SELF - ACCEPTANCE: DARKNESS to LIGHT w/Mark Twain

The ''LEFT-HAND''
ACCEPTANCE -


---To state more clearly and to answer why this particular essay is so important in my own life and why I think it is important to ALL of us. It is an example in my own experience of how one goes from the darkness into the light. Well placed Affirmation along the way gave me what I needed to continue.
---I was born with my left-hand missing four fingers. The stages I went through toward Acceptance are very much the same as Kubler-Ross' stages of accepting situations in our lives. She, herself, came upon these as she was looking into how we grieve.

---DENIAL - Keeping my hand in my pocket and not letting others or anyone see or experience the real me. It seemed easier, but I wasn't being honest with myself and that is very important.

---ANGER - Came about in the form that I should be able to show my hand, but I just couldn't.

---BARGAINING -  ''If God will grow my fingers than...'' I became a bit irrational at times because it would keep me from having to face the reality of having the missing fingers. This stage taught me much as I could see that I had some growing and learning to do. My ideas of God greatly matured here.

---DESPAIR - Realized that there was ''nothing'' I could do to change my situation-except Change My Attitude. Growth was happening, Acceptance was taking place, but I felt very helpless. I needed to trust that it was okay to be me. I had to ''Let go'' of the way I thought IT was supposed to be, and actually get on with things. It was one of the most painful situations I ever had to face, but it carried great rewards with it. I was closer to being the person I was born to be.

---A word to the wise in all of this. It is a PROCESS and one will HAVE to allow some time to embody what is going on with oneself. Take it slow and don't try to force anything. It is a natural growth process so all we have to do is just be honest with ourselves each step of the journey we are on. We will grow ''into'' whatever we are to gain from all this. Be good to yourself and keep it simple.

---ACCEPTANCE - ''Gradually'' you find yourself NOT hiding your hand, or whatever it might be, in your pocket or anywhere else for that matter. In fact, your attitude can turn so much that you forget that at one time it was even an issue. It is the process where suddenly you can see that which you thought to be a Curse, is really a Blessing. Be Well.