What Does It Mean to Practice Radical Acceptance?

"... when things go back to normal..."

Something I hear a lot. But there is no such thing, nor has there ever been. There is no "going back" in life unless you want to live a life of resistance and suffering - which I know you don't.

In fact I believe that many things about our former life were actually abnormal—its scattered and frenzied pace, its inequalities, and its injustices.

In last week's Sunday Circle meditation, we leaned into the idea of "trusting the shift" - this global shift we are all experiencing together as a collective - in order to move through it with more ease, peace, and positive action.

But how do we do that? The answer...by practicing Radical Acceptance. This is what can help all of us come to terms with and even embrace circumstances we can not change.

The term radical acceptance was coined by the psychologist Marsha Linehan. “Radical acceptance is an act of the total person that allows [acceptance] of 'this moment,' or of this reality' in this moment," as she and her co-authors wrote in a chapter of their book Mindfulness and Acceptance. “It is without discrimination. In other words, one does not choose parts of reality to accept and parts to reject."

However, radical acceptance does not mean giving up. Nor does it mean we don't try to change things. But it does require us to give up the idea that we are in control and instead accept reality as it is. So we must therefore shift our mindset to one of "radical acceptance" in order to create something new. Radical acceptance is radical truth.

I have worked hard to practice this as it applies to my own life, and it has been challenging, yet so rewarding. However it is an on-going practice, one that I encourage all of you to participate in on a regular basis. I have found this to be freeing-accepting what you cannot change enables you to focus on what you can.

We only have, and have only ever had - the present moment. Once we accept that what came before is gone, we can build a better future. The affirmation I offered in the recent meditation is this: "In the midst of chaos, | choose joy, I choose peace, I choose compassion, I choose gratitude, and I choose love."

You are all welcome to my Sunday Circle community Zoom anytime. This is and will always remain simply by donation. Every Sunday there is a different central focus, but it is always based in mindfulness, presence, and breath.

"I am not what happened to me; I am what I choose to become." - C.G. Jung