The Power of Acceptance

Embracing the compassionate realist within.
Acceptance may be knowing when to stay or when to leave. Photo: Marten Bjork

By Donna D’Cruz

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

There is great power in acceptance. It takes tremendous courage to accept. What is it to accept? In any relationship—with your family, with your friends, with your workmates and the most vital of all, the relationship with self—we must have a willingness to tolerate a challenging or unpleasant situation. We can choose to ascend or descend in the reality of the situation, recognizing its process, condition or circumstance. Acceptance is a willful act, a choice.

It is the ego—that slippery, devilish, impish, naughty, shameless part of us that is the ultimate seductress. We have an idea of what we want things to be and how we want things to be, versus coming to terms with what they simply are. Embracing the joy of acceptance is being at one with it. It doesn’t mean you are a failure or a slacker or weak. What you are is a compassionate realist. Sometimes acceptance may mean knowing when to stay or when to leave. Whatever it is that pains you, drains you or becomes intolerable instead of uplifting your spirit. In the game of this beautiful thing, life, it’s about staying in a flow state, knowing when to hit, stick or fold. Acceptance is the opposite of meek resignation.

Acceptance is about making an active choice and a clarion call of self-worth. It is empowering to say, “This I choose to accept—this I choose not to accept.” And here’s why.

From toxic friendships that no longer sustain us and have run their course…

From family members whose negativity affects all around them…

From great love that has dimmed and turned to dust…

It’s separating the wheat from the chaff that takes judgment, discernment and endless amounts of self-compassion. To all of that, add the ability to listen to your heart and gut and follow those infallible guides. It is the gift of having the wisdom to know the difference.

Ultimately, all acceptance begins with the face looking back at you in the mirror.
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