Acceptance

The human mind, inherently impatient, activates emotional reactions when our ideas about how things should be collide with how things are. We sometimes torment ourselves over things we've said and done that we wished were different. Each of us carries in our heads a script of our lives with the expectations of what should occur next, how someone should react, what someone else should say, and how the next moment should unfold. 
Yet, this moment -- the one you are experiencing right now -- is the culmination of every moment you have experienced in the past. This moment is as it is --as it should be-- because the whole universe is as it is ...as it should be. Resisting that is fighting against the entire universe.
Nature offers us daily clues that the universe supports us-- birds soar high above us with the wind at their backs and beneath their wings; fish often swim with the current to conserve energy; and flowers and trees gently stretch for the sun. Yet, we all have seen the image of a salmon struggling upstream leaping into the waterfall to return to its spawning grounds.

Railing against the tide is what we do when we are desperate...when we find ourselves choiceless...when we are unwilling to accept our personal destiny. When we think this way, we are fighting against the universe-- we limit our choices, we stifle our creativity, and we deny ourselves the chance to celebrate with the universe.

We can all wish for things to be different in the future, but THIS moment is as it should be. It is the culmination of every choice you have ever made. When you struggle against this moment (or any moment), you are struggling against the entire universe. Our ability to embrace and integrate the ever-present moment and the ever-transforming relative reality is the essence of acceptance and peace in our lifetime.

Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune.
—William James