Given the new range of Coronavirus restrictions and news that is now coming through to us and the many restrictions and difficulties placed on our lives that weren’t there before, I thought I would write this post about acceptance.
We have ever-increasing restrictions and rules that govern our lives in these times. For some, these changes have produced a great deal of anxiety and, for others, invoked an excellent resistance to change. As a result, we aren’t able to plan even a few short weeks into the future. With that in mind, it might be an idea to see where on the change curve you are.
Governments and politicians have also struggled to understand how this will affect our economies and tried to shape how our lives are going forward. In the UK, we do not seem to be managing all that well, with many people losing their jobs and governments unwilling to commit to saving them. They should try and save as many jobs as possible – bailing out one industry means you should really bail out another. But, on the other hand, they say that they want things to return to “normal” and that this is the “new normal”.
Offering judgements on things such as x should just simply close is difficult – we will end up paying for that in one way or another. If you close x, the people employed in that industry will have to get funded by the government by some other means, whether through furlough or Universal Credit. It’s a case of choosing the funding mechanism.
Where does this leave us?
“When we are able to find acceptance, the effect is extraordinary: a profound sense of stability within perpetual change, the power of evolving through continuity. Spirit flows like a river, life energy coursing through the generations.”
Living Druidry: Magical Spirituality for the Wild Soul, Emma Restall Orr
In the end, the only thing that is guaranteed is that the rules will continually change. You can live in the current moment even if it’s damned tricky, and you will survive somehow.
I learned last year to accept that some things may not be the way I would like them to be. I could either hold on to the vision of what I had hoped would happen and be sad/frustrated that it hasn’t happened, or I could accept that my vision for the short term is gone. A new reality is going to occur that will have challenges and opportunities. To do so brings peace and stability.
I’m not saying accept that the government is always correct. On the contrary, it should be robustly challenged on what policies are invoked. Still, you challenging the government and accepting how things currently are, are two different things and should be viewed as such. So separating that out is a valuable exercise.
All that you can do is live, adapt and try to grow. I know I will!