Last night, I was sitting around with a group of friends and we were talking about the secrets to living a joyful, peaceful life (are your ears perking up?) One woman was telling a story about how she has been swimming in the ocean for years, and every time she dives into the Pacific, she wishes it wasn’t cold. Yet, every time she swims, it is cold. Finally, she came to a place of peace, where she no longer wished it was warm. She simply accepted what is. The Pacific is cold- no judgment. No good or bad about it. By accepting it, she quit struggling against the cold, surrendering into it, and just letting it be cold. Suddenly, she found the cold infinitely easier to tolerate. Swimming became joyful.