The Blessings of Acceptance

There is an integral relationship between accepting life and people as they are, and enjoying a life with greater serenity.   Acceptance leads to new choices, discoveries and possibilities—many unexpected—as well as reduced stress, worry, and resentment.   In my forthcoming book, The Gifts of Acceptance: Embracing People and Things as They Are, these and other blessings are explored in depth together with keys to practicing acceptance in our relationships and affairs.

Let me highlight one important one for you.

The Blessing of Connection   

In these hectic, impersonal times, the need for  close, intimate bonds and connection with friends, family and loved ones are more important than ever for our overall well-being.   When people truly know you accept them, they don’t feel pressured or judged or “less than,” and trust develops and they feel safer in opening up to you.

Take Leslie, for example.   From a young age, she longed for contact from her dad after he had moved and remarried following a divorce from her mother.   Well into her adult years, she waited anxiously for a phone call on her birthday, and an “I love you.” When her father came to town, she hoped that he would call and want to see her.   When these things didn’t happen, she was always shattered.   She wondered,

“What did I do wrong? Why does he not want to be with me? How could he love his other family more?

“Until one day, I saw my dad for who he was, and accepted his shortcomings…I began not to ‘expect.’ I was then able to let go of all the anger, and all the things he was not doing somehow started to happen. Birthday cards, lunch dates when he was in town, and phone calls quite often.”

Thus, by finally accepting her father for how he was, Leslie was blessed with the caring connection for which she had yearned.

Leslie’s story is not unique. I have witnessed this dynamic many times over with family and friends and heard many other inspiring acceptance stories. When we accept others as they are, we don’t expect things of them. And when we don’t expect things, there is no pressure on them to be something other than who and how they are.    They are free to be just themselves, and greater trust, openness, and connection follow organically.

Acceptance is a Choice 

Fundamentally, acceptance is a choice we make. You can choose to accept people and circumstances as they are, or not.  If you choose acceptance, that very act births opportunities that can transform—often dramatically—your life, the lives of others, and I believe the world.

In the coming months, I will share acceptance stories from others who chose to accept and the blessings they received.

For now, you can read three such acceptance stories in the free chapter download from The Gifts of Acceptance by subscribing where provided above or by clicking here.

In the meantime,

Let Go of Control—and Accept What Is! 

         Danny 

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