(For Day Two of the Festival of Words hosted by Write Tribe from July 10 to July 16, 2016, I’m writing a 100-word story about acceptance of oneself – It is about a little girl who suffers from dyslexia and about coming to terms with her unique condition as an individual!)
Acceptance
Unable to take it anymore, she burst into tears. Her friends teased her in school. Couldn’t tell right from left. Couldn’t spell her own name!
“I hate myself…Why can’t I be like them?” Tears flowed.
Wiping off tears, the mother replied, “Seen the beautiful flowers in the garden, sweetie? Do they bloom all at the same time?”
“No.”
“So, is it with us. We are all unique. Waiting to bloom at different times.”
The little girl looked up.
“Holding onto anger is like grasping hot coal. You’re the one that gets burnt. First, be kind to yourself.”
They hugged each other and smiled.
(How easily do you accept your flaws and imperfections? Have you ever been hard on yourself for not having lived up to the expectations set by yourself or others? Do you practice kindness to yourself?
Here are my other posts for the Festival of Words:
Day 1: A Haiku – The Day is Ending
I hope every parent teaches her child to accept herself just the way she is and not create fear and anger and transferring it further to the child. Such an important lesson – Holding onto anger is like grasping hot coal since it is going to burn you and not anybody else. Though I am reading it today but we have already discussed this with respect to my friend holding hurt for the last 8 months.
Glad we had that chat the other day Anamika. This is exactly waht came to mind when we were talking but I thought, I’d let you read my post first and then see how you respond. I’ve seen so much of that anger, that I always say this to myself when something hurts me, that I never wish to be in that place myself.
simple, yet so logical. anyone would buy your point.
The answers lie within us, Ajay! Only we take so much time realising this truth!
Such a beautiful way to explain the realities of life to a kid. Love the analogy too! I think, earlier I was harsh on myself. But now I believe that beauty is about being comfortable in your own skin. It’s about knowing and accepting who you are. So, make peace with who you are and rest all will fall in place too!
Thanks a lot Shilpa! You’re absolutely right…we do tend to be a little more harsh than we ought to be but with time, most of us realise that acceptance paves the way for a lot of peace within us. In the end that really matters I think.
Such a beautiful tale about life. How I wish we could make things simple for ourselves!!
Thanks so much Vishal. I agree …hard to retain that simplicity and innocence of childhood!
It does get a little saddening when you are different and unique in a world where everyone demands perfection. This thought must be spread a little more.
True Mithila. And such a worry at such an early age is really heartbreaking to see in children who should be feeling happy and secure in themselves. Don’t you think so?
Totally!
Yes! Acceptance is the key. Beautiful story. 🙂
Thanks, Payal! 🙂
Very touching story…..sometimes all we need to do is accept ourselves. The next step won’t be that difficult then.
Thanks Sunaina. Many children face these difficult realities very early on in life and the battle continues throughout adulthood if they have not come to accept what is beyond their control and do it with grace. I see a lot of grownups carry their baggage around their entire life struggling to come to terms with it.
that’s a lovely way to make a kid understand. Indeed as a child it was so easy to understand our imperfection and work towards it.
Ya, guess thats why children can be so free from the baggage that we pick up as adults! We are all better or worse than someone, yet why is it that we choose to focus only on the worse bits and feel misery? Acceptance paves the way for peace within. I’ve learnt the hard way that there is no other way that works as well.
So beautiful Esha! I am so happy the child has such an understanding and loving mum, you brought that out wonderfully! It makes such a change from having to deal with hardships all alone, especially at that tender an age.
Thanks, Kala. You know kids face a lot of cruel behaviour at school and some of our basic attitudes get set in those formative years. I’ve realised that acceptance was one of life’s toughest lessons for me, so wanted to put that through this story. Glad you liked 🙂
Accepting our imperfections can be difficult at times.
Yes, true that! Life lessons that we learn eventually often alter our initial perceptions. Guess, with age, we learn to accept our imperfections a lot more easily!!
Wish I could reply otherwise but no, in real life, I tend to be extremely harsh on myself. Even if the circumstances were unavoidable, I still blame myself for the wrong paths and failures in my life.
I agree at times we all tend to harp on what went wrong with our efforts, especially when we could have done our bit but didn’t! But, when we are faced with situations beyond our control, it is wise to accept that gracefully as well? You shouldn’t be so harsh on yourself you know!
Acceptance paves way to peace. We cannot always change things according to our wishes. Beautiful comparison with flowers and the coal.
Thanks Darshana. Yes, it’s true what we cannot change we must accept with grace and move on! Life is way bigger than our worries, isn’t it?
That was a beautiful story…I do tend to be hard on myself a lot…but i am trying to give myself more credit these days 🙂
Thank you so much! I guess we all do that every once in a while but with time, learn to relax and be kind to the self!
“Holding onto anger is like grasping hot coal. You’re the one that gets burnt.” – Powerful words.
Thanks Sheethal! Glad to see you here 🙂
Such beautiful words. Love the analogy with flowers blooming.
Thank you so much, Suzy!