I have come to a point in my life where I deeply feel that there is no big revelation waiting for me if I just manage to solve a couple of more clues of the life puzzle. As I have written before, life for me isn’t about figuring out something anymore. However to me there are two major keys in life: Awareness and Acceptance.

So, just be aware of whatever is going on around and inside you and fully accept whatever that is. Sounds easy? To me it really is not. So I’d like to write a bit more about that.

First of all, being aware. It’s one thing to become aware of what’s happening around me. Right now I’m writing on my laptop. A while ago I ate a pizza. This morning I saw a beautiful flower. And so on. But being aware of what’s going on inside me? I don’t know about you but inside me, a lot of stuff is going on. All. The. Time. Of course I find Lennart here. And I have many feelings that shift constantly. Hormones don’t help either, as I’m sure many of you women who read this can relate to. So the trick really becomes to be aware of the stuff happening outside myself as well as inside.

And then acceptance. So far I have figured out that this is such a major life key for me but at the same time I also feel strongly that total acceptance will take me a lifetime to practice. Because the thing is that it is pretty easy for me to fully accept all the nice things in my life. The fact that I am able to live in Spain right now for example. Easy to lean in to and land in acceptance about all the wonderfulness of it. But how about the things that are hard? What comes to mind now is for example the fact that I have arthritis in the big toe of my right foot. This makes it painful for me to walk as every step I take hurts. I have learned that this is not a dangerous form of hurt but nevertheless it still remains painful and incredibly irritating as it affects many parts of my life. And all of a sudden, this accepting-thing becomes much more difficult for me.

So there they are: awareness and acceptance. These two words have become a mantra for me almost, in the sense that I keep coming back to them many times a day. As I wrote, I really believe that the way to deepen awareness and acceptance is by practicing. And once again this takes me to the importance of meditation in my life.

Awareness for me is linked to presence. Being fully present with whatever is going on in the moment. And when I am present, I feel that I am truly living my life. I don’t hide from feeling certain things and I don’t numb myself by escaping. I am truly here, right now. And that for me is the way I prefer to live life.

Acceptance of what is happening in life is for me quite closely linked to whatever your belief is about something larger being out there. The spiritual teacher Iyanla Vanzant says the following about acceptance, which feels true for me:

Acceptance does not mean you
agree with, condone, appreciate,
or even like what has happened.
Acceptance means that you know,
regardless of what happened, that
there is something bigger than
you at work.
It also means you know that you
are okay and that you will
continue to be ok.

As I continue to practice awareness and acceptance every day (and will do so for the rest of my life) I also come back to how important it feels for me to connect with happiness in life. It reminds me of when I heard someone ask the spiritual teacher Rupert Spira: What is the purpose of life? and his answer was: To find happiness.

Michael A. Singer agrees with Rupert Spira in his book The Untethered Soul – The Journey Beyond Yourself and relates it to all of us being part of the universe:

In the end, enjoying life’s experiences is the only rational thing to do. You’re sitting on a planet spinning around in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Go ahead, take a look at reality. You’re floating in empty space in a universe that goes on forever. If you have to be here, at least be happy and enjoy the experience. You’re going to die anyway. Things are going to happen anyway. Why shouldn’t you be happy?

Somehow this statement really makes me feel inspired and at the same time aware. I hope it will inspire you too!

Photo: Tommy Lee Walker – unsplash.com