What Is Acceptance?

‘What is acceptance?’ is an interesting question, precisely because acceptance is the answer… for example, as it relates to grief, it might be said, acceptance is the stage at which one begins to experience a sense of peace concerning that which brought about the cycle of grieving. Although this does not mean they have completed the cycle or are ‘done with’ or ‘over’ grieving, or that any person processes a given emotion or feeling within a predictable certainty, so to speak. As it relates to spirituality and/or other such matters in life, acceptance is synonymous with surrender, forgiveness, absence of judgment, and in turn, grace. As eloquently stated by psychiatric doctor and author David R. Hawkins, “All judgement reveals itself to be self judgment in the end.” And “Forgiveness is an aspect of love that allows us to see life events from the viewpoint of grace.” He also goes on to say that “Love makes no demands” And thus, it can be said, acceptance is an act of love, for oneself and all else. As written in the book, ‘Letting Go: The Pathway Of Surrender’ “we have three major ways of handling feelings: suppression, expression, and escape.” And of these, only expression takes place proceeding acceptance. It could be further stated that the spectrum of all feelings, emotions, and the like, can be subdivided into two fundamentally opposite poles. These being  Fear, at the low end, and Love, at the high end. Be mindful and remind yourself not to I’ve in fear of accepting and expressing yourself, as it is an act of love to do so.