Shawnee Country

At first glance this Virtue may appear to be a process. One must certainly go through a process in order to obtain this Virtue. One may never fully obtain, or completely master this Virtue during the course of a lifetime. Acceptance, like patience often requires momentary surrender by virtue of the need for its application. In the process of recovery, this Virtue precedes Courage and the process of change. How does one know when to accept and when to change? Perhaps more experience with Acceptance will help answer this question.

One must think of Virtues as components which exist in their respective realms, Positive or Negative. These are smaller components which, together, comprise Principles. Principles are states which consist of laws and outcomes. In order to abide in a state of Joy, one must surrender to the Virtues of Acceptance, Diligence, Appreciation, Gratitude, Harmony and more. Because these Virtues exist naturally in the realm of Positive Energy, often meditation on one Virtue will facilitate the appearance of other Virtues as well. Remember, this is not an intellectual exercise. One is not required to “learn” about Joy in order to experience it.

Acceptance is a powerful Virtue. The problem one experiences when attempting to embrace a new Virtue is definition. Often we think we know something about a Virtue because of our association with language. Thus the need for meditation. We think of Acceptance as toleration, acquiesence, Surrender, “giving in”. In reality, Acceptance is the path to change. As revealed in the study of Grief, Acceptance is the final stage prior to recovery or the last stage of Grief. Acceptance diffuses the struggle in our minds to try to “control” a situation, person or circumstance. When we attempt to force change, we generate a large amount of Negative Energy and often give in to Negative Vices and Principles. These reduce our ability to move forward and achieve Success. Think about Grief for example, during this process one is forced to accept highly unpleasant circumstances. The initial, primal response is resistance. The mind cannot comprehend the reality and goes into overload. When one finally arrives at the point of Acceptance, even though the circumstances have not changed, Hope and Peace appear.

When faced with a difficulty, challenge, disappointment or difficult choice, the question to ask is not “What must I do?” Rather, one must surrender to the Virtue Acceptance. The mind rebels at this. This results from Fear and the desire to Control. These Negative Vices attempt to keep the situation in the realm of Negativity. Also, Negative Energy is often generated by the circumstances requiring change or creating diffuculty. As a result, the Negative Energy is working on you and your attempts to conrol the situation only feed it further. Acceptance diffuses this Negative Energy. Any resulting change which takes place will require Wisdom, Diligence, Patience and other Positive Virtues. These Positive Virtues cannot be attained without first entering through the door of Acceptance. The grappling of the mind in order to control a situation is the predictable response which allows Negative Energy to pull us further into its destructive realm.

Acceptance is not passivity or “giving up”. If one is experiencing an injustice, the injustice needs to be stopped. This will require much Courage. Acceptance involves embracing that the situation is actually occuring. Often our minds cannot deal with the cognitive dissonance generated by an event. Cognitive dissonance is the inability to “add up” what is happening with what we believe. A woman trapped in an abusive relationship must get out. The reason she cannot is because she is not accepting every part of her condition and the necessary action she is required to take. She must first accept the reality that this is actually happening. She must also accept that her actions must change. Her thoughts, habit patterns and fears will all work against her as she attempts to do this. This is why Acceptance must enter through the Soul and not the Mind.

In the famous Serenity Prayer, it is no accident that Acceptance comes before Courage. Effective change takes place after acceptance. Negative Energy would argue with this and insist that change comes through force. While it may be true that force will be required to produce change, the Principle in operation at the time of the change will determine the amount of healing or damage that takes place in the process. We may achieve the desired outcome in rage and brutality, but we will leave a wake of destruction which may or may not be redeemable. However, the change produced in Peace and Serenity will bring healing and longevity. Do not make the mistake of viewing Peace, Serenity and Acceptance as weakness. They do not abide in the same realm.

Acceptance