Sometimes we find it difficult to see the good in people, places, or situations that aren’t to our liking. We focus on the things we don’t like in our lives as a way of fueling our efforts to create change. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, and it is one way we make progress.
However, if we get too caught up in this way of looking at the world, we lose touch with our ability to sit back and simply say yes to everything on our plates, which is the true starting point for all successful activity. Sometimes what we really need is to encourage ourselves to look deeply into all things in our lives to see the inherent goodness at the heart of everything.
At the core of this inquiry is the practice of unconditional acceptance, which can be scary because we feel as if we are being asked not to change the things we don’t like. But when we think this way, we are still operating on the surface of our lives. In order to feel the beauty and warmth of full acceptance, we have to be willing to sink deeper into the stratum underlying the external manifestation of our lives. This deeper place of being is the origin of all lasting change, yet its paradox is that when we are in it, we often don’t feel the need to change anything. From this place, we experience the pure beauty of the process of being alive, and we see that all things change in their own time. We don’t need to force anything. If there are things that we do need to change, from this place of serenity we create the shift easily, our hands guided by an energy that resides at the very center of our hearts.
In our active, goal-oriented culture, we learn to distrust stillness and to engage in busywork on the surface of life. This tendency can blind us to the good that lies at the heart of all things. But all we have to do to see again is stop for a moment, let go of our preconceptions and our agendas, and settle into the very center of our hearts, remembering that it is only from here that we can truly see.
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True. It’s not easy to find good in something. We have to be prepared and willing to do so. It’s also something that takes a while, especially if there is something that is holding us back.
You raise some very good points. Since I’ve started to say “yes” to everything on my plate (and I don’t only mean the literal plate, as I never had a problem with that!) I’ve been able to systematically deal with the things at hand rather than look for ways to change them because they were not ideal. Acceptance is key and then, as you said, all things in life become more palatable even “as is”.
Compliments on your content rich site from which I”ve gleaned much motivation.
Abundantly,
Jules
I agree. We can’t ignore the fact that there is something good at all. No matter how bad people are, there are still some part of them that is not tainted with evil and could at least show a little good.