Acceptance is a powerful psychological and spiritual practice that balances our expectations of others with the reality of their individuality, imperfections, and free will. Acceptance also moves us to stop expecting a stressful life situation to be different or that another person should change the situation so we feel less stress. Perhaps a healthier response would be to learn the life skills and emotional tools to manage difficulties.
American theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr’s famous serenity prayer, first written in 1948, comes to mind: “God give me the serenity to accept things which cannot be changed; Give me courage to change things which must be changed; And the wisdom to distinguish one from the other.”
Many similar prayers and meditations have been put forth by all the world’s religions, faith traditions, spiritual practices, and history myths. Perhaps the most famous in the last 20 years is Tara Brach’s book, “Radical Acceptance” which takes a mindfulness approach to practicing acceptance.
Over the next month, we will be posting ways to apply acceptance when parents are in conflict.