Acceptance in Action

I worked with a wonderful leader. She had many strengths. She struggled with acceptance and spent time attempting to change things out of her control and dwelling on them even during her personal time. How it affected her was peace of mind, spending time in this space when she needed to be spending time elsewhere, including at home. She also noticed that it also rubbed some colleagues the wrong way.

She spontaneously recalled during one of our sessions how this exact pattern/behavior is something her mom did, which my client knew was not helpful. She began seeing it more clearly in herself.  She saw it was a learned behavior, which freed her. She was now in choice to continue with this learned behavior or not. We explored her values and beliefs and challenged herself to examine the benefits and risks of continuing. She developed techniques to interrupt this dwelling pattern and practiced a lot. She began noticing herself feeling more peaceful, which in turn helped her at work and at home. What she also noticed is how she could generalize her techniques and new beliefs and found herself being more accepting of those around her. It was a win-win and her colleagues noticed. That positive reinforcement from her colleagues was much appreciated. She was truly happier at work and at home (another win-win).

True acceptance is freeing.