Date: 5/26/2015

Title: EMBRACE REALITY – Part 2

By Jill Olson

Remember the old movie Reality Bites? I’m not sure I ever saw it, but I was always intrigued by the title. Yes, reality does bite at times. But to admit that means we have embraced it. We have acknowledged reality for what it is…..not for what we’d like it to be.

We have many options for viewing reality. We can think of it as an enemy, something from which to escape. We can view it as a requirement, something we have to endure. Reality can be a challenge for us, something to defeat. Or we can look at it as an opportunity to learn, and then embrace it. To embrace reality means we are living with integrity. Instead of banging our head against the wall, we step back and ask what we can learn from our situation….our reality.

To battle reality or run from it leads to frustration. We never really “win”, because our view of reality keeps changing….so we can’t actually get where we want to be. When distorting reality, we can place it in the past or hold it in the future. Negative statements keep us from seeing “what is”. At times, we read our reality through a lens covered with cobwebs of the past. “I wish I had done…….” “When I used to have…….” “Why wasn’t I born……”. Other times, we fling our reality to the future and believe in the magic wand of bidding. “When I am…….” “When I get……” “It will be better when…..” These declarations lead us down a rocky path of disappointment, because we can’t change the past nor control the future.

If we lean into reality, accept it for “what it is”, we are much better able to deal with whatever it holds. To live in the past or wait for the future robs us of our ability to choose. To put a spin on reality requires too much energy. To view reality, in all its colors and emotions, allows us the freedom to choose how to handle it and to be honest with ourselves. These actions are empowering, and it is a gift we give ourselves. This is the promise of embracing reality.

To learn more about how to practice this understanding, contact Results Group, LLC at www.ResultsGroupLLC.com or 515-330-2866.