Can we accept...

Can we accept life as it is, as it comes and as it goes? Can we accept defeat, disappointment and rejection? Can we accept failure? Can we accept the failure that comes after success? Can we accept the dread that comes after celebration? Can we accept the hangovers and hang ups of life? Can we accept that even though time will finally heal all pain, time also makes it more painful along its serrated terrain? Can we accept the pain of a memory that refuses to leave and the shame of an experience that makes us cringe?

Can we accept the injustice in the pursuit of justice, the dare of a pyrrhic victory, and the regret of a confession? Can we accept that the face of virtue is often used to advance the maze of vices? Can we accept that the underdogs of society will forever be under the rule of the top dogs in reality? Can we accept that the proud is always humble and the humble is always proud? Can we accept that what is legitimate is always self-serving and what is self-serving is always legitimate? Can we accept that humanity can change but for some it is usually too late?

Can we accept uncertainty? Can we accept that the irony of being in control ends in the tyranny of being out of control? Can we accept that it is better to live your life one day at a time than to live your whole life all in one day? Can we accept the risk of a venture and the kiss of a betrayal? Can we accept the end of an era and the beginning of another? Can we accept that a life can be torn to pieces by the tyranny of a guilt and a dream can die stillborn by the terror of the few? Can we live with ourselves when living with ourselves means living with our mistakes, our shame and our tainted past?  

Can we accept humanity in the face of inhumanity? Can we accept the mindless adulation that the least deserving amongst us gets by dint of nepotism, patronage and inheritance? Can we accept the shallow fame of charisma in the shadowy shame of hypocrisy? Can we accept that some are condemned by the dictates of their genes even before they were conceived? Can we accept that it is better to be born lucky than to be born smart, rich and pretty?

Can we accept that success is easy for some and elusive for others? Can we accept the effortless fortune of another without the torment of envy and endless self-torture? Can we accept that some people are at the right place at the right time and others are at the wrong place at the worst of time? Can we accept that some are born to wealth and remain that way whilst others are born to poverty to their very last day?

Can we accept the imperfection of a seemingly perfect religion? Can we accept that our faith is threatened more by those who profess it than those who denounce it? Can we accept that it is easier to get religion out of the world than to get the world out of religion? Can we accept that sometimes it rains on the just and sometimes it rains on the unjust, but it is more often than not that the unjust has a place of shelter? Can we accept that sometimes prayer is realized more often through human effort than divine providence? Can we accept that there is more irony and disillusionment in organized religion than in a house of drinks and merriment?

Can we accept a marriage beyond repair? Can we accept that couples who were once irretrievably passionate might turn out hopelessly irreconcilable? Can we accept that true love may be found in your second marriage and not your first? Can we accept that some men will cheat and get away with it while others will regret for the rest of their life and die brokenhearted? Can we accept that some will marry for love but break up when distracted and others will marry out of obligation and stay in love when tested?

Can we accept that time does not play favorites? Can we accept that there is a time for growth but not everyone has time for it? Can we accept that time favors the prepared and disfavors the unprepared? Can we accept time as an ally when we are ready, a foe when we are sully, and a trap when we are unwary? Can we accept that fate is nothing more than time taking its time? Can we accept that success is nothing more than time rewarding our effort and failure is nothing more than time condemning our pride?  

Can we accept that acceptance is sometimes all that we have and our refusal to accept it only delays our recovery? Can we accept that things we can change are call "faith" and things we cannot are called "fate"? Can we accept that giving up is at times victory's reprieve and persisting is misery relived? Can we accept that death has the clumsiest streak and she falls on you even when you are asleep? Can we accept that the only place Murphy's Law has no application whatsoever is in the graveyard?

Alas, what is a long life that is endured for its length but not enriched by its depth? How do we make up for the number of years toiled if we do not make our life counts in areas we know will not return to us void? So, can't we accept the irony of it all from the perspective of a man who had once died and is now given a second chance at life?

Here is one ending that I gladly accept and it is in the words of Niebuhr on the wisdom of this fact:-

"God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed,
courage to change the things which should be changed, and
the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.  

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen."
Cheerz.