The Search for becoming someone of Value continues:
Faith and Stoicism: Finding Peace Through Acceptance
The Human Struggle with Control
Acceptance. We’ve all been there. The desire to change an outcome. We fight the inevitable, fear uncertainty, and resent the pain. We pray for peace daily, but resist the storms that bring it. How easy it is to blame all the external forces that push and pull us. We feel helpless in the wake of the will. I struggle with these moments almost daily, even when things are going well. I still want to be in control of where my ship is heading.
Control What You Can, Accept What You Can’t
“Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens” -Epictetus
After wrestling against the current of life, you are worn and reshaped, like a stone in the river, refined by the hand of something greater. True acceptance can be applied in so many areas of life. Be it grief, stress, disappointment, change, love, or lack thereof. Learning to release control over what happens and to center your energy only on your response takes time. Acceptance is a discipline, not a switch. Applied to smaller events, this can be greatly beneficial and develop the ability to apply to more complex problems.
I find that the more I own my choices and reactions, the more content I am. It doesn’t matter what someone else has done, hasn’t done. When I am grounded in prayer and reflection, and I’ve accepted what comes, my choices align with peace, not impulse. I pray that my choices flow from stillness, not struggle. For those who might say that acceptance is apathy, I would say this is more trust in divine wisdom.
The Bridge Between
The two may be paired together in such a way that acceptance becomes both a discipline and a devotion. One rooted in reason, and one in trust. Acceptance isn’t giving up. It’s standing in the storm, knowing the wind is there but that you aren’t alone. The wind isn’t your enemy; it is your guide. Stoicism is born of reason, a quiet understanding that we don’t control life. In faith, surrender is born in trust; the same storms are guided by his hand. Though they speak different languages, both lead to the same stillness within: acceptance.
Living Acceptance Daily
How do I apply this to my daily life?
- Prayer before reaction
- Journal Prompt: What is within and beyond control?
- Practicing gratitude in difficulty
- Reframing suffering as refinement
-D. Caulder