Gratitude and Acceptance - Do they co-exist?
Good evening all,
Hope the week has been one that is reflective 💛
Reflecting on communication and relationships in general I’ve been asking myself is there really any gratitude without acceptance?
We be grateful for unfavourable things that have happened to us. Let’s say someone was rude to you or ignored you we may accept the position that they did not notice you - it wasn’t a purposeful thing. Or we may accept the position that they don’t like you.
You may have keep a relationship with God:
*Be grateful for whatever has been given to you
*Be grateful that you’ve had moments where you have
failed - this will build your character in some way
*Be grateful that you are forgiven - this may help you learn to forgive
*Be grateful for the desire to not lean on what you understand and go by a direction much better than yourself - this may help you realise your own ways aren’t the highest ways (it’s good to have a protector)
*Be grateful that every time you fall you do get back up - you’re wonderfully made
You may even ask what’s the point of this post? You may not. You may believe. You may not believe.
What brought me to write this? A lovely member shared we are loved by god. We are loved.
You may feel furious after reading this or at peace. Whatever it is are you grateful and accepting for whatever emotion is radiated?
Questions to reflect on:
- Should we be grateful for the tests we go through in life?
- How often do you practice gratitude?
- Do feel safer and more calm when you lean not on your own understanding or feel less safe ?
- Name three things you are grateful for today ?
- Is there gratitude without acceptance?
- Im a rational or emotional thinker - which one are you ?
Tagging: @VerseArt, @ASilentObserver , @Hope, @DanCat1128, @communicativePond1728, @Fristo,@AnnaSilverberg, @ChillingRain, @Silverstar, @heathermarie95, @YourCaringConfidant, @Mya000, @Optimisticempath, @SpacedOutSun, @Georginahowe, @ParkerBarker
@GoldenRuleJG
Should we be grateful for the tests we go through in life?
I think we could be. Sometimes though, that's really hard. If not flat impossible. Especially when going through painful, new challenges.
How often do you practice gratitude?
I practice about three times a week to varying degrees of success and effectiveness. I've kept a gratitude journal for about a decade. And my self care apps consistently and daily prompt me, or the twice daily guided meditations I do or videos I watch on helpful things.
Do feel safer and more calm when you lean not on your own understanding or feel less safe ?
'Letting go and letting dog' or whatever you do or don't believe in isn't my strongest suit sometimes. Yet when I remember the bigger picture I do feel more calm and safe. Until the picture gets too big...then I can get bogged down a bit before wrestling my way back to perspective, principles and prioritizing.
Name three things you are grateful for today ?
Money, my heatstroke pretty much gone, and treats stashed in my fridge, freezer, pantry and soothe drawer.
Is there gratitude without acceptance?
Yes, there is. Just like cookie dough can come with or without chocolate chips...still delicious! Just maybe not AS delicious.
I'm a rational or emotional thinker - which one are you ?
I'm perceiving and sensing. It can apparently really bother people who aren't connected to deeper things like that and just want to eat their breakfast without me making the moment deep as the Marianas trench. I guess it's a lot of pressure to contemplate eternity when french toast is involved.
You’re responses are very reflective - thank you and hope you are keeping well. As tough as it is to let go by doing this we can move on - we may keep hold of things and of people who have hurt us - any memory could trigger that emotional volcano within.
When it comes to going through tests it can be tough or unfair that we are going through this as we are only looking through our own perspective - human nature to react of instinct.
Keep challenging yourself and giving yourself the forgiveness for yourself that you deserve 💛Much love , GR
- I’m struggling with this but I suppose that’s kinda the only way we can live with it is to try and feel grateful. Which leads to the question about being grateful and acceptance.
- Not as much as I probably should. I try to be positive and think that better things are coming and I often think of the saying about how your branches can only grow as deep as your roots are and hoping that such negative experiences and emotions can only lead to equally as great of ones but I’m struggling to hold onto hope lately.
- I think I feel safer when I try to think of things as having a greater purpose than what I can understand in the moment because my understanding of things are pretty dark and scary.
- I’m grateful for my cat. I’m grateful for my apartment. I’m grateful for the sunny weather.
- I think to have gratitude especially for the tests we have been through in life it would require acceptance. I suppose for an example in order to be grateful that it’s sunny outside I have to first accept that it is indeed sunny outside. So they kind of go hand and hand.
- I can’t pick one or the other I think I’m both I think I’m extremely emotional but I also have a rational part of me and it’s almost as if I kinda sit and battle myself. My emotional thoughts and my rational thoughts.
Sends you much love light 💛
Hope can be especially difficult to hold onto when things are falling apart like domino’s- it can feel that it’s one bad thing after another.
Its lovely you are grateful for your cat, sunny weather, apartment - you can see you’re blessed in some areas in life
Keep trying and don’t give up - kindness to any unforgiveness you have for yourself if that’s there for you
@GoldenRuleJG
Fantastic post!
Here are my answers 😃
Should we be grateful for the tests we go through in life?
That is a very good question, I am not sure if I can give a
one size fits all kind of an answer though.
Yes, there are some test that will bring us the feeling of
gratitude later on, for having experienced the challenge and
gotten stronger because of it.
But also, some experiences aren't easy to feel grateful for
and we shouldn't pressure or push ourselves to feel that way either.
It's okay to not feel grateful about hardships that brought us painful challenges.
It's okay to feel grateful for challenges that made us a stronger person.
💙
How often do you practice gratitude?
I actually have a gratitude journal that I write in daily,
it was @YourCaringConfidant that brought the brilliant idea to me.
And I have to say that it's one of my favorite daily things I do.
(Thank you, Caring 💚)
💙
Do you feel safer and more calm when you lean not on your own understanding or feel less safe?
It depends on where I bring my focus.
The circle of control and influence does come a lot to mind.
What is within my reach to change and what isn't?
Is it going to be helpful for me to spend my time on thinking about
what I would do if I could do something that I can't do or change, or would
it be better to spend my focus on things that I do control, that I can influence?
Beliefs can be mixed into this as well, sometimes it helps people to
keep in mind that there is a reason for things being the way they are and such.
That's in a way, us using our faith in the same way as we use our
circle of control and influence.
💙
Name three things you are grateful for today?
On it!
My patience, my pets and the amazing people here in this community 💕
💙
Is there gratitude without acceptance?
Definitely!
You can be grateful for something, even though you have a hard time
with accepting it.
And that's perfectly okay!
💙
A rational or an emotional thinker - which one are you ?
I often like to tell myself that I'm a pure logical thinker,
but I think that I'm a delicate mix of the two.
It just depends on what the thing I'm thinking on is,
does it require emotions involved or does it purely focus on facts ect.
✨💙✨
✨
It’s brilliant you have a gratitude journal to let it all out! Yeah with feelings being so complicated because one emotional state is very popular forcing ourselves to change our emotions is liking forcing yourself to feel normal. Our emotions don’t need to cal the shots. With hard times they can either make us bitter or make us grow - we can feel there is justification for feeling as we do and it’s important to display compassion and acceptance towards ourselves.
Minimising the need for control can make us more prone to open-mindedness and when the control is a healthy kind it strives for structure and harmony. So many different flavours to emotions, human nature in general.
Aww I love the shout out to Caring 😊wonderful to hear from you and many thanks for the kind feedback!
@GoldenRuleJG Good evening, and thank you for sharing this post and tagging me. I appreciate the opportunity to engage in this conversation, even though our beliefs may differ. Regarding your questions:
Personally, I don't believe we should feel grateful for the hard parts of life, especially when they stem from injustice. I believe it's important to acknowledge suffering rather than glorify it.
Gratitude is something I try to practice as much as possible, though its frequency may vary depending on circumstances.
When it comes to leaning on understanding or feeling safer, I believe it depends on the situation. Sometimes relying on our own understanding can provide comfort, while other times, trusting in something greater can bring peace.
Today, I am grateful for the comforts of home, sustenance, and the ability to communicate with you through this computer 😊
I agree that gratitude is intertwined with acceptance, but it's essential to discern what is acceptable and what isn't. Some things are simply not acceptable, and that doesn't diminish gratitude for what is.
I see myself as both a rational and emotional thinker, as I believe everyone encompasses elements of both.
Thank you for your opinions - interesting to read like everyone 💛
I see injustice as something that does happen to everyone - we either grow a callous to it or we can become fearful , hostile. We can think how can someone be capable of such harm etc. For example, someone that has experienced bullying they can either get really low confidence or become like a ambassador for injustice and have so much confidence because that exp taught them to have better boundaries.
Depending on how comfortable we are at times we can rely on our own judgement and at other times trust the bigger picture or the more experienced person , mentor we have in our lives, god etc
I too am grateful to chat and interact with you all , see your perspectives :) Home is the word 🤗
@GoldenRuleJG You're welcome. It's important to recognize that injustice isn't experienced equally by everyone due to systemic discrimination. Individuals lack control over how injustice impacts them, and not everyone has the privilege to become an ambassador for change or to heal from trauma.
Yes great point mya - unfortunately some will face more unfairness than others - people at times can intentionally or unintentionally be unfavourable towards a group of people. Education is so important and I do hope that everyone no matter what collective can hold themselves accountable 🙏💛
@GoldenRuleJG I think Gratitude and Acceptance are two very different things. Gratitude is when you're happy/satisfied that something happened to you. However, acceptance is the second step to healing. I think gratitude and acceptance do coexist. However, it's important not to get the two confused. For example, you can be grateful that you weren't physically harmed while accepting that breakups are difficult. That's an excellent question, though!
Disclaimer: I am NOT a professional. I want to go to college to get a bachelor's and a master's degree in LMFT/Psychology. My response is purely based on my experiences and/or how I feel.
Thank you incognito for the kind feedback - whether you do or don’t have a degree you’re opinions and perspective are just as important as everyone else’s 💛😊I wish you all the best with whatever path you choose to take
I personally feel you can be grateful and accepting on one hand and on the other hand not. Examples: Lets say a friendship ended - you can be grateful for the good experiences, moments with the friend although you have grown apart). You can be grateful that you’re partner confessed their infidelity to you but not accepting that they can that they no longer see the other person.
Much Love, GR 💛
@GoldenRuleJG Oh yes, that makes a lot of sense, and thank you so much! I think every mental health questions, there isn't a straight answer. Everything is a bit gray, or at least that's what my therapist tells me.
i enjoyed reading you’re response please know this incognito - thank you for joining in.Warmest wishes for therapy - processing it all can come with challenges and hope there is good in it in your experience too . Keep going .Go everyone , Go 👍 🙏💛
@GoldenRuleJG
Grsteful for:
-food
Different environment
-truth
fantastic you are grateful for all this 💛
Much love, GR