Acceptance

 

Those of us who tend to be somewhat driven in life find acceptance challenging. If something isn't working, there's always the possibility of trying something new, improving the situation, or scrapping the draft and rewriting the story. Acceptance on that level sounds like defeat. It sounds an awful lot like giving up--embracing failure.

The dictionary actually defines acceptance as "the action of consenting to receive, or undertake something offered." There's a lot packed in that statement. It is a choice to accept reality as it is through receiving what the present moment offers. A refusal to accept often comes with it an interior rebellion against reality. We want things to be different from what they are.

The serenity prayer puts this in perspective: "O God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." When we know that we have done all we can, acceptance does not mean we are giving up the fight nor a surrender in battle, but rather it is an inner strength--a calmness of soul--that chooses to remain at peace in the midst of whatever is going on around us.

Acceptance is embracing the Cross, in whatever way it comes, out of charity. For souls who are "driven" the answer is pouring your efforts into cultivating that inner strength, directing that zeal toward the right things, and letting nothing stop you from going to Our Lord.

In the end, the obstacle to your acceptance may just be a bubble floating in the air that you have the choice to pop . . . or let it float away into the clouds. They were only self-contained pockets of soap anyway . . .