Accepting what is, as some sort of meditative exercise or mindset, does not mean to just ignore unpleasant feelings & situations.
(That would be tragic.)
It means feeling what is there to feel, without reducing, denying, avoiding, or analyzing.
React or not; it doesn't matter.
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If you don't want to be somewhere, you can leave. If you have an obligation that overrules your desire, you can follow that obligation.
There is no need to question all of these things at every stage. Our minds work better without interference. But, no need to avoid questions.
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If you stop *trying* to insert volition into every situation, you will generally find that things go smoothly.
If there is a sense of choosing, that's great. If there isn't, that's also fine.
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Deep down, you know when you are in deep existential turmoil and when you are running a script that tells you it's your job to do such and such.
If you are attuned to that difference in feeling, a lot of situations are easier to handle than if you aren't.
(Except the former)
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The biggest confounding variable for contemporaries is that we have so many fucking obligations.
You don't want to do X, but if you don't there is an entire chain of obligations that lead to Y, Z, and eventual outcomes you despise.
So what do you want, and what don't you want?
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If you stay attuned to your responsibilities and to social expectations, this strengthens (some of) your ability to keep track of eventual outcomes.
What is simultaneously lost is your attunement to your core wants and needs.
Do they align with your responsibilities & routines?
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As it happens, the answer is often tricky to discern. If your responsibilities suit you poorly, you may resent your wants & needs.
If you give up those responsibilities, those wants and needs may find a second wind.
Maybe you could do things differently? Maybe...
Maybe.
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But sometimes there are other, darker reasons for our obsessions with routines, responsibilities and expectations.
Perhaps, if we peered, we'd find our interest in what's beneath has faded - is even totally gone.
And then what? The Void opens underneath our feet.
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So, questions of greater consequence for us:
Not, "do you know what you want?"
Not, "do you know what must be done?"
But, "do you want to know what you want?"
And, "do you want to know what must be done?"
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There must have been many times throughout history when such questions seemed either ludicrous or trivial.
But it's hard to think of more important questions for the here and now, on a personal level.
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