Written by Sandy ElChaar & narrated by PrestonR.
Life sometimes presents us with challenges that we feel we can’t overcome. Imagine you’re carrying a backpack. This backpack symbolizes all the weight and struggles that life throws your way. Now, the question becomes: How do you handle that weight? Can you keep going with it, or does it weigh you down so much that you feel like you can’t move forward?
Here, two important actions come into play: enduring and accepting.
Enduring: Holding Your Ground
Enduring isn’t about passively waiting for things to get better. It’s the strength to stand your ground and hold your place, even when the weight of your backpack feels heavy. It’s an active decision to keep going, to not give up, no matter how hard things get.
Endurance is the very foundation of our ability to act. When faced with tough times, the first and last thing we can do is endure. It’s not just about surviving but finding the power within ourselves to remain present and faithful to our existence.
Acceptance: Letting Things Be
Acceptance takes enduring one step further. While enduring is about holding on, acceptance is about letting go. This doesn’t mean giving up; rather, it means acknowledging the situation as it is and making peace with it. It’s like saying, “This is how things are, and I can live with that.”
When we accept something, we recognize the reality of our situation and allow it to influence our decisions. It’s a humble acknowledgment that some things are beyond our control, but they don’t have to overwhelm us. We make room for the challenge in our lives, without losing our own space to breathe and grow.
The Balance of Both
To truly navigate life’s challenges, we need both endurance and acceptance. The endurance to keep going, and the acceptance to let go of what we cannot change. Together, they create a balance that allows us to handle even the heaviest of backpacks.
In the end, we find that when we endure and accept, there is enough space for both ourselves and our challenges to coexist. We can live with the weight, because it no longer threatens to crush us. Instead, we learn to carry it, with strength and peace.
Reference: Längle, A. (2020). The 1st Fundamental Motivation – Student Manual. GLE-International, Vienna