Acceptance for me means being honest with myself. Seeing people for who they are, not who I want them to be. Not trying to read people's minds or trying to figure out why they do what they do... just that they do what they do, b/c that's what they do!
Acceptance doesn't mean liking something, or even tolerating it, it just means that I know that there's nothing I can do to change it. It allows me to decide what I need to do to take care of me.
I guess acceptance also means I stop wishing things would be different, and start taking actions to make things better myself. Like the serenity prayer says...
God grant me the wisdom to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Some things just are what they are... that's acceptance to me.
Thanks for listening,
Shannon