Acceptance

Acceptance means that you perceive reality accurately and consciously acknowledge what you perceive. This may sound obvious, but it’s extremely difficult to achieve. If you experience difficulties in a particular area of your life, there’s a strong chance that this is a failure to accept reality as it is.  Acceptance allows us to navigate difficult moments and situations. Keeping a focus on what is wrong on bad about a particular situation keeps us stuck in negativity and prevents us from seeing other possibilities. Acceptance creates a safe space in which we can communicate honestly even in the presence of conflict. As you open your heart to find acceptance, things start to move and flow naturally again. It allows us to discover new options and positive possibilities that were not previously available or apparent.
Acceptance is one of the most powerful tools we can have in a difficult situation. However it is often the most unlikely for us. Problems or conflict tend to excite us into actions or reactions. These do not accommodate time for us to sit and ponder the situation at hand and make a choice in reality.  As humans we seem to have a low tolerance for things we perceive as wrong or not fitting into our world view, so we tend to quickly try to fix, or change the situation or person to ensure our own comfort.  Ironically this is typically counterproductive. These actions which are based on the sense that something is wrong in our world may give the impression to the other person involved that there is something wrong with them. This may cause them to feel hurt and become defensive or reactive. They may withdraw or completely shut down. Isn't acceptance what we all want to receive in a relationship? Then why is it so difficult for us to give? We have all felt the sting of rejection and know full well that there is no deeper hurt than the feeling of not being accepted.
This post on acceptance invites you to consider how it can allow all things to move forward in your life. Nonacceptance is nothing more than a simple recognition that something is not working. Taken at face value this has little power to transform anything. Does complaining about a situation really change it?  Acceptance lives in your heart, and when you open it willingness begins to flow. You begin to allow things to be as they are right now in the present. You accept without judgement the way you feel in the moment and the other person is the way they are and probably doing the best they can just like you. If the behavior is emotionally or physically abusive then you have the responsibility to communicate what does not work for you and for making your boundaries clear.

Each of us is on a journey down a path that is true for us. It's natural for us to want others, especially those we love, to join us on the path we feel is right.  However we cannot control the behaviors of others, we can only be responsible for ourselves.  It is possible that change can naturally occur in others when we stay true to our own path, without trying to change a thing about theirs.  Acceptance allows others the freedom to be who they wish to be and for us to be comfortable with ourselves without the validation of others.  Just because we don't agree with how someone else lives their life doesn't mean we have to change our love for them.  Rather than being threatened, dismayed or frustrated by our differences, why not celebrate them. An open and accepting mind can learn about itself from the behaviors of others.  What has it brought to your attention, and how does it illuminate changes you'd like to make within yourself? When we honor others for who they are, we can love them unconditionally. When we accept others, we also become more accepting of ourselves.  Rather than trying to change others, focus on yourself. We empower ourselves when we shift attention away from how others live, and place our awareness on our own lives.  Think of others as a mirror of ourselves.  When we take the time to be introspective, it becomes easier to stay centered in who we are and accept that we are all essentially the same, that is human.