360 Degree Health, Part 4: ACCEPTANCE
Photo by Jeremy Lapak
Haven’t read part 3? Go here: Part 3: SECRETS
Oh boy, this is a big one. It feels like a small action, to accept something and move on. But understanding and then accepting the actions you need to take to better your life...that takes a lot of hard work and preparation. And choosing to make those changes is often a big commitment.
Once we reach the choice, we’re at a significant crossroads.
Through exploring the last 3 barriers to 360 Degree Health, we've often touched on the importance of awareness. Once you're aware of what is, you realize your energetic motivation to improve, or lack thereof: in essence, what you're willing to do when moving forward with all that you've learned about yourself.
Acceptance can be a force that propels you toward a change or a halt, depending on which side of the coin you find yourself on.
Stagnant Acceptance: Accepting that you can't change your habits or routines because it's too hard. Maybe current life choices are unhealthy, but you'd rather stick with what is familiar and comfortable. Besides, who knows if any attempts to change will actually make a difference? What if all of that effort leads nowhere? You aren’t ready to make the change yet - maybe it’s fear of commitment, of failure, of shame, of admittance, of the potential emptiness in change, of losing happiness. Whatever the reason, you’re staying put for now.
Photo by Peter Conlan
Active Acceptance: Your new awareness motivates change around the habits that are indeed unhealthy. There’s commitment, and often excitement, to tackle the effort it may take to pull you out of your unhealthy loops. You know that you'll run into barriers you can't anticipate, and learn important lessons that cause you to reevaluate your approach. You're accepting of the challenges you face. They don’t sway your resolve. To you, it's worth it to embrace change to move forward.
To sum it up…The key difference between stagnant and active acceptance seems to be the presence of awareness AND readiness.
If you find yourself in the group experiencing stagnant acceptance, really dig in and ask yourself why. Maybe it seems the bar is too high. Maybe you're overwhelmed by the implications. If that's the case, it's time to return to the drawing board to reevaluate what you truly want from life, or will be willing to accept. Be honest with yourself.
The coolest thing about your “best life” is you get to choose what it looks like. That picture can, and likely will, change as you grow. What you do doesn't have to look like anyone else’s path.
And it’s important to remember, you’re the one who has to live it.
I'm not in the business of sugarcoating. We know at this point that choosing to fight for a high quality life takes some measure of work, patience, creativity, and mental effort. If you can't find any motivation inside of you to change, IT WON'T HAPPEN. This is the point in your journey that you have to honestly accept who you are, what you want, and what you'll do to get there. If you've committed to improving your life, you will. End of story.
So be honest as you approach the crossroads. I hope you find that you’re in a mind of active acceptance, but if you aren’t yet, let's talk about why! It could be there's more digging to do, more secrets to voice. Get more of that good good awareness!
xo
