Unfolding Acceptance: A Young Girl’s Story
She was the first born, one of those leaderless strong women whose privilege it is to carve a fresh trail so those who follow have an easier way. She habitually questioned her decisions because she had no comparisons available. She learned to live with this discomfort, and eventually, she came to accept her decisions because of it. But we’re getting away from the chronology.
She was the cat’s meow, the apple of everyone’s eye, the anointed darling whose intelligence showed up early. She could speak in full sentences at the age of one. She loved to run, balanced and swift on the playing fields. Her mother doted on her and her father did too until the next precious little girl came along. Then he abandoned our heroine for the new kid on the block. The acceptance of this one took her nearly 60 years to accomplish because of the pain.
Kids three, four, and five came along before she was twelve, by then, her mother’s capable Clydesdale. She didn’t know other kids played more while she was working. She simply accepted that work was her forte as she eased into more and more of it. Hard work became one of her character strengths, invisible, humming in the background of her life. She became one of those who stepped forward when accomplishments via work were required. She accepted the kudos that came from it. Heck, she loved the praise!
She’d always loved God. She accepted Him and his Goodness easily in her childhood and this baby love matured into “Let’s devote our life in service (there’s that work thing again!) to him, and she became a nun. She accepted that she’d never have children, never enjoy sex, would live by the laws of poverty, chastity and obedience, and it all looked just fine to her. Her acceptance kept her there for six years, until questions without answers started popping up and she had to admit that she might have made a mistake.
Never one to be squeamish moving into new territory, she asked to leave the convent. She had to re-think some earlier decisions especially that chastity bit but, frightened about sex as she was, she accepted that it might well be part of God’s plan for her. She took a deep breath and dove into the fray of regular, unsheltered life. Being a first child, she’d understood that she might always be a pace car.
Two kids and a divorce later, after a good long cry off the side of a road in Whittier, her acceptance grew even stronger when she saw that the raising of her two kids had fallen smack! right on her shoulders. It felt overwhelming. She loved those kids but she wanted to run away. Her habit of acceptance kicked in though, and thus began the saga of the strengthening of her character via single motherhood, one of her life’s most powerful teachers.
She allowed that she’d have to set her own wishes, wants, and desires (with the occasional Friday night dance) aside until those boys hit 18. She worked assiduously to help them unfold self-sufficiency and individuality, because those were her own two most favorite virtues and she knew with those unfolded, the boys would be okay in their own lives. BTW, it worked!
Her acceptance took a different turn when they left home: she had to figure out – finally – what her own wishes, wants, and desires were and then, begin to pursue them. Still without a pace car of her own, she sallied forth into this next phase of her life, accepting the fact that it was not selfish to pursue her own interests, even though her siblings still criticized some of her decisions. She recognized that they weren’t walking in her shoes, but oh my, how they’d benefited from watching her make mistakes, eh?
She bought and upgraded homes, became an entrepreneur, and set about learning that skills set. She accepted that “if it’s going to be, it’s up to me” and put her hard work ethic into play yet again.
It’s 76 years later. She’s figured out that her acceptance was love at work in her heart and soul and mind. She loves and accepts her own Self now, and she writes articles for a national woman’s magazine even! Her life is good and she owes it all to acceptance. Making decisions, looking for the good, taking the one step before you, accepting that it’s there for your good is a great way to lead one’s life. I highly recommend it.
Pat Matson’s path of life’s unfoldment has led her into the world of copywriting where she lends her expertise to the writing of blogs, ezines, curriculum and articles with a common sense message for entrepreneurs, especially life coaches or spiritual coaches. Pat loves to bring the story inside her clients representing their businesses out into the world that needs it so. In addition to her copywriting, Pat is a Walter Method Teacher of metaphysics where she helps illuminate Life’s Laws for her students. Pat’s Write Mind is her home base.
Author: Pat Matson
Pat Matson’s path of life’s unfoldment has led her into the world of copywriting where she lends her expertise to the writing of blogs, ezines, curriculum and articles with a common sense message for entrepreneurs, especially life coaches or spiritual coaches. Pat loves to bring the story inside her clients representing their businesses out into the world that needs it so. In addition to her copywriting, Pat is a Walter Method Teacher of metaphysics where she helps illuminate Life’s Laws for her students. Pat’s Write Mind is her home base.
