I choose everything
What do you think of when you hear the word ‘acceptance’? If we can’t undo or change something, we need to learn how to accept it, rather than living in the ‘what-if’ and the ‘if-only’; all this serves to do is freeze and frustrate us and stop us from taking positive and meaningful action. Acceptance doesn’t mean resignation, and it doesn’t signify giving up. It means understanding that this life has a rhythm, a heartbeat; space for both the beautiful and ugly, both pain and joy. I like the way St. Therese of Lisieux puts it: “I choose everything.”
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
I choose this life. I choose everything.
– Written by Natalie Snodgrass Tan, Quiet Space Ltd
This week I’ve been thinking about the power of silence. Like light and dark, or sleep and being awake, or pain – the importance of the spaces between the noise is that they are sound’s necessary counterfoil, teaching us to understand and value the rhythms of life and its absences and presences. In coaching, silence is hugely important – it is in that quiet space that the heavy lifting happens.
Mindfulness helps us learn that experience is as important as knowledge. Last Thursday I took most of the day off and was lying on the decking in the back garden, eyes closed, soaking in the beginning of a beautiful week. Birdsong, the kiss of the sun, the alternate ripple and roar of traffic in the background. Focusing on breathing and being aware of the things around me that I don’t usually notice. All too often we are caught up in doing and thinking, and we forget how to just be.
The power of visualisation and deciding to be positive. I received lovely feedback from some clients a couple of weeks ago who said that they found me very energising to be around! I do find that positive energy is infectious – not just for those around you but for yourself. It is possible to decide to be happy. There are lots of things we can’t control, but we are certainly in control of how we choose to react and relate to the world. Decide to be positive, and you start to attract positivity.