moving actively into acceptance

I sat in a gathering of spiritual directors on Friday. One of them said... we need to move actively into acceptance rather than just allow ourselves to accept. I wrote it down. I revisited it time and again during the session and as you can see it is still moving around inside of me. What does it mean for me? How can I live it?

I brought this beauty home yesterday. It has been a few years since I had African Violets. The ones before must of contracted a fungus or something, because they all seemed to die in a season. It was quite sad.

I think growing African Violets says something about a person... or maybe it just says something about me. A friend of mine told me that African Violets flourish in gentle neglect. But I don't think it says I am a gentle neglector... though I might be... I think it says something about stillness and patience.

But can you be actively accepting and be still and patient? I'm looking for some connection here. Maybe there is none. But the violet is a sign of some movement in me.

I was talking yesterday with a woman about a dying dog. The dog is old and loved and he is dying and the choice has been made to not intercede, but just journey with him to the end. And I told her about the loss of my dog, years ago, and how I did not know if I could make that commitment again, knowing the probable outcome - that I would outlive another. And then I laughed, maybe that was the problem with my whole life. Maybe I just live around the edges of life's river and seldom wade into the deep water. Maybe standing in the deep water is moving actively into acceptance.

Maybe moving actively into acceptance is about taking some risks, shaking some bushes, being fearless at least once a day.