There are many things throughout our life and relationships not as they should be, and certainly not as we might want them to be. And there is wisdom in accepting these realities on their own terms. But acceptance doesn’t mean resignation and we can still live with hope.
For instance, sometimes we find ourselves in relationships with stubborn people. And as much as we might want them to change, we only frustrate ourselves when we keep expecting a tiger to change his stripes.
But accepting this reality doesn’t mean we have to give up on the person or the relationship. We’re simply coming to terms with what’s true today without expecting it to be different than what it is.
And this we can do without adopting a spirit of resignation – of giving up hope and counting all as loss. In short, we don’t have to give into despair believing things will never change.
While we might not be holding our breath as it were, we remain open to the possibility that things can still be different.
This allows us to live with both freedom and hope.
On the one hand, we’re not stuck in the cycle of demanding change while we keep hitting our heads against a brick wall. Acceptance frees us – allowing us to let go of these expectations and live well in the rest of life.
At the same time, hope keeps alive our desire for things to be different – giving us the eyes to see changes and a heart ready to receive if ever such changes occur.
While we’re quick to frustrate ourselves without acceptance, we can miss the good that’s still available when we give into resignation.
Learn to accept things as they are while still living in hope for what they can be.
Photo by Alexander Kirov on Unsplash
