Acceptance and its questionable reputation At first glance acceptance doesn’t have a great reputation does it? What often springs to mind is defeat. It feels somehow passive, perhaps resigned to settling for less that we had hoped for. It may feel unpalatable and against our every instinct. It feels like giving up. But it’s not. Acceptance takes a huge effort. It’s hard work to accept something as it is, especially when it’s not what we’d hoped for or have been working towards. Definitions of acceptance So what’s the definition of acceptance? “It is a person’s assent to the reality of a situation, recognizing a process or condition (often a negative or uncomfortable situation) without attempting to change it or protest it.” [1] Jon Kabat- Zinn describes acceptance as taking “A huge amount of fortitude and motivation to accept what is — especially when you don’t like it — and then work wisely and effectively as best you possibly can with the circumstances you find yourself in and with the resources at your disposal, both inner and outer, to mitigate, heal, redirect, and change what can be changed.” [2] So why is acceptance good for us? Acceptance helps us to move forward. Acceptance … Continue reading Acceptance – Why We Need More of it