“Happiness can exist only in acceptance.”
– George Orwell (famous English novelist and critic of the early twentieth century)
If you are locked in a small five feet room with no windows, light, and air, how would you feel? Imagine after five hours, someone opens the door and lets you out in open garden space. How’d you feel then? That’s what happens to your mind when you practice the three A’s – Awareness, Acceptance, Aspiration.
Three A’s in daily life
Yesterday I negotiated with my mind on things to do for today. Despite agreeing to write, read and chant, when the actual day and time arrived, Mr. Mind complained, “You should watch WhatsApp videos and no need to read. You should fix the sink, clean the room, and go to the park. Don’t do this but do that…”
“But we resolved yesterday, isn’t it?” I gently asked.
As I slowly connect to my inner state and invoke Awareness, Acceptance, and Aspiration, my mind’s rant is punctured. I now understand what’s happening at the moment (Awareness). I don’t judge (Accept) and remember my goals (Aspiration).
Not the one to easily give up, my Mind talks of another subject and an added cause to regret.
The mind has an incorrigible appetite for moaning.
Again the solution is the same: Awareness and Acceptance of the present and progress on quietly, without judgment, remembering your vision- Aspiration.
This is three A’s – Awareness, Acceptance, and Aspiration, in action.
Coping with a wife’s peculiar nature
I met a man who after forty years of marriage, finally came to terms with his relationships. His wife has particular idiosyncrasies which he tried changing umpteen times, unsuccessfully though. Today, he is ‘aware’ of what’s bugging him; he now ‘accepts’ his wife the way she is and doesn’t judge his mind as bad for having made his life miserable all these years. He loves and accepts himself and his wife the way she is. Besides, when frustrated, he connects to his vision: ‘purification of self and blessings of his family members.’ When he sees the big picture, he can see the issues that troubled him were trivial.
To be continued….
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