Acceptance, Appreciation, and Agape

Acceptance, Appreciation, and Agape

Acceptance, as a state of mind, is emotionally neutral. What is simply is. What has been has been. What will be will be. When we are caught up with fighting with what is, has been, or will be because we have judged it as bad, we don’t like it, or it is not what we wanted or expected, acceptance is a welcome refuge. Many people think that acceptance is giving up or it means that things will always be that way. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Acceptance frees things to change, while resistance holds them in place – what you resist will persist!

We can never move on to appreciation for all that shows up in our lives until we have attained the neutral state of acceptance. Appreciation begins to weave the web of mystery around the events of our lives. Curiosity is a nice way to move from acceptance to appreciation. Asking, “So now that I can accept what is, what is it doing in my life? Why did it show up for me? What is its message?” As we begin to question the purpose of what is (or has been or will be), the energy begins to move again and there is an excitement generated for the journey. There is also an assumption that whatever shows up has a purpose and, in a general sense, the purpose is to increase our awareness and consciousness. That is something to appreciate – that the universe is always helping us grow past our stuck places!

Once we can appreciate what shows up in our lives, we become aware of the love that permeates everything. It is the glue that holds the universe together and we are surrounded by love coming from everything. Our hearts and souls then open to feel that love in return for everything. Agape is the love we have for not just the things that are comfortable but especially for the uncomfortable things that cast us out of the closed “safe” places that our consciousness tends to hold onto, moving us into a more expanded awareness.

Before we reach the state of acceptance, our life force energy is funding what we do not want and keeping us stuck. Acceptance frees the energy to move in a new direction. As we move from acceptance to appreciation, the energy begins to fund our conscious evolution. When we reach agape, true healing is possible.