Acceptance and resistance

What you resist persists. How much of your life is acceptance and how much is resistance? I find that I am often resisting without realising it and exhausting myself in the process.

Imagine being on a boat on a lake and there is no wind at all. You keep blowing on the sails but it doesn’t get you anywhere. You just won’t accept the fact that there is now wind. After a while you have to just sit back down and wait. The wise person accepts that there is no wind and focuses on other things – things they can control in the meantime. Sure enough, after a few hours or so, the wind picks up and the boat gets moved along naturally.

Life is a lot like the story above. We resist what we cannot change instead of accepting. Acceptance doesn’t mean giving up but it means knowing  where to focus our energy and effort. We resist the behaviour of others, trying to manipulate them or persuade them. Sometimes, accepting the other person as they are and focusing more on ourselves and how we react to them is where our power lies. Acceptance that we cannot control others but we can control our reactions and attitudes is a great way to move forward with acceptance and reduce resistance.

Think of areas in your life that you resist – areas where you have no control. Give that up. It will exhaust you and won’t achieve anything. This is something I have learned over the years and I am still a work in progress but acceptance has taken a lot of pressure off and led me to feeling a lot more peaceful.

Mandy X

Author: Mandy Kloppers

Mandy is a qualified therapist who treats depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, trauma, and many other types of mental health issues. She provides online therapy around the world for those needing support and also provides relationship counselling.