Acceptance/Letting Go

Some people argue that acceptance is about surrendering to the fait-accompli, about ceasing to persevere or to be resilient. Conversely, acceptance is letting go of what we cannot change and along with it all the negative feelings /   thoughts will also disappear to be replaced by inner peace and contentment.

Even when we are not entirely successful in letting go let us simply observe our own behavior when such situations arise. Letting go of a stressful thought is not permanent as the same thought can come back and the frustration along with it.

In practice, each task becomes a lifestyle issue, a way to live meditatively.

Practice ‘letting go’ of thoughts during the relaxation exercise; apply this where appropriate in daily life by letting go of a condition for unhappiness or fear.  Mental letting go is the first step in alleviating tension and anxiety, and thereby the physical tension which results from it. For example, we might experience considerable stress in trying to maintain a larger mortgage than we can or through on-going thought of servicing it. Unless we are able to let go of the mortgage if need be or the thought itself, in a way we become owned by it. Consider what happens when we ‘hold an opinion’ tightly; we feel threatened or worthless when our opinion is challenged or defeated? But instead can’t opinions be examined in a cooperative fashion without stress and conflict, when it ceases to be ‘my opinion’ and just becomes ‘an opinion’. It seems paradoxical but we gain self - control and equilibrium not by using more force, but by learning to let go.

Good luck and keep practicing.