To Accept or Not..That is Your Question...

The concept of acceptance…what is it to accept. Is acceptance submissive? Is it realistic? Is it a cop out? What is it…what is it to accept?

Most of you have heard of and maybe prayed the serenity prayer:

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.

DING DING...........re-read the last line…wisdom to know the difference. Everything does not need to be accepted in our lives. Acceptance can be liberating and it can be freeing but it can also be submissive, fear based, and an excuse. 

So many of us accept things that can be changed. We accept changeable things out of fear, loneliness, obligation, religion, cultural norms, poverty, and because we are tired of fighting the fight.

I am learning to accept the things I cannot change. I cannot change that I am connected to some relationships because of parental responsibilities and family issues. I cannot change the family in which I was born into. I cannot change my childhood trauma. I cannot change the past.

What can I change?  I can change allowing others to treat me with disrespect and disregard. I can change who I have in my life. I can change being involved in unbalanced and mediocre relationships. I can change my perceptions of my past. I can change my perceptions of myself.

What I will accept . I can  and will accept myself where I am today. I can accept that I human and I error. I can accept that I am not alone and that I don't have to fight the fight alone.

I will accept the things of the past and will embrace them as I move forward. I will accept that I deserve to be around healthy, loving and balanced people. I will accept that at this very moment in my life,  things are good, solid and real. I will accept that things change in life. I will accept there will be hurt and sorrow, love and loved lost. I will accept that I will have dark and light days.

What I will not accept anymore is the attitude or the kind of thinking from myself that tells me “this is as good as it gets or this is better than nothing or I should be happy because there are people in a lot worse shape than I”.

I am grateful, I am loving, I am warm and I kind and I will not accept being treated in anyway less than what I deserve in humanity. I will not accept that “it is as good as it gets”…I am worth more than that…

Accept the things you cannot change…do not submit to the things you can change…you are worth more than that…

Keeping it real with Dr. Mary G