As is

It feels like spring is definitely springing! I wonder what feelings this season evokes? Is it a sense of new beginnings, filled with optimism and excitement, or does it bring about a feeling of change, accompanied by fear and anticipation? I’ve always found it fascinating how the same experience can elicit such different emotions in people, and how this largely depends on their past experiences. 

This leads me to today’s pondering: the idea of acceptance. Each of us is unique, with our own individual ways of being and processing experiences. 

However, accepting others "as is" doesn’t mean that all behaviours are automatically acceptable. That’s where the challenge lies. How do we accept someone as they are when their actions or behaviours may be anything but acceptable? This is a tough question to address. 

What does it really mean to accept someone? The answer probably varies for each of us. We all have histories. We all have stories. These will inevitably shape us and our responses. For some of us, maybe acceptance is simply being aware of this — that we all come from different places and have different experiences. 

As humans, we are inherently different from one another, and that will always trigger reactions in us. If we were all the same, would we have reached the point where we are today as a species? It is biologically impossible for us all to work in the same way. So how do we learn to accept these differences we face every day? Perhaps it’s through a greater understanding of ourselves, cultivating self-awareness, showing compassion, or simply recognising that we are all human. I wonder what you think? 

Unique