The seasons are changing at the moment. Summer in Seattle is yielding to the cool, crisp days of autumn. There isn't a thing any of us can do about it.

Some people will welcome this transition. Others will be frustrated and disappointed by it. No matter what our reaction, the change is happening anyway.

I'm a big believer in fully participating in the co-creation of my life. I believe that God or the Universe and I create my life together. My responsibility and opportunity to affect my destiny are powerful!

Yet, it is also important to realize that sometimes I will not get what I want or think is best for me. Sometimes there is a higher plan in place. A plan that I can't see at the present moment. In some cases, I might eventually get to see and understand. In other cases, I won't.

The bottom line is, I have to do all I can to reach my goals and pursue what it is I want in life and then release the outcome to a higher source.

Even while I'm working for a different future or outcome than where I find myself in the present moment, I can still find peace by accepting the place I stand today. Hating or resisting where I am is not going to get me out of it. In fact, denying my reality or despising it feeds energy into the very situation I want to get out of.

Learning to 'accept what is' while working for a different experience is the key to finding peace in life - whether you have what you want, or not. The best chance of changing a situation is to accept the current situation BECAUSE IT EXISTS, and then set about changing it in all the ways you know how.

Acceptance does not mean giving up! A lot of people think that if they accept something, they are saying they want it to stay that way for ever. That is resignation. Resigning oneself to a condition is different than accepting that the condition is what exists RIGHT NOW. It might not exist in the next minute, hour, day, week, month or year... but it is what it is - right now.

Weight loss is one of the areas that provides a great example. Hating and despising one's body because it isn't the size we want it to be, keeps us locked in an unwinnable battle with ourselves. Through accepting ourselves at our current size, accepting it 'as it is' allows us to work for change from a place of love and compassion for ourselves, rather than from a position of self hatred! Fighting ourselves is exhausting. Loving ourselves, and making changes to help our bodies get healthier is where we want to place that energy.

Become a student of 'acceptance.' The more we accept what is, the easier it is to move off of that spot into a reality we'd rather experience.

Accept what is.