People often search for their troubles outside themselves.
“He hurt me, these circumstances broke me, life was unfair to me…” they say.
Yet the truth is this: most suffering arises simply because we refuse to accept what is.
When something doesn’t go the way we want, our mind immediately resists.
It consumes itself with the question, “Why did this happen?”
But if we could learn to accept the reality we cannot change, the burden we call sorrow would vanish.
The Story of the Mountain Shepherd
A king once sought the most peaceful man in his kingdom.
His soldiers eventually found a shepherd in the mountains: He had no worries, no complaints. He lived in simplicity and tranquility.
They invited him to the king’s court.
But in that very moment, the shepherd felt his first worry:
“I’m about to stand before the king what should I wear?”
Had he gone as himself, he would have remained the very symbol of peace.
But the moment he began to act according to someone else’s expectations, his mind grew heavy.
What made him free of troubles was acceptance; what burdened him was comparison.
What Does It Mean to Accept?
Acceptance is not surrender.
Acceptance means “to see reality as it is, to stop resisting, and to harmonize with what is.”
Because resisting reality is like walking against the wind: The harder you push, the more exhausted you become.
In truth, peace is not a skill but an awareness:
Where acceptance begins, peace follows.