How can we possibly accept injustice

The other day I was asked by a dear friend and client….How do you accept injustice?

We were sitting in Circle talking about acceptance. I asked her and the other woman in the group to take this month and embody acceptance.  I asked them to fully accept themselves, others, and their experiences.

It was a great question because injustice is really difficult to accept! We tend to blame others for something we feel they are doing wrong. But injustice is societal. Meaning it comes from a deeper place than what we might see or experience.

The person(s) or system we feel is unjust goes back to the person(s) who created that and the ancestors who created that and so on… so we can say that our entire world is unjust.

And then the question was asked, “If we accept, do we then do nothing?”

This was a great follow up question. We are only accepting what is and that doesn’t mean we do nothing. We create big change from experiencing injustice; however, it must come from a place of accepting what is true. There is so much power there.

The truth is not in the story that we are telling ourselves.  The truth comes from grounding and really feeling the experience as a whole.  You first have to feel the emotions and accept the feelings you have. Grounding occurs from acceptance.  Then you separate yourself from the emotions that you feel and look at the injustice from a broader view.

For example, when I heard of the terrorist attack that happened in London in June it brought me to my knees asking, WHY? My usual response to this kind of injustice is to look away and pretend I didn’t hear about it.  This is my go-to response because it is difficult to feel and accept tragedies like this.  This time I decided to really feel the injustice that was taking place.  I expanded my being and was able to really feel the pain and suffering that was happening during that time.  It brought me to tears and I really felt the emotion.

There was so much information in that emotion because I could feel the truth of hate. The only way I could really feel the hate was to experience the injustice.  After the experience I could see the bigger picture of injustice that has plagued our society and world for a very long time.  There was nothing I could do in that moment except pray. I sent a prayer of peace into the world.  I sent a prayer of healing into the world.

Sometimes we are able to speak to the injustice.  We are able to make real change by standing up and speaking against it.  But it must comes from a peaceful place.

When we speak to the injustice from a place of true acceptance others will listen and then real change can happen.

Have you encountered such injustices and how did you approach it? My hope is that your experiences can help others grapple with their own efforts. Leave a comment below!