Radical Acceptance and What It Can Do for You

Those that don’t practice radical acceptance often lament that things aren’t the way they’d like them to be. They complain about the situation not being fair. They judge situations and people. Does this sound like you? 

Radical acceptance means accepting people and situations as they are. It’s about accepting reality. 

Many people confuse acceptance with approval, but this isn’t accurate. Accepting the reality of a situation means that you’re moving beyond judging it and are looking for possible solutions. 

Instead of crying and whining about the weather, you’re looking for an umbrella. Instead of wallowing over a lost job, you’re making a plan to tighten up your finances and find a new job. Instead of complaining that you don’t have many friends, you get busy building your social circle. 

Use these strategies to allow radical acceptance to bring you emotional peace and positive change: 

1. Recognize what you can and cannot control. This is a great first step for understanding radical acceptance. Accept what you can’t control and take action to create your desired results with those things you can control. 

2. Understand the pain that a lack of acceptance creates. Refusing to accept your current situation, past, or limitations is a recipe for misery. 

• Acceptance allows for progress and growth. 

3. Acknowledge the reality of the situation. What is your current situation financially, socially, educationally, and professionally? What is your current health status? What is the reality of your life? When you are able to identify and accept your current situation, you’re in a position to make wise decisions. 

4. Be present. You’re not practicing radical acceptance if you’re daydreaming, thinking of the past, or dreaming about the future. The only reality is happening right now. 

5. Accept your situation without judgment. To truly accept it, you can’t judge it. Judging means that you’re deciding whether it’s good or bad, positive or negative. Judging means you can be upset or pleased by it. Radical acceptance just accepts what is without judgment. 

• That doesn’t meanyou have to live with your situation. You’re free to evaluate it in a non-judgmental way and take action as you see fit. It’s a very real, but subtle, difference. 

6. Accept yourself. We’ll all have strengths and weaknesses. Accept everything about yourself. You’ll discover a peace you’ve never experienced before. 

7. Look for solutions. Radical acceptance means spending time on solutions rather than ruminating on the challenges in your life. If you accept what’s happening in your life, there’s not a lot of reason to sit around and dwell on it. Ideally, you’ll be looking for ways to make enhancements. 

Radical acceptance is both easy and challenging. It can be the easiest thing in the world. You just stop judging, accept reality, and take whatever action is appropriate. 

It can be challenging because there are advantages to focusing on your suffering. Some people are addicted to the drama they create in their head. It’s easier to justify not taking action when you immobilize yourself emotionally. And let’s face it, judging is a habit that can be challenging to overcome. We also like making excuses for ourselves. 

Try radical acceptance and see what type of impact it has on your life. You’ll like the results!