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The quest for personal development often begins with a desire for change and Acceptance. What kind of change? Well, the kind that will result in a greater sense of happiness and satisfaction.
When motivated people become aware that some aspect of their life is falling short of what they think is possible, they search for ways to make improvements. This is the underlying foundation all personal growth and development.
It starts with conscious awareness
Until we become consciously aware of the need for personal change, we will have no reason to make changes. It doesn’t matter how many other people see it, no change will be initiated until we become personally aware of the need.
I wrote about my personal experience in this area in Personal Development – Is Your Ego Getting In the Way? As the title suggests, some degree of ego is often the reason that we don’t see ourselves the way others see us. But once we become aware of the need for change on a conscious level, then we are in a position to do something about it.
The path of personal growth
The process of learning and applying advanced life skills to increase the quality of our life is one that pays extremely high dividends. Once we discover first hand that our personal growth efforts actually do increase our sense of happiness and satisfaction, It can easily become a way of life.
This creates a fundamental shift in the way we view our life. Instead of resisting change, we begin to seek it out. Rather than waiting for discomfort to make us aware of a need, our conscious awareness actively searches for areas that could be improved.
There is more to life than personal change
However, not everything in life can be, or should be, changed. In other words, change is not always the way to make things better. There is a point at which increasing awareness will inevitably lead us to this conclusion.
To experience real peace and happiness in our life, we actually need to go beyond the concept of change and embrace an even greater principle. And once again, embracing this “next level” of personal growth will require that we get past our own ego. Which in this case means recognizing that it’s not up to us to fix everything.
Acceptance – the state of peaceful coexistence
The natural progression of our increasing awareness will eventually lead us to a state characterized by acceptance. That doesn’t mean that we will cease to grow and change, but the way we accomplish the growth will be different. Instead of pushing, we learn to allow. Our sense of urgency falls away because we feel content with the current reality.
Acceptance is powerful on many levels. It’s the stage where we begin to lose that tendency to make judgments about people (including ourselves), situations, and experiences. Our growth becomes more effortless, as if we have been rowing our personal development boat and now we can relax because we have found the flow. All of a sudden there is a feeling of being harmonious with the world around us.
Can you shortcut to the acceptance stage?
Some people are naturally very accepting, which can be a blessing. It really depends on what you want from your life. If you want to be the best possible version of yourself, then just accepting everything as it is may not provide the proper motivation for personal growth. If all you want is to just “be” then total acceptance is the ticket.
Personally, I prefer to achieve acceptance through personal development. As my conscious awareness expands on the path of personal change, acceptance becomes the greater expression of growth. For me, there is a huge sense of satisfaction that comes from the journey of self discovery.
How do you feel about change and acceptance? Do you think that personal growth leads to acceptance?
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