Acceptance As A Lifeline
By Ken McIsaac
"There is only one way to happiness and that is to
cease worrying about things which are beyond the power
of our will." - Epictetus (55-135)
Sometimes when an enormous problem does not have
a solution, determining exactly what the worse possible
outcome can be, and accepting that it has happened
or will happen, will result in a great release from
anxiety.
"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I
cannot change. The courage to change the things I
can, and the wisdom to know the difference." - A version
of the Serenity Prayer
If it has already happened, what can be learned?
It is the experience of surviving disasters and carrying
on, that makes us wiser and stronger. If it is going
to happen, all the worrying in the world will do nothing
to prevent it. Worrying about something that we cannot
change will only make us feel stressed, nervous, and
sick.
"Things without remedy should be without regard;
what is done is done." - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Could it possibly be that it is not as bad
as you think it is? Next year will you even remember
it? Will anyone else? Will anyone else care? Resignation
is an important ingredient in the formula of life.
It makes an impossible situation acceptable, a major
problem minor. Resignation should be waiting to take
over whenever there is not a way out.
"Endurance is the first thing that a child
ought to learn, and that which he will have the most
need to know." - Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
"If all our misfortunes were laid in one common heap,
whence everyone must take an equal portion, most people
would be content to take their own and depart." -
Socrates (BC)
© 1999-2003. This article is an excerpt from
"32 KEYS: A Collection of Ideas About Life". The online
book summarizes summarizes basic popular self-help
ideas and quotations.
It is free to read online at http://www.32keys.com
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