It has been said in dialectical philosophy that before we can change anything we first must accept it. This means taking an inventory of “what is”. Taking extra precaution not to omit the painful parts, the uncertainty and the despair. We take in ALL of IT. When we are able to do so, we slowly begin to abandon the idea of how things should be different and acknowledge how they exist as they are. We turn towards validation of the self, of the pain, of the discomfort and lean into it. To accept something radically, does not mean that we have to like the situation, approve of what is occurring or give up passively to the experience. Rather, we see that life is a chain of events, all having led up to this exact moment, and in this moment, we have choice. We can continue down the road of increased suffering and distress while potentially giving credence to unhelpful and heavy emotions or we can liberate ourselves from these false realities and EMBRACE ALL of It. To accept something radically, allows us to consider choice. We can choose what we make of the situation, how we experience life, who we are during this time and how much energy we devote to wishing that things were different.
In a tug of war between what is and what isn’t, to accept something radically can mean, putting down the rope.
