As I begin today I am struck by my lack of acceptance of the world around me and yet I expect others to accept me exactly the way that I am.  I find that my peace and serenity is directly proportional to the amount of acceptance I have of the people, places and circumstances in my life.

I have long known that I am powerless over things outside of me, anyone who has ever had a teenager knows this, and yet I still refuse to accept those things.  I realize that knowledge is a start but really I need to move to accept my powerlessness.  So what does this look like for me?

I think first and foremost it means I need to stop living in a fantasy of what I long for things to be or think things should be.  It is time that I live in the reality of what it is.  Do I long for my spouse to be more empathetic, or my neighbor to care about their dog barking, or traffic to be lighter, or the grocery store to be less crowded?  What about my marriage, do I long for the deep conversations I can have with my girlfriends? Or my home, to have less things that need fixing? Or my children, to make better choices? Or my family, to care about the things that are important to me? 

Ultimately, my struggle with these things is my unwillingness to accept the reality of things exactly the way they are.  Once I am willing to accept the reality of the truth, there is freedom and suddenly I can make choices that I never saw before. I can then enjoy things and my time with people so much more.

Accepting the reality of everything in my life means I can choose to make changes as I see fit.  With others, I may need to set boundaries; with everything else I may need to make changes like choosing to move, or go to a different store, or change jobs or maybe I just need to enjoy my life exactly as it is.

Practice for today

Today I will acknowledge that my unwillingness to accept reality has created lots of turmoil and grief within me. I will practice accepting everything, including me, exactly as it is and then let go and let God!

John 8:32   and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free