Are there are parts of your life that have turned out much different than what you imagined they would?
In my own life I’m finding that the teen years are more challenging than I anticipated. Sometimes I feel like I’m riding the emotional rollercoaster right along with my daughter, trying not to get too discouraged by her low moods.
A few weeks ago, I was celebrating my daughter getting her driver’s license and feeling a sense of inner pride for surviving the nerve-racking hours of instruction and successfully teaching her to drive a manual.
Now that school is back in session, it seems the honeymoon phase is over and the difficult reality of sharing two cars between three drivers is setting in.
Recently I’ve been thinking about the concept of radical acceptance which is accepting things without judgement or resistance. This definitely feels like a tension for me to grapple with as I’m all about self-improvement. But maybe this is more about looking at the circumstances that we don’t have control over.
If we can begin to practice accepting challenging situations in life, we may start to notice improvements in our relationships, we may have more resilience in the face of change, and we may be able to avoid unnecessary emotionally suffering.
Here are a few ways to put this into practice:
1. Seek out support through a friend or mentor to share your struggles with.
2. Become more aware of your thoughts. Are you heading down a negative spiral with your thoughts or resisting what is?
3. Ground yourself in the present moment through techniques like body scans, focused breathing, or meditation.
4. Acknowledge your feelings about a certain situation without judgement. This might be anger, disappointment, or sorr
