Acceptance and Trust.

Life will always throws challenges at us. That is a given. I believe that if there were no challenges in life (or ups and downs in life), life would become mundane.

As Tony Robbins nicely put it, “Challenges are required for growth".

If life was always smooth sailing, there would be no room for growth in any aspect of our existence. We would become stagnant and not move forward.

One of the keys to overcome a challenge in life (according to my experience and research) is the ability to embrace acceptance.

I dedicated an entire chapter on acceptance in my book. Why? Because I believe that acceptance creates liberation. When I was a Life Coach, I used to ask all my clients to act with acceptance, and then work on improvement.

There is a quote (by Carl Jung) which says “What we resist persists.” To which I have added “What we accept, empowers.”

The next time you are faced with a challenge, or adversity, or are experiencing the downside of advantage, please remind yourself to act with acceptance. Come to terms with the fact that this is happening to you right now. Instead of fighting the circumstances, please use that energy and effort to accept what you are going through.

Come to acceptance with where you are at, and what is happening. If you keep resisting and fighting what is happening, you will miss out on embracing acceptance. My belief is that one cannot fight challenges, one can only overcome them.

This concept of acceptance also applies to self acceptance where one is not facing an external event or a circumstance, but they are facing something which is about them. For example, a person may be a few kg’s heavier than they wish to be.

Self acceptance is a liberating tool to use if you are to experience a passionate and purposeful life. The legendary Bob Proctor, whom I consider to be the godfather of personal development, said “If I am to be free, I have to be me.”
Whether it is self acceptance or acceptance regarding an external circumstance, once you have embraced acceptance, then please focus on improvement.

As author and speaker Graeme Alford said “Accept who you are, and then improve yourself.”

Some people have the tendency to beat themselves up, or blame others, or curse God when things seem to be against their favour.

If they focused the same energy in doing something to improve themselves, or to improve the situation that they are in, do you think that it would be a more productive course of action?

Yes, I agree that sometimes we get emotionally consumed with what is going on, and forget or overlook what we can do about making things better for ourselves. That is why acceptance is the key step here. If we embrace acceptance, we most likely will automatically start looking for things to do in order to improve ourselves or our situation.

Acceptance will also put us in a calmer and more productive mindset. So, please do this very simple exercise whenever you feel that things are not in your favour:

1. Ask “What would it give me if I chose to embrace acceptance?”
2. Ask “What would it give me if I chose to resist what is happening to me?”
3. Ask “Which choice would be more purposeful and productive?”
4. Ask "What can I do right now, to begin to turn things around? What productive action can I take?"

Next, I would like you to focus on trust. Once you have embraced acceptance, please embrace trust (trust in yourself, and trust in life).

I realise that this may sound like a foreign concept to some people – asking them to trust in life. They might ask “Why should I trust in life?”

According to what I have read, heard, and experienced, I can tell you that when we come from a place of trust, and not a place of fear, we are more confident in our abilities, and more confident in the end result (what we are working towards).

Draw upon your life’s experiences, your intelligence, and your intuition to act with trust. The trust that you have in yourself will be reflected in your actions.

I had a Life Coaching client once who was facing a challenge in her personal life. The question that I asked her was “Does the holistic 'you' think and feel that this issue is beyond your abilities to overcome?”

She instantly replied with an astounding “No”!

If you feel that you cannot do it alone, then please do enlist the help of other people. Often family and friends are a great starting point. If you feel that you need the support of someone in a professional capacity, then please get that support as well.

Acceptance and trust may not be the answer to every challenge that you will face in life. However, acceptance and trust are far more encouraging, empowering, and enlightening than resistance and fear ever will be.

Quote: "Two words will help you cope when you run low on hope: accept and trust."
Chuck Swindoll

I sincerely hope that you have gained a simple insight into using acceptance and trust to overcome obstacles in life.

Inspiring you towards your excellence,
Ron Prasad (Author & Speaker)