Over few months my philosophy about life evolves; I’m constantly discovering new and better ways of doing things. Sometimes this comes in the form of a forehead smack in combo with the words, “Doh!” Other times, I read a book, see a video, or just have a wonderful conversation with a stranger where I gain some new insight into a better way of living.
Media & Marketing Creating Needs
A few months ago I began pondering the concept of acceptance in terms of accepting our current condition. I think in American culture we are encourage NOT to accept our current condition. There are whole bookshelves devoted to the “Self Help” category and it seems every other television talk show is devoted to the them. Those graduating with a marketing degree will attest that the fundamental rule of marketing is creating a cost-effective way to fill a target market customer’s need with a product or service. And, in recent years, sometimes marketing spends big bucks convincing you that you actually NEED something which previously you had not even thought about. They are now creating NEED among us.
So where does that leave us? Our society is driving us to feel our lives, in this moment, are not acceptable and that we need to change. This is the polar opposite of acceptance. My realization recently followed the logic described above in this article and perhaps much of our unhappiness is based on lack of acceptance by society as well as the feeling we cannot accept our current situation.
Accepting the Past
I do believe that if we accept the past that our lives will be happier; Living with daily regret for situations in your past can lead to major depression and suffering. If you can accept and let go of the past, it will allow you to live in the current moment. I believe this is a major principle in reducing stress and increasing happiness.
Accepting the Situation Now in this Moment
I feel there are many benefits to accepting our current situation and perhaps going one step further in making an active effort to seek and find elements of our current lives in which we are grateful. I now feel there is a lot of joy to be found in putting forth effort to identify wonderful things happening right now at this very moment in our lives. This has been a big change for me to put forth active effort in the current moment to be aware (or mindful) of great and wonderful things around me. In many ways, I’ve been a bit surprised and overjoyed by how many nice things are happening in my life at this exact moment.
Are There Situations Where It Is Healthy to be Un-accepting?
The area where it becomes unclear to me is in regards to social or political situations which are destructive to lives and society. If you see a child being beaten, do you stand by and accept the situation, or do you step in? If a group of society is being discriminated against for racial, gender or other reasons, do you stand by an let it happen, or try to actively change society and others? These are areas I’m still thinking about and searching for answers and solutions. I welcome comments on this post as I’m still exploring the concept of acceptance. Thoughts?
