“For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining is to let it rain.” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I LOVE the game of Tetris.
As a kid (and maybe also as an adult) I spent countless afternoons glued to the TV, trying to beat my top score.
If you've played Tetris before, then you know that the whole point of the game is to get the falling shapes to fit as best as possible with the shapes below.
You have NO control of what shape you'll get next.
Sometimes you get lucky and a straight piece shows up at just the right moment.
Other times, the worst piece shows up and you just have to ACCEPT it and do the best that you can with what you've got.
There's no point in throwing a tantrum, yelling and screaming at the screen because that isn't the shape you wanted.
Because the more you RESIST the reality of the situation, the less time and mental capacity you'll have available to make a decision about how you're going to act.
And if you haven't noticed by now, I'm not only talking about the game of Tetris...
In life, we often get upset when things aren't going the way we wanted or expected them to.
We throw a fit. We get angry. We RESIST.
We tell ourselves,
"This isn't what was supposed to happen."
"This shouldn't be so hard."
"I should be making more progress by now."
And in doing so we limit our ability to respond from a place of calm, clarity and confidence.
Instead, we either go further down the spiral of rage and despair over our current situation...pointing fingers, placing blame and cursing the universe,
OR we fall into resignation...throwing the controller across the room, smashing the game console and quitting entirely.
But when we meet life's challenges with the same level of acceptance as we do with an unwanted Tetris shape,
We become free to just enjoy the game for what it is,
AND to take action from a place of wisdom instead of reaction.
If you aren't happy with your current reality,
If your clothes are fitting tighter than you'd like them to
If you wake up exhausted every morning
If you spend most of your evenings zoned out in front of the TV
...it doesn't matter if you think those things shouldn't be your current reality.
Because they are your currently reality.
And accepting that reality is the only way you can begin to change it.
The word "acceptance" often gets misinterpreted as being an action, but it doesn't have anything to do with behavior.
Acceptance isn't resignation, denial, defeat or ignoring.
It's what needs to happen BEFORE any action can be taken.
Acceptance is what gives us the freedom to choose what course of action to take next.
To RESPOND or to RESIGN?
So, if you aren't happy with your current reality,
Are you going to choose to RESPOND by saying:
"OK, this is the situation I'm in. Now what am I going to do with it?"
Or RESIGN by saying:
"Oh well, it is what it is and there's nothing I can do about it."
If you want to learn how to take action towards your health goals from a place of ACCEPTANCE, then make sure you put your name on the waitlist for my brand new group coaching program, the "Empowered Eating Blueprint", launching next month.
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