Acceptance

The other day, I had a conversation via email with a friend of mine.  My friend was unhappy and depressed with his current circumstances - the lack of a romantic relationship and feeling all alone. 

My advice was: embrace being alone. Love it, accept it, and don't fight it. When you do, the perfect partner will appear. I've always found that when I TOTALLY accept whatever it is I don't like, IT changes.

My friend responded and said he felt I had taken his feelings and the circumstances of his life too lightly.

Again, I responded:  In every spiritual teaching I know, acceptance is the key to change. What you resist, persist. My point - accept it. Accept the fact that you have created being alone. If you were supposed to have a partner right now, you would have a partner right now. Life doesn't always give us what we want, but it does always give us what we need. On some level, you chose this, so again, my point is to accept the fact that you are not in a relationship right now. Trust the universe. Trust yourself, and focus on all the good in your life and on everything you have to be grateful for.

The truth is I really needed to hear my own words. I had recently returned from a trip to Florida to visit my son, his wife and my 8 month old granddaughter Catalina.  I had totally fallen in love with Catalina and felt my heart was being torn out when we left to return to Oregon. I had enjoyed every single second I had with her, and now I was sad because I felt I was missing out on so much since we live so far away. My choices are (1)  to focus on the pain of separation or (2) accept the fact that I created it this way and just appreciate and be grateful for the time I did have with her. If I am to have a different experience, I will create it at some point. Until then, this is what IS. All I can really do is accept it. I immediately felt better.

Two days later I received an email  about a Coexist Event with this Affirmation:
I cannot change what IS, only what will BE, by ACCEPTING what IS. 
How perfect!

Since the message was received from Coexist, I will include their website for reference.
http://www.coexistcelebration.org/home

No wonder we are grandmother and granddaughter. 
It is truly a GRAND experience!