What is meant by this? Having a handle on some of the factors that cause anxiety and stress, we are better placed to look at ways acceptance can help us as part of overcoming. Acceptance can have different meanings, but for the purposes of this mini-series, it is assenting to the reality of a situation. It doesn’t have to be resignation, rather the next step in understanding what unknowingly may be causing an undercurrent of stress. It is a powerful tool, bringing a lot of what is unconscious into the light. There, we have the power of choice about what can and can’t be changed. In the fast-paced world of day-to-day life, we think, feel and choose by using our “default networks”. This can be to do with personality, learned behaviour, culture or experience. The good news is we don’t have to stay stuck in any of these patterns, should we choose. Our brains have the ability to be re-wired and override the more harmful patterns. Stay tuned – we’ll be exploring this further in our “Apply” posts. For now, we will focus on the small steps to help us on the journey into acceptance. Reference: Cleaning up Your Mental Mess by Dr. Caroline Leaf
