Acceptance

The best thing one can do when it is raining is let it rain.
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“Parent the Child you Have” is a slogan used in parenting but has application for all aspects of life.  To accept what is, not what we hoped for.   Our distress gets turned up when

  1. We want what we do not have,  and
  2. We have no agency over changing it.

Radially accept we must.   “Parent the Child you Have” operationalizes self-compassion.  It means to accept:

  • The colleague who doesn’t honor agreements, after multiple crucial conversations
  • Traffic, potholes, unreliable public transport
  • Covid Delta resurgence
  • Those that don’t say what they mean
  • Spam phone calls/texts
  • The tissue that went thru the washer
  • The friend who only offers false optimism  when I am telling them something hard.

There is an ever-expanding universe of things we are wholly powerless over.  “Parent the Child you Have” is an edgy shorthand to want what you have.  Or change your relationship to it.

We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.

―Joseph Campbell

 

Wellbeing Ideas

Two Podcast interviews on Choosing Wellness,  Eileen’s recently published book

Good Morning Washington Interview on Choosing Wellness 

Women Living Healthy  

The NP Business Matters Podcast


 

Journal Prompts for People Pleasers


How to clean dirty white sneakers

I just did this with a mud soaked sneaker– and it was miraculous- using toothpaste and stain remover. Keep your feet happy


Tiny purchases that disproportionally improve one’s life–here is a fun list

Stay Well!

Eileen O'Grady
About the author

Dr. Eileen O'Grady is a certified adult nurse practitioner who has practiced in primary care for over two decades. In that role she experienced a wide breadth and depth of humanity with disorders of the mind, body and spirit. She believes deeply that internal change leads to wellness, and that many disorders and diseases are entirely reversible with dramatic lifestyle change. Eileen's School of Wellness offers a unique approach to well-being. Through retreats and keynotes, workshops, and coaching, she provides practical tools that inspire, cultivate resilience, mindfulness, and agility, empowering individuals, teams, and organizations to thrive.

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