Shepherd: The kind of weather I like.
Traveler: How do you know it will be the kind of weather you like?
Shepherd: Having found out, sir, I cannot always get what I like,
I have learned always to like what I get. So I am quite sure
we will have the kind of weather I like. -Anthony De Mello
It's taken me a very long time to reach a point of being able to accept almost anything. One day I hope to be able to accept anything, for I know that if I ever reach that point, my life will be much richer and much more enjoyable. I don't want to act like everything is acceptable and let people harm other people just because they're doing so, but I do know that until I accept something, I can't do anything to change it or improve it.
I have learned always to like what I get. So I am quite sure
we will have the kind of weather I like. -Anthony De Mello
It's taken me a very long time to reach a point of being able to accept almost anything. One day I hope to be able to accept anything, for I know that if I ever reach that point, my life will be much richer and much more enjoyable. I don't want to act like everything is acceptable and let people harm other people just because they're doing so, but I do know that until I accept something, I can't do anything to change it or improve it.
Today's weather is what it is. There's nothing that I can do to change it, so why shouldn't I just enjoy it for what it is? If it's too cold for me to go out and do something, I'm very blessed to have a home with heat where I can relax and enjoy the day; if I have to go out, I'm blessed to have a coat and scarf and gloves and other clothes to keep me warm while I'm outside--so I can not just enjoy the cold day, but actually like it for what it is.
I get a lot of students every year, and not all of them are all that easy to deal with. Some of them actually make my life a bit difficult at times, but there's really nothing I can do about that except continue to be myself and to do my best to help them to learn, as they are. And while they don't make my life any easier, they do test me--they test my patience, my skills, and my ability to deal with adversity. In that way, they help me to grow as a person, so even if there are some negative aspects to my relationship to them, I can still like them. And when I factor in my knowledge of some of the adversity that they've faced in their lives that has caused them to develop into problematic young people, it's hard not to like them, because at least they're still in school, and still trying.
If I were to get to know you, would you like me to accept you as you are, or to find you lacking in some areas and try to change you to fit my ideas of what you should be like? I think we both know the answer to that question, so we have to ask ourselves whether we're accepting of other things and people as they are, or do we judge and wish things were different? Sometimes we think something or someone should change and we don't take things just the way we are; when we do this, we become less than tolerant, less than loving, less than accepting. Just because we think something should change doesn't mean that it should, no matter what our egos may tell us about how right we are.
If I like you as you are, I can relax and enjoy your company. If I like the weather, I can relax and enjoy the weather. There's no need to complain about it, no need to wish it were something different. With this kind of acceptance in our lives, we can eliminate tons of dissatisfaction from our daily experiences, and we can add a whole lot of love and encouragement and compassion. All it takes is a shift in perspective, as the shepherd above demonstrates. What kinds of things might we actually learn to like, if we were to stop complaining about them and start accepting and even liking them?
I get a lot of students every year, and not all of them are all that easy to deal with. Some of them actually make my life a bit difficult at times, but there's really nothing I can do about that except continue to be myself and to do my best to help them to learn, as they are. And while they don't make my life any easier, they do test me--they test my patience, my skills, and my ability to deal with adversity. In that way, they help me to grow as a person, so even if there are some negative aspects to my relationship to them, I can still like them. And when I factor in my knowledge of some of the adversity that they've faced in their lives that has caused them to develop into problematic young people, it's hard not to like them, because at least they're still in school, and still trying.
If I were to get to know you, would you like me to accept you as you are, or to find you lacking in some areas and try to change you to fit my ideas of what you should be like? I think we both know the answer to that question, so we have to ask ourselves whether we're accepting of other things and people as they are, or do we judge and wish things were different? Sometimes we think something or someone should change and we don't take things just the way we are; when we do this, we become less than tolerant, less than loving, less than accepting. Just because we think something should change doesn't mean that it should, no matter what our egos may tell us about how right we are.
If I like you as you are, I can relax and enjoy your company. If I like the weather, I can relax and enjoy the weather. There's no need to complain about it, no need to wish it were something different. With this kind of acceptance in our lives, we can eliminate tons of dissatisfaction from our daily experiences, and we can add a whole lot of love and encouragement and compassion. All it takes is a shift in perspective, as the shepherd above demonstrates. What kinds of things might we actually learn to like, if we were to stop complaining about them and start accepting and even liking them?
http://livinglifefully.com/acceptance2.htm
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