Season of Nonviolence - Day 19

Welcome to Day 19 of the Season of Nonviolence – 64 Days of peaceful wisdom honoring the lives and nonviolent principles of Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Cesar Chavez.

Nonviolence begins with learning how to be less violent and more compassionate towards ourselves. We learn by building the courage to speak and act with respect, honor and reverence for our own being.

Eleanor Roosevelt has urged, "You must do the things that you think you cannot do." Practicing these 64 Ways will challenge you to do things that you think you cannot do.

Day 19: ACCEPTANCE

“Resentment, fear, criticism and guilt cause more problems than anything else” says author Louise Hay.  By choosing not to judge myself and see myself as unique, loving, capable and bright, and by  accepting myself just as I am, I will be modeling nonviolence.  Any time I can take down the walls of defense, I open myself up to a nonviolent way of living.

"Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly.  Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end.  What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such." ~ Henry Miller
 
Today:  As I reflect on what is difficult for me to accept - in myself, in other people, and in the state of the world - I'll let go of any resistance or judgment, and allow myself to accept and acknowledge whatever I have been resisting.

Season of Nonviolence – Day 19

Welcome to Day 19 of the Season of Nonviolence – 64 Days of peaceful wisdom honoring the lives and nonviolent principles of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Cesar Chavez.

Nonviolence begins with learning how to be less violent and more compassionate towards ourselves. We learn by building the courage to speak and act with respect, honor and reverence for our own being.

Day 19: ACCEPTANCE

"Life has no other discipline to impose than [we] accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, [or] evil, can become a source of beauty, joy and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such." ~ Henry Miller

The phrase "It is what it is" neatly summarizes the attitude of acceptance. No amount of screaming, kicking, hair pulling or argument can stop the rain, bring back one who has passed on, return us to some vision of the good old days or mend a broken relationship. When we accept the reality of what is, we begin the process of healing and make room for what is to come.

"Resentment, fear, criticism, and guilt cause more problems than anything else," says Louise Hay. Today, choose not to judge yourself (your looks, your capabilities, your expressions). See all the ways you are unique, loving, capable and bright!

Are you fighting against something in your life? Maybe it is an emotional wound that hasn't healed or a recent event or situation. Whatever it is, identify one fact of your life that you have not yet truly accepted. Make time today to seek acceptance in meditation, mindfulness and writing in your journal as you look this reality in the eye.

From A Season of Nonviolence

Friday's Purposeful Question

"...Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now." ~ From Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

What do you have the hardest time accepting?

"Life is an unanswered question, but let's still believe in the dignity and importance of that question." ~ Tennessee Williams

Make it a passionate weekend,

Coach Carolyn