What Makes You Happy Part 2
Women’s Home Activities is dedicated to sharing our knowledge of methods of positive thinking and striving for continued personal growth. Hopefully the messages we impart will be both uplifting to you and assist you with your own personal growth activities.
In the previous post What Makes You Happy Part 1 we talked about gratitude. Now let us look at another ingredient of happiness.
Acceptance
What do you think when you hear the word acceptance?
Do you think when I accept something then I:
1. Stop trying
2. No longer care about
3. Give up on
The list can go and on.
Acceptance is none of the above. It is a state of mind in which you become at peace with the moment. When your mind is filled with worry, resistance and denial there can be no peace or happiness. When you accept you take away the thoughts of would’ve, could’ve and should’ve.
Let’s look at an example of acceptance. You are driving home from work. For some reason the traffic comes to a stop and as far as you can see there are cars backed up. You know that you are going to be there for awhile. You have a choice to make.
You could:
1. Yell and cuss tell yourself you could have already been home by now. Think of all the things you wanted to do when you got home and how this is messing up your plans.
OR
2. You recognize that you are going to be in this mess for a while and there is nothing you can do about it. You acknowledge your feelings of disappointment that you won’t be able to do all you had planned for today. You tell yourself that you will still do those things but they won’t be all done today. You decide to enjoy the music on the radio, let your mind rest and just relax. In other words, you accept the the events currently happening and allow yourself to know that life still goes on but it doesn’t have to ruin your whole day.
Same situation two different outcomes. Acceptance is like a tool at your disposal. It’s your choice to use it or not.
Gratitude and Acceptance practicing each will help you find what makes you happy.
