“My happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance, and in inverse proportion to my expectations.” Michael J. Fox
Like a new value in life, acceptance has crept into the very heart of almost everything I do. Michael J. Fox nailed it when he put acceptance and expectations in juxtaposition. Acceptance is the willingness to acknowledge each and every situation as it is—good and bad, resulting in an overwhelming sense of peace. While expectations are things hoped for, often with little legitimate justification for that expectation. And when they do not occur the disappointment and/or anger disrupts our entire sense of well being.
I only discovered the enormous value of genuine acceptance a little more than one year ago. I was 68. Let’s hope you can find it sooner.
CHOOSE to be Accepting
My wife and I were on our annual retreat in which we ponder questions regarding “what kind of husband/wife was I,” “did we live the year according to our values,” “what kind of parents were we,” and others in the same vein. December 2018 proved to be my awakening to the value of acceptance when I made a choice to accept my wife for all that she is and not for what I expect her to be.
This was not a very difficult decision because Pam is an extraordinary woman and wife. Still, there are a few things I might wish she would do my way or a different way. For some reason, only God knows, I made a decision to accept her and her behaviors just as they are, allowing her the freedom to be as she is. For some lucky reason she agreed to do the very same thing.
Our marriage was reinvented. We went from very good to great. Arguments almost totally ceased. We grew to appreciate each other’s uniqueness’s. And most importantly we, for some reason, quit judging each other for the common ordinary daily activities. Life has become so pleasant.
Roll with It
Yours can be the same if you discover the peace of acceptance. “Roll with it,” Go with the flow,” are two expressions that hold more validity than we most often give them credit for. If we accept, and deal with, the cards we are given then life doesn’t seem so challenging anymore. It just is, what it is.
Therein is the difference between acceptance and expectations. Acceptance leads to peace and expectations often to disillusions.
Accept: Find Peace
Expect a Change: Discover Disillusion
Photo courtesy of phototechno at istockphoto
