I hope you are well. This month’s poetic reflections are on the theme of acceptance. There are lots of very important spiritual
qualities, such as gratitude, presence and compassion - but acceptance is perhaps the most important of all. Acceptance of ourselves, of other people, of the activities and experiences that make up our lives, of the basic conditions of life such as ageing and death… Most people practise resistance rather than acceptance, and pretend to be someone other than they truly are because they fear that their true self isn’t worthy of acceptance. They dream about another life because they’re sure that
the one they’re living now isn’t worthy of acceptance. But when acceptance arises, it brings about a major transformation, melting away hostility and negativity and bringing connection and grace and ease.
The first poem ‘I Accept you as Are’ is quite new, while ‘The Alchemy of Attention' is a couple of years old (although still unpublished). At
the moment I’m preparing a new book of poetic reflections - a follow up to The Calm Center, possibly called The Flow - and they will both be included in that.
I accept you as you are
There’s no need to justify yourself
to apologise
for your losses and failures
and make excuses for your missed opportunities.
I don’t see you as a failure, or a loser.
I accept you as you are.
There’s no need to tell me your life story
to describe your past misfortunes
and your plans to recreate yourself and relaunch your life.
You’re here with
me right now, without a future or a past.
And I accept you as you are.
There’s no need to pretend to be someone else
to impress me with your charm and intelligence
to keep talking in case your flaws show through the silence.
I know the real you, beneath your surface self
and I accept you as you
are.
You don’t need to prove that you're worthy of my affection.
I won't judge you because I understand you.
I can't reject you because I’m connected to you.
I can’t hate you because I am you
and I love you as you are.
The
Alchemy of Acceptance
Emptiness can be a vacuum
cold and hostile, dark with danger;
Or emptiness can be radiant space
glowing with soft stillness -
and the only difference between them is acceptance.
A task may seem tedious
a chore to rush through begrudgingly
Or a task may seem rewarding
a process to relish, with an attentive mind
that reveals more richness, the more your present you become -
and the only difference between them is acceptance.
Pain may seem
unbearable
searing through you from a sharp, concentrated point
so that you have no choice but to resist
to try to escape, to push away the pain;
Or pain can be a sensation
which you can move towards and merge with
which no longer has a centre, and dissipates and spreads through your being
until it becomes soft and numb, no longer pain at all -
and the only difference between them is acceptance.
Trauma can break you down to nothing
destroy the identity you spent your whole life building up
like an earthquake that leaves you in ruins;
Or trauma can transform you
break open new depths and heights of you
give rise to a greater structure, a miraculous new self -
and the only difference between them is acceptance.
Life can be frustrating, and full of obstacles
with desires for a different life constantly disturbing your mind;
or life can be fulfilling, full of opportunities
with a constant flow of gratitude for the gifts you have -
and the only difference between them is acceptance.
All best wishes, Steve
