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A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Dr Steve Taylor, author on psychology and spirituality.

Good morning.

About 20 years ago, I was sitting in my flat one afternoon when a loud whistling-screaming noise started up in my left ear, as if someone had pressed a button. I assumed it would go away, but it became my constant companion. I realised that I had tinnitus, probably because I played in loud rock bands in my youth.

For about a year, tinnitus drove me crazy. When I went to bed at night, I tuned a radio to the white noise between stations (which wasn’t very pleasant for my wife.)

Eventually, I realised that I had no choice but to try to accept my tinnitus. So one night I went to bed and didn’t turn the radio on. I put my head down on the pillow and allowed the noise to submerge me. I did the same over the next few nights. And soon, to my surprise, I found that the tinnitus no longer bothered me much. I accepted it as a part of my reality, and its power to disturb me ebbed away. I can hear it now, as I speak, but it doesn’t affect me.

This story illustrates the power of acceptance. There will always be some aspects of our lives which we find uncomfortable, but which we don’t – at least for the moment – have any control over. Resistance to situations we can’t change creates unnecessary conflict and discord.

So perhaps today you can try to practice what, in the following reflections, I call ‘The Alchemy of Acceptance.’

A task may seem tedious
a chore to rush through reluctantly
or a task may seem rewarding
a process to relish, with an attentive mind
and the only difference between them is acceptance.

Life can be frustrating and full of obstacles
with desires for different life constantly disturbing your mind
or life can be fulfilling, full of opportunities
with a constant flow of gratitude for the gifts you have -
and the only difference between them is acceptance.

Blessings.

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