It is what it is

Acceptance for me, is a very difficult concept to . . . well, accept.

I watched my father rail against a world that didn't respond to him favorably, if at all. He argued, he screamed, he stood on his proverbial soapbox and wailed that life wasn't fair. He was left bereft with only his principals and list of injustices to console him. And he never got what he wanted. 

As a parent, I've told my son repeatedly not to engage in certain behavior because it doesn't get him what he wants. That all he is left with are consequences for his behavior. . . and his tower of principals and list of injustices to console him.

As a woman in her mid-forties, I'm only now starting to learn that life spits out situations that we can't always control. As my friend once said, it's not what happens to you, it's how you respond to it that matters. I've spent many, many years fighting the fight and wanting to win. . . only to be broken like waves on rocks. My parents, my biggest behaviorial influencers, never showed me that you do your best and therein lies the victory, not  in the favored results.

For if I could do that, I would be able to accept what comes my way, do the best I could and let go of the rest.

But I'm still learning.


© It's All Wanderlust 2010