What is the Secret to Acceptance?

When we realize we are confronted with something we can’t control or change, most of us have the wisdom to know that it may be best to accept it, instead of fighting it or feeling frustrated by it. But acceptance is often easier said than done.

So why is acceptance so hard? What’s the secret to to aceptance?

What’s hard about acceptance is that we may be confused about what we are accepting. We think we have trouble accepting reality, but what we actually have trouble accepting is an idea. It’s the idea that we find difficult to accept, not reality.

Acceptance is about what is true in this moment, the reality of this moment. If it’s warm and sunny, that is the truth in this moment. Can we accept this truth? If it’s cold and rainy, that is the truth in this moment. Can we accept this truth? We may have some likes or dislikes about the truth of this moment, but we actually all have the capacity to accept it.

What we actually have trouble accepting is an idea. It might be the idea that it will rain forever, that we will be depressed forever, that we will always have pain, or that someone will never love us. What those ideas all have in common is that they are predictions about the future, as opposed to the truth of this moment.

If we really think about it, ideas and concepts don’t require acceptance or lend themselves to acceptance. Ideas and concepts might lend themselves to debate, and we can either agree or disagree with them.

Trying to accept an idea/prediction is like trying to put a round peg into a square hole. An idea/prediction is something you can believe or disbelieve, agree with or disagree with, but not something you can (or have to) accept.

Instead, take a look at the truth of this moment. What are you experiencing? Can you accept this experience? If we can’t, then we resist this experience and fight it, which may create more suffering. Whether we accept it or not, the truth of this moment is what it is.

Can we accept the truth of this moment? That’s all it is. We don’t have to accept some prediction about the future. There’s nothing to accept about a prediction, because it’s just an idea.