IN PURSUIT OF ACCEPTANCE

Brandishing his irregularly sized set of off-white, semi-brown coloured teeth as he moved his head from side to side in response to sounds emanating from surrounding loud speakers, snapping and tapping his feet without any found cohesion, he obviously seems to be enjoying a music he can't hear.
Its a party, and it is of course at its climax already, with everyone perfectly squared in pairs, each with their dance buddies, save this stout dark man who appeared to be carried away by the sound of the music.
His face could not be seen, his blue-black golf-type face cap had covered perfectly his face, leaving to bare his dark strangled beard. For a while I paused my groove to observe this middle-aged man, probing closely into his body movements. It was the same for every music that was played, be it fast or slow beats. He never changed his steps, his feet hit the ground with the same pace and his fingers snapped with the same intensity to every sound that oozed out of those speakers.
Something must be wrong, I said to myself, its either someone isn't getting something right, or something isn't right with someone. I hadn't thought for long before I got answers to my question. I turned again to continue my dance, giving in to the advances of my dance partner who pulled me repeatedly asking that I concentrated in the dance or have someone else replace me. But this was not to last, shortly the Disc Jockey stopped the music at the request of the Master of Ceremony, and calm was restored to every section of the hall, except of course that of "my friend's".
"I bothered less at first, until the music completely stopped and he would not stop. It became glaring, and I could see deep inside of him, a man in dire #NeedofAcceptance" -TW™
As always his movement remained constant, his dance routine hadn't changed, he remained all smiles, the loudness of his snaps was even more evident, he had just won himself the attention of the crowd.
Did he not know the music had stopped, can't he see normalcy has been restored, or is he so lost in the groove that he's having a relapse? I couldn't ask enough questions, so was it with everyone around. Pitifully, this man has just won the attention of the crowd, and in fact altered the focus of the party, it was gradually becoming all about him.
"Protocol please attend to this fellow", the MC said with so much empathy in his voice. I wasn't one of the protocol officers for the party, but I could not resist getting to him, my inquisitiveness was all I needed to be satisfied at that moment. About 3-hefty men, closed in on this dude in a bid to usher him out of the hall for reasons of public safety. I accompanied them, and my only reason was to get that cap off his face so he could be identified.
....Excuse me mister! One of the men asked him, but he wouldn't mind him. A tap on his body was all he needed to be informed that the dance was over and he be restored to normalcy, and that he got after minutes of calling his attention to no avail.
"Swoop!" I pulled off his face cap to unveil his face, I had never been that shocked in my life, my eyeball popped out, in a mix feeling of sorrow and laughter, struggling to decide which would get the most of me. All the while it was Joe, (a popular deaf man in the neighborhood) starring in this epic comedy.
He was known to many, a familiar face he was around that neighborhood, this won him some sympathy as the party faithfuls beheld him, but obviously not an iota of sympathy from the bouncers (protocol).
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. . . D E E P S I G H.
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ACCEPTANCE is the state of being accepted or acceptable.
It is originally forceable, but many try to force it. Many are hungry for acceptance, some will do anything to get the satisfaction that comes with this feeling, even if it will cost them a fortune or a life.
I look around, to every facet of our lives viz Religion, Culture, Environment etc and I see on my people's faces a cry for acceptance.
Everyone wants to 'belong', nobody wants to be ostracized, now we are tending towards living our lives for the society or a class or group we belong to. Whether or not we are capable of living at such standards, we 'kill' ourselves to live it.
"Like the deaf man whose eyes are shut, feigning to be listening to a song, all he wants is for you to believe he's a part of the party so as not to be pulled out or taken away. But woe betide him the day the music stops and there's no one around to tap him" -TW™
Not everyone is concerned in this, yet everyone is involved.
Prevalent among the innate reasons for crime world over today, is found THE CRAVE FOR ACCEPTANCE. Acceptance both by the larger society, and/or a cliche.
The clothes you wear, the shoes, the bag, the car, the house, name it; are/could all be borne out of a need for acceptance.
It bothers me little to see people swear oaths for name change, picking up high-sounding combinations of nothingness that do not align with elements of their culture, background or race, all in a bid to "FIT-IN".
The lady with 3-thick dark marks swiped across both sides of her face, still looks forward to being called "Susan Downsen" just so she could fit in to some segment of the community, because she erroneously believes its the name that makes them thick or open door of favour.
Its true that your friends define you, and the class of people to which you belong can grant you some advantage, but that's not what you were created for, to seek cheap advantage on the platform of association.
Come on, you are who you are! You were made to influence and not to be influenced!
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We have lost a lot in this pursuit for acceptance, our crave for acceptance has cost us our identity as a people. But little do we know that acceptance is relative, acceptance is regional, acceptance can never be uniform, as what is obtainable here might not be over there. And what is seen as welcome over there, could totally be outcast and forbidden here.
Like you know I do here, I throw into light the issue without any form of direct castigation or sample provision, no scapegoats named, except those inferred personally and by individual self-realization. Everyone is allowed his own freedom of guilt, nothing is imposed.
The core of the matter here is to evaluate HOW FAR/BAD YOU CRAVE FOR ACCEPTANCE HAS TAKEN YOU.?
HAVE THE THINGS YOU DO/HAVE DONE BEEN INSPIRED BY YOUR NEED FOR ACCEPTANCE OR SELF ACTUALIZATION?
ARE YOU CONVINIENT WITH YOUR PRESENT CONDITION/STATE OR ITS A MATTER OF GAINING ACCEPTANCE?
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Friends, it is paramount to see beyond the MUNDANE, and look deep into TRUE FULFILLMENT. We need to stop looking for a class to belong, and rather spend much of our time and effort defining for ourselves a distinct class, one in which we are comfortable, one in which we are real, one in which our innermost gifting can find a fertile soil for expression.
"YOU HAVE NOT PERFORMED WELL BECAUSE YOU HAVE NOT FOUND YOUR SPOT" -TW™
However viable the cocoa seed, it will not grow on a rock, even if growing on the rock becomes the "ing-thing" or the criteria for acceptance. Even if it improvises with some soil to its base and survives upto a metre or two, it'll before long fall off, and that fate it will suffer on a very bright and sunny day where spectators are sited and present.
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We should note; It is he that is/feels inferior that seeks acceptance, his superior or the one he has allowed to assume that status is the one who welcomes him into the fold he desires to be a part of. Not teaching anyone to exhibit pride, but if you must seek acceptance, it must not be at the expense of your right senses.
...One word too many already, I must save the ink for another day, until then, note always that;
"TRUE ACCEPTANCE COMES WITH FINDING YOURSELF -TW™
Now let this pursuit be more of finding acceptance in yourself.
True acceptance, in my opinion, is the key to convert momentary happiness to enduring happiness. It helps you move from feeling happy to actually being happy.
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The Wordsmith™
(C) 2013.
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