Accept yourself!!

Acceptance, Enjoyment, and Enthusiasm

'In the midst of winter, I found there was, inside me, an invincible summer.' ~ Albert Camus

Acceptance- embrace your situation and you may find that it will become a gateway to a new and improved you. Don't deny/resist 'problems', go through them and you may find they turn out to be your greatest teachers. You may even want to thank them for giving you the opportunity to make changes you may never have done otherwise? Never mistake the wrapping for the gift!

Enjoyment- Enjoy the process of change. Use the energy you have been 'wasting' on more constructive, healthy, and beneficial things and enjoy the journey of discovery you now find yourself on. And remember, life is not about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain!

Enthusiasm- you might be all set to embark on your journey to a new and previously undiscovered you but just like the most beautifully constructed car you ain't going nowhere without fuel and its enthusiasm that will boost you and keep you going!!

Here's a great little story originally posted in another thread by Anon Hymous (cheers!)...

The Three Gates of Wisdom

A King had for an only son a young courageous, skilful, and intelligent Prince. He sent him to see a wise old man so that he would open his mind to awareness. "Enlighten me as to the path I should take", pleaded the Prince. "My words will only vanish like foot steps in the sand”, replied the wise man. However I'll accept to give you some indications. On your path, you will come across three gates. Read the sayings on each one of them. You will be overwhelmed with the need to follow them. Do not seek to turn away as you would be condemned to live again and again that which you had run away from. I cannot say any more. You must feel all this in your heart and flesh. You may go now. Follow the road right ahead of you."

The Wise Old man disappeared and the Prince started walking on the Path of the Life. He was soon across a large gate on which one could read:

"CHANGE THE WORLD".

"This is precisely what I intended to do”, thought the Prince, "If some things are pleasurable in this world, others are not."
And he started his first struggle. Driven by ideal, his ardour and his strength pushed him to be confronted with the world. He undertook, conquered, modelled reality to his desire. He experienced the pleasure and the exhilaration of the conqueror, but his heart was not at rest. He managed to change certain things but others would not give way.
Long years went by. One day, he met the Wise Old man who asked him:
"What did you learn on the path?"
"I learned”, replied the Prince, “to see what was in my power and what was beyond it, to see what depended on me and what didn't ".
"Well done”, said the old man. Use your strength to act upon what you can. Forget about what is beyond you."
And he vanished.
Sometime later the Prince came across a second gate. One could read on it:

"CHANGE OTHERS"

"This is precisely what I intend to do", thought the Prince. “Others give joy and pleasure, but also cause pain and bitterness and frustration."
And he rose against all that could disturb or displease him in his fellow being. He struggled to alter their minds, and correct their faults. This was to be his second battle.
Many more years went by. One day, as he was meditating on the uselessness of his attempts to change others when he came across the wise old man who asked him:
"What did you learn on your path?"
"I learned”, answered the Prince, “that others are not the source of my joys or sorrows, my achievements or failures. They are only there to make me aware. I am the one to grow these feelings in me."
"You are right”, said the Wise man. “Through what they awaken in you, they made you aware of yourself. Be grateful towards those who make you fee joy and pleasure. But also be grateful to those who hurt and frustrate you, for through them Life teaches you.”
And the Old Man vanished. A little time after, the Prince come across a door where you could read the words:

"CHANGE YOURSELF".

"If I am myself the cause of my problems, this is what I have to do" he though.
And he started his third struggle. He tried to inflect his character, to fight his imperfections, to remove his defects, and change every thing which didn't correspond to his ideal.
After many years of struggle during which he was at times successful at times defeated, the Prince met the wise man who asked him:
"What did you learn on your path?"
"I learned”, replied the Prince, “that some things can be improved, and others which resist and can't be change."
"Well done," said the Wise man.
"Yes”, the Prince went on, “but I'm getting weary of fighting against everything, and against myself. Will this never end? When will I be at rest? I wish to stop fighting, to give up and let go."
"This happens to be your next lesson”, the wise old man said. “But before going any further, turn around the gate and look back at the way you’ve already tread."
And he vanished. As he looked back, the Prince saw in the distance the 3rd gate and realized that one could read a different message on the back of it:

"ACCEPT YOURSELF"

The Prince wondered why he hadn't noticed this inscription when it had crossed the gate the first time, in the opposite direction.
"When one is fighting, one becomes blind”, he said to himself.
He also saw, spread on the ground around him, every thing he had rejected and fought within himself: his faults, his dark side, his fears, his limits, and all his old demons. He then learnt how to recognize them, accept them, and love them. He learnt how to love himself without comparing himself, judging himself, blaming himself.
He came across the Wise Old man who asked him:
"What did you learn along the path?"
"I learned”, replied the Prince, “that to hate or refuse part of myself was to condemn myself never to be at peace with myself. I learned how to accept myself, completely, unconditionally."
"Well done”, said the Old Man, “this is the first stage of Wisdom. Now you go through the 3rd gate again."
Just as he had reached the other side of the gate, the Prince saw the back face of the second gate and it said:

"ACCEPT OTHERS".

All around him he recognized the people he had met in his life; those he had loved, those he had hated, those he had helped, those he had fought. But to his surprise, he was now unable to see their faults which had disturbed him so much, and against which he had fought so much.
He came across the wise old man again.
"What did you learn on your path?" he asked.
"I learned”, replied the Prince, “that if I were at peace with myself, I would have nothing to blame others for, nothing to fear of them. I have learned to accept others totally and unconditionally."
"Well done," said the wise old man. “This is the second stage Wisdom. You can now go back through the second gate.”
When he arrived on the other side, the Prince saw the back of the first gate and read:

"ACCEPT THE WORLD".

"That is strange”, he thought, "Why didn't I see the inscription the first time?"
He looked around him and recognized the world he had tried to conquer, transform, and change. He was hit by the brightness and the beauty of all things. By their perfection. And yet it was the same world as it used to be. Had the world changed? Or had his perception of it changed?
He come across the Wise Old man and asked him:
"What did you learn on your path?"
"I learned”, the Prince said, “that the world is the mirror of my soul. That my soul, my heart, does not see the world, but sees itself in the world. When it is cheerful, the world seems merry. When it is gloomy, the world seems sad. The world is neither merry nor sad. It just is; that is all. It was not the world that was troubling me, but the idea I had of it. I accepted to accept it without judging it, totally, unconditionally."
"This is the third stage of Wisdom”, said the Old Man. “You are now at peace within yourself and others in the world."
A deep feeling of peace, serenity and fulfilment overwhelmed the Prince. Silence was within him.
“You are now ready to cross the last Threshold”, said the wise old man, “the
Threshold from the Silence of Fulfilment to the Fulfilment of Silence.”
And the Old Man disappeared.

~ Charles Brulhart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4F_eaa1XIY

 

Couldnt just leave it buried deep in another thread because its such a good story I just wanted to put it in another post and if just one more person gets something from it it will have been worth it And yes thats it now, Mark it is! Cheers