TOW: The Dark Side of Acceptance

I've been reflecting a lot on my choices, and what sort of choices have been good choices over the last few months, and which choices have been bad. In reference to the principle of make-do-ability, there's a lot of good in the choices I've made. We should make do with what we have, not with what we wish we had.

Yet, in reflecting on the signs in our lives, when something is not working, we often create our own problems by avoiding them or simply enduring them. For example, when a friend takes advatange of us, we think, "Oh, it's ok. I'll be the bigger person in this case." Or if we get a bad grade, or a bad review from someone, we often think, "Oh, it happens. I just need to roll with the punches." And it is this attitude that tends to make our personal problems blow up in our faces, pie in the face style. And like Mom says, eat your food, don't wear it.

Rolling with the punches is one thing. Living with unlivable situations is completely different. The dark side of accepting is accepting the unacceptable. (Like watching The Hills for more than five minutes...it's enough to make most humans go stark raving mad. *Shudder*)

My mom, a wise lady, once had a conversation with me that's stuck with me. We were discussing choices in life, and I spouted the platitude that 'Beggars can't be choosers.' My mom turned to me and looked at my like I was a foreign species of zebra, and said, "Brennan, they can."

And she's right. We all have free will. And we shouldn't accept things that aren't working in our lives and let them bleed and fester. The more they do, the larger the explosion later in life, and the greater the personal detriment. So, look your problems in the face and like Trooper says, "If your life is all messed up, rearrange it." Or be prepared to endure the unendurable.

Good luck with that.