not, is not. Or, as the bumper sticker I once thought of designing says: Life's not what it's not; it is what it is.I'm thinking the opposite of acceptance may be resistance; a reluctance to accept what is, and what isn't. A pushing away, a tightening, a bracing.
"Acceptance," Brown says, in Soul Without Shame, "is the heart opening and welcoming what you are. To the freshness and immediacy of awareness, it adds the qualities of intimacy and flow -- a sense of release and the feeling of being washed clean of holding patterns, tensions, and resistances to what you are at this moment. It permeates you with a cool, gentle freshness, soothing the familiar internal agitation of your inner activity."
Doesn't that just sound delicious?
Today my job is to notice when resistance arises, and to see if I can transform it into acceptance.
Won't you join me? It feels like -- come, let's all go for a swim!
(PS: This image is the pattern thrown on the ceiling by our dining room lights with some color alterations; I happened to notice it while thinking about acceptance.)
4 comments:
You're on. I'm in.
After today perhaps acceptance will bring me closer to gratitude.
Isn't it something that a person can write a book such as "Soul Without Shame"? The passages you share are always just right.
"Resistance" carries the sense of preventing from happening, so I think it's a good choice.
Interesting image; it evokes the texture of sand.
Acceptance. So powerful and so elusive at times. Sometimes for me, to avoid accepting what is, I deny what it is by focusing on what isn't.
Great post! Love the photo.
Incredible image! And I love the distinction between acceptance and approval. Now I just have to decide which one I *really* want. ;-)
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