ACCEPTANCE IN THE WORLD-AT-LARGE –
“Can we accept poverty, sickness, loneliness, and bereavement with courage and serenity? Can we steadfastly content ourselves with the humbler, yet sometimes more durable, satisfactions when the brighter, more glittering achievements are denied us?” (12 & 12, p. 52)
“It’s not the load that breaks you down. It’s the way that you carry it.”
– Lena Horne (1917 – 2010) U.S., entertainer & civil rights activist
What have you accepted and how has that acceptance enriched that situation, lately?
Lena Horne Brief Bio (2:07)
Acceptance of Thoughts & Feelings Mindfulness Meditation (8:47)
Acceptance
by Robert Frost
When the spent sun throws up its rays on cloud
And goes down burning into the gulf below,
No voice in nature is heard to cry aloud
At what has happened. Birds, at least must know
It is the change to darkness in the sky.
Murmuring something quiet in her breast,
One bird begins to close a faded eye;
Or overtaken too far from his nest,
Hurrying low above the grove, some waif
Swoops just in time to his remembered tree.
At most he thinks or twitters softly, ‘Safe!
Now let the night be dark for all of me.
Let the night bee too dark for me to see
Into the future. Let what will be, be.’
I really liked the last quote about how one carries the load. That was very powerful for me, and helped me to reaffirm my power (2).
I have a real tough time carrying loads. But thank God for a spiritual program which
Helps me deal..
I have been carrying this load far too long – and as Sister Lena tells us, it is not the load but how I carry it. I’m stuck here waiting for the revolution – waiting for the miracle. And the trick is I am the revolution – I carry the miracle. I can do untold things if I do not tell myself they are impossible. I can create the revolution in a single act of kindness – a single step past my fear and into love. I have that power – that capacity to choose. I am the revolution. I am the miracle.
I’ve had to accept one of my dear friend’s work schedule which feels like it limited our ability to get together. But with this acceptance the reality of the changes I must make become more apparent.
I’ve had to accept that I can be horribly absent minded, which is usually when I’m multitasking. But I’ve noticed when I’m more present I’m enjoying my task and can get into a sorta zen mode of operation which is highly efficient and gratifying.
I like the phrase… acceptance is the key, i really like that phrase because more often than not, something needs to change in me than in other people, God grant me the serenity to accept the things i cannot change other people situations.. etc
I have been so acculturated into the idea that more is better. The more pieces of green paper I have, the happier I am. And yet, not. We have seen too many celebrities lately who had lots of pieces of green paper and yet they succumbed to addiction or mental health problems. Is it a cop-out to want what I have vs. having what I want? Today, right now, I am dry, warm, and happy. A few more pieces of green paper will not make me happier – only my relationship with my Higher Power can do that.