In my efforts to maximize the hell out of my happiness I have learned the skill of accepting the present moment as it is.
Acceptance Has Magic In It
When I focus on this moment and give it my full attention, beauty reveals itself to me.
As I walk down the street writing this I am passing by a small garden. The flowers are giving off a beautiful scent. I stopped my writing so that I can engage with the flowers and enjoy their subtle perfume.
Acceptance has a magic in it which allows us to experience beauty and peace in our lives.
Accepting Difficult Moments
In the same sense when difficult things happen in my life and I am able to accept them, they cease to have the same power over me. I see them as part of the process of my evolution and not something happening to me.
Encountering a Master of Acceptance
Still on my walk I just passed by a family pushing their one year old boy in his stroller. He was singing a joyful song that went something like “ba ba ba baba baba.”
This Little Buddha is clearly a master of accepting the present moment. In fact I dare say he probably lives entirely in the present moment. He embodies and embraces it as a natural result of his being. Oh how I long to be that full in every moment.
I Always Want More
The other thing I have learned from babies though, is how quickly they express their discontent.
Quickly and loudly!
While I accept the present moment as it is, I am also entirely dissatisfied with it.
I always want more.
Not just more, I want it all!
I want maximum joy,
maximum peace,
maximum adventure,
and maximum Love.
Keeping a Vision of My Ideal Life
Therefore I hold a vision in my mind of what I want my life to look like. I constantly dream about the joyful adventurous life I want to live.
It’s not that I don’t already live a joyful and adventurous life, it’s just that I want more.
A Fundamental and Necessary Contradiction
It can seem like these two mindsets are contradictory.
To accept the moment as it is,
and to be profoundly unsatisfied with things as they are.
This is where the magic of the YinYang comes in.
The beauty of this symbol is that it shows us we can hold contradictory ideas,
or I should say seemingly contradictory ideas
in our consciousness at the same time.
One Without the Other Leads to Imbalance
If I were to only accept the moment as it is,
but not want more
then I would be stagnating.
This could easily lead to a stale and dry life.
If I were to live in a state of dissatisfaction,
of always wanting more
without accepting the present moment and even being grateful for it,
then I would never find peace.
Harmonious Blending of the Opposites
It is in doing both of these things at the same time that brings the most effective results.
In fact they support each other. The peace I gain from acceptance
allows me to dream the biggest dreams I can.
And the excitement of dreaming
gives me the energy to be still in this moment.
This is why I love the YinYang so.
If I ever got a tattoo it would definitely be a YinYang!
See if you can find both of these attitudes inside yourself
and bring them together in a harmonious dance.
It will have a profound effect upon your life.
