The 100 Day Challenge, Day 54:
Acceptance: Favorable reception; approval; favor.
I like to make my Sunday post spiritual in nature and this morning at a very early morning church service I heard a word: acceptance. This is a word that comes up often in the values card deck that I use in coaching sessions with my clients. You can look at this word from all kinds of angles, see all sorts of meanings, and always come up with something that is appropriate to the situation we are working on.
Today’s angle is this: looking for ways to make others feel accepted. Today is a good day to take pause and reflect on where we do a good job welcoming others, including others, and making others feel important, rather than outcast. I know I can be overly optimistic at times, it is my nature, and I am okay with it, but I am still surprised every time I see grown ups acting like we are still in the school yard. There are still people who don’t include others, there is still the person who is “the last one picked.” Groups of adults huddled talking and when someone walks up they stop talking or turn their backs, for example. Why does this still happen? I am not pointing the finger at anyone in particular, as I do feel that in some situations we all have the inclination to behave this way, and only awareness and purpose can keep us away from this.
So today in addition to seeing where you are doing well, consider the times and places where you might not be including and welcoming others. What groups do you belong to both and business and in the rest of your life where there are people hanging around needing you to include them, but for whatever reason, you are not. What are these reasons? There is usually some level of fear at the root of these behaviors, on our part. Taking a moment to stop and think about what it might be can really help us to open up compassionately to see how our actions can hurt others.
If you are up to big things in life, if your intention creating a joyful life for yourself and those around you and to bring good in to the world, there is no place in your world for lack of acceptance of others. Make it a point to raise awareness in your life this week and to look past pre-conceived notions to really get to know someone instead of blocking them out. Go out and make someone feel amazing because you include them whole heartedly in something you and your friends or colleagues are doing. Don’t just sit at the “cool” table this week- that behavior is SO last week.