The Space of Acceptance

I’ve been contemplating “shoulds”, lately.  You know, I should be at this place in my life by now, I should weigh this much, I should be driving that car; I should…blah, blah, blah…

You get it.

It’s such a heavy thought, to yearn for something that isn’t; to judge yourself based on another’s experience; to hold yourself to a standard that doesn’t exist.

In meditation this morning, I worked with the concept of radical acceptance.

What would my authentic space look like if I accepted my life, exactly as it was in this very moment? No judgments. No yearnings.

Acceptance, just as it is.

Yep, radical. Excellent! 

And, it will take persistence for sure. Acceptance isn’t a moment, and then let it go. Every day, every moment will take a changing of thought, for me.

And it doesn’t mean that I’m giving up dreams or becoming a couch potato. The opposite has happened, in fact. The more I accept, the more my life takes on meaning, and the more I want to get off the couch in my mind. 

I don’t want to hold a lazy thought.

Total and complete acceptance opens the mind. You’re not worrying anymore. You are literally waking up and shedding the pounds of thought. 

Life is what it is, and I’d better get on living. 

Part of me letting go of judgments is also me letting go of social media. So many doctors and mental health professionals are talking about how we get more and more depressed the longer we’re on Facebook or Instagram.

We judge ourselves based on other’s posts or on how many likes our post gets. 

I am done with that rubbish. I am done!

What will it be like to sit and contemplate, again? Before smart phones, I remember just sitting and thinking and creating. With a phone always in hand, I’m (we’re) always distracted by technology.

Enough.

Moment-by-moment letting go.

And accepting my life exactly as it is.

What adventure and freedom awaits the mind, liberated?

Call to Action: Can you put your phone down for an hour? A day? 3 days? What changes and grand adventures followed?