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The Ego and It's Role in Non-Acceptance

We spend a lot of time wishing things were different than they are; small stuff and big stuff alike. For example, we may wish that we had a 'better' or different car, better or different job, or we may wish that it wasn't raining right now and that it was sunny out instead. "I wish I hadn't eaten so much", " I wish that the I had gone to bed earlier", "I wish that I was happy today". We may phrase this differently than "I wish", but it's the same thing. It would be nice if I were better at writing...same thing different words. 

We tend to become so caught up in this vicious cycle that we rarely ever appreciate how things are. If I'm honest with myself, most of the time I cannot change how things are. I can make decisions that will impact and shape tomorrow and perhaps days to come but what I'm wishing for to be different resides in the present and not in the past or future. 

Think of how much of your life is wasted by spending this time and energy thinking and therefore feeling that things should be different than they are. I'm not advocating being complacent, quite the contrary. Just because I wish things were different doesn't mean that I have to repeat history or can't plant seeds to help things have a positive outcome. If there are choices that I can make next time, in the present, that may change the outcome then they are very worth doing. Many times though, most of the time, the outcome is in most ways out of our complete control. This is not a bad thing.

"I wish I didn't have OCD", and "I wish that these thoughts and feelings didn't bother me". Accepting things for how they are doesn't mean that I agree with them. It means that I'm not going to put more energy into changing the things that I cannot change. What I'm going to do instead is enjoy the experience of what's happening right now.

Life is short enough as is. Why shorten your enjoyment of it even more so by trying to change things that are out of your control. Hopefully you find peace with this way of living before it's too late and life has passed you by. That to me, would be the most unacceptable.

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