Acceptance

As I mentioned last week, I recently re-read A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle.

I first read it four years ago and it really shifted the way I view my everyday life. While re-reading it, I was reminded of how much better my life feels when I live in sync with the principles presented in the book.

 

I also caught onto so many more insights this second time around.

 

One that I don’t think I fully embraced four years ago was his discussion of the “Three Modalities of Awakened Doing”.

To paraphrase (and again, if you haven’t read the book, I can’t recommend it enough!), when we live a life that is centered in the present, we can (at the very least) bring contentment to everything we do.

 

The Three Modalities are acceptance, enjoyment, and enthusiasm.

 

So starting with the first one, how do you bring acceptance into your life?

Especially when it can be the most challenging state of mind, because you must embrace it when times are tough and you want to scream.

Tolle explains how acceptance can make any difficult or unpleasant situation less challenging.

 

Say you have done a huge grocery shopping trip and on the way home there is a surprise rainstorm. It backs up traffic and you’re stuck.

 

You could resist the situation and create a whole story as to why what is happening to you is completely unfair.

You were doing the right thing by going to grocery store after work, instead of coming home and relaxing, like you wanted to. And your reward for this effort? A huge traffic jam.

To make things worse, when you finally get home, you have to run back and forth in the rain carrying all the groceries in because no one else is home to help.

You’re soaked, the groceries are soaked, and now your floor is a mess with dirty wet footprints.

Then, when you have finally unloaded everything you discover that your favorite (and expensive!) ice cream- which you splurged on- has melted.

So you’re pissed. I mean, really pissed.

 

Your story of being wronged has a laundry list that includes: your job for not being more flexible and letting you leave to run errands; your husband for not being there to help to bring the groceries in; and of course, God for making it rain.

Wow, what a grocery trip!

So the question is, did all that resistance to the present moment make the rain stop? Or traffic lighten up? Did it make it so the ice cream didn’t melt?

 

No, of course it didn’t.

 

So, what if you had embraced an attitude of acceptance once you heard the first rain drop on your car?

In fact, say you enjoyed the sound of rain. You remembered that the sound of rain is really calming.

Then, you turned up the heat a little in your car and gave thanks for being nice and warm in that moment.

When you got home and started taking in the groceries, you laughed as you ran like a drowned rat from the car to kitchen.

Sure, the groceries were soaked, but that is just the reality of the situation. To make the chore more enjoyable, you went ahead and turned on music in your kitchen and hummed along as you dried things off. Oh, and you took care of the floor, too.

When you saw the status of the ice cream, you gave a small nod to the Calories Gods and thanked them for sparing you.

 

Same exact situation, completely different outlook.

 

And really, all that changed was accepting what was happening anyway.

When I realize that my resistance doesn’t change what is happening, it only makes it worse. I find that falling into acceptance becomes a lot easier. And my life instantly become more joyful!