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Acceptance means embracing reality. Here it is! OK! Here we are—us being us! Doing or not doing!It being it.

Speaking philosophically (more personally later):

Regarding the past, acceptance is

Noticing when I regret, and instead of dwelling in regret, allowing myself to grieve what feels like lost opportunities and mistakes I have made that have hurt myself others.

Noticing when I resent and blame people about the past, allowing myself again to feel the grief behind it, and when I am ready (I tend to want to skip the grief part), remembering that those people were doing the best they knew how, feeling love and compassion for them.

It does not mean milking grief for all its worth, turning it into a a strong neuronal habit in my brain. Actually, the last sentence is up for grabs. In ultimate acceptance, which is way beyond me, I guess I would milk every emotion for all its worth.

Acceptance regarding the present:

The idea is for me to come from the stance that: I accept myself every moment that I am aware that I am not living up to the following stance: I accept how I am behaving/thinking/feeling as soon as I notice that I am doing that. I accept how those around me are behaving/thinking/feeling as soon as I notice that I am not accepting that they are doing that. I accept how all people and the Universe are existing/behaving/thinking/feeling as soon as I notice that I am not accepting that. I accept that I am not often aware and have the intention to be more aware, without pushing myself in a nonloving way.

Acceptance regarding the future:

Accepting that anything could happen. Accepting that I could do anything that I would feel was positive or negative (within the range of my human capability). Accepting that I will open and close and open and close… to my potential.

OK, so getting more into my own issues, I will jump off from a sentence in the reading:

“Unless you come to acceptance, everybody else will know the truth about you in spite of how well you hide it from yourself.”

Dang! How embarassing! Now future embarassment could be a (nonvirtuous) motivator to go ahead and voice some things I have a hard time accepting about myself. I have a really hard time accepting that I can behave as one weak, resentful, blaming, goody-two-shoes, think I know best, tend to introvert, don’t get things done I intend to, procrastinate as a fine art, lie to “save myself from things ‘I cannot bear’ ”, do things I disagree with that authority figures want me to do, don’t do things that authority figures want me to do—mucking their larger goals with my shifting between loyalty and rebellion, intellectualize, avoid feelings and therefore are not there for myself and others, act from unconscious repeating negative behaviors of what I experienced as a child (one example is being passive-aggressive), difficulty getting to a point, and being a closet narcissist.

I have a hard time remembering that the above are behaviors, not adjectives or nouns that describe my true Self.

It does not mean milking grief for all its worth, turning it into a a strong neuronal habit in my brain.

To meet myself where I am, find out who I really am and accept myself there. To connect with the me who is and notice the me who is pretending to be.

Not judging, finding fault and criticizing. Being open. Being aware of, and taking into account the things someone has gone through to get to where they are.

Acceptance means accepting that I have to manage myself differently from the way I would if I were not bipolar. I can't do all the same things other people do, like drinking coffee after 11am or staying up late. I have to not let myself go hungry for too long,or get dehydrated. I have to be more self-aware in recognizing my state at any time and be ready with medication, nutritional, supplement, sleep, talk therapy, exercise, or other interventions if needed. I have to actually do these things that are necessary to maintain balance. I must strive to be more self-sufficient, so that I can take care of myself in all situations. I also should build my support network so that it's not just a few people who are there in case of a need for intervention. Most importantly, I need to be able to recognize a state and intervene for myself. I need to recognize cause and effect for any of my states and work to prevent them. If I am having a problem, I need to address it immediately, knowing that waiting will only escalate the stress, and having bipolar makes it escalate more quickly. I need to use the things I've learned in therapy, such as mindfulness, yoga, breathing techniques, scheduling, planning, organizing, self-compassion, self-care, responsibility, accountability, compassion, and proactiveness, and maintenance of energy and motivation levels, which I have learned about in therapy and am striving to uphold in my life.

Acceptance means beginning to listen to the crazy and condemning voices in my head and not running away with 'I can't do this, this is stupid, I'm crazy,,,and on and on it goes for the ten thousandth time. (This is periodic and I have never stood still with compassion b/c I bow to the fear:(

Acceptance means to allow yourself to be comfortable in any situation. I don't mean just say okay to everything. But to really go inside and take in the situation and instead of going in a circle or rumerating what to do just let yourself slowly accept the. circumstance.

Acceptance means not having to be perfect. It means not fixating on having things be different than they are, while still being open to making improvements.

Be aware of your being mind, heart and body without judgement and new expectations.

Acceptance is the recognition of the reality of any given situation.

Understanding that you have limits and that that's ok.

Acceptance means being fully OK and at peace with where I am at the moment, with my inner state, with my environment and surroundings, with the people around me, and with the life that I am living on a day to day basis. For complete acceptance I must be totally honest with myself and let go of any self-deceptive behaviours. For me acceptance of a situation is consistent with taking steps to change that situation if that is what I choose, and in fact I believe that accepting the current situation helps me take the right steps to change it.

To be at peace with whatever state is going on,and to continue with day to day life.

Being comfortable- loving myself

To me, acceptance means that rather than wasting energy resisting reality & wishing it were different, I accept and appreciate it as it is, all of it, even the parts I don't necessarily "like" right now. Then I ask myself, "ok, sweetheart, given that this is how things are right now, what's really important? Who do you want to be in this moment, and how do you want to move forward in the face of this?"

Being ok with where you are mentally, physically, spiritually, financially, and emotionally at any given time. Living in the moment. Though I've heard that a thousand times the only proof I have that it can be done is by watching my dog do it. Animals actually live in the moment and can teach us a lot. If you're lliving in the moment you're not thinking of acceptance but you are doing it.

Acceptance is a constant practice. It means surrendering to the now while looking to the future and working toward goals. It's the balancing act of growth and acceptance of one's current self and place in life. I was reminded today that acceptance is a choice--a hard one--but nonetheless a choice. It's also not a single choice. I can't decide today that I've accepted the difficulties of my life and expect to hear the birds chirping and the clouds parting from now on. I should liken it to shampoo--rinse, repeat, and do it again the next day! Perhaps the greatest initial challenge is accepting acceptance!

Being at peace with what is, while having hope that we can, through improved behaviors, influence things for the better.

When we can accept or acknowledge where we are at/ what is/ the reality of the situation, we are no longer deluding or distracting ourselves. So in essence, acceptance means 'to be real' (at least to yourself).

Being ok with this. Seeing meaning in this. Choosing to carry on and know I want to be here even if it doesn’t feel like it.

What Acceptance Means