Acceptance

Acceptance.  noun. The act of accepting or the state of being accepted or acceptable.  Favorable; approval.

EvEeRyBoDy wants it.  I think everybody needs it in some form.  We spend our lifetime trying to win approval/acceptance, for our work, from our parents, our spouse, teachers, our children, our friends, our significant others and even from people we meet for just a moment.  We want to be aCcEpTeD for how we live our lives and how we conduct ourselves.  We want acceptance for what we believe in and what we don't.

It seems so SiMpLe to me.  Being accepted, I mean.  Just being accepted for who you are.  All the fLaWs.  All the qUiRkS.  All the bAgGaGe.  All the things you're passionate about and all the things you just don't like.  We all have them.  We all have things in our character or things in our life that make us, or made us, who we are.  Some things you can change if you wanted to.   Some things you want to cHaNgE and don't.   And some things are exactly the way you want it.  There's nothing wrong with

that.

I'm sure if I asked, there would be pLeNtY of suggestions on how I could change myself for the better.  Someone else's better.  But I think I did all the changing in my life I want to do.  I don't want to change anything about mYseLf anymore.  I like who I am.  I like the person who looks back at me when I look in the mirror.  I think she's great!

Just like that favorite old pair of shoes you have.  You know the ones.  You know you should throw them out.  They're worn out.

They look terrible.  The soles are thin.  The leather is scuffed and scratched.  But they are so comfortable.  They fit you so well.  You love them.  So you keep them. They are acceptable just the way they are.  To me that's the way you should feel about yOuRsELf, too.

I try very hard to accept people the way they are.  Sure, I guess there are always things you see in someone that you'd want to change if you could.  But then that's not for me to do.  My part in their life is to love them the way they are.  SoMeTiMeS the things you would change in someone would make them a totally different person.  They wouldn't be the person you know.  They wouldn't be the pErSoN you cared about in the first place.

I spent most of my life trying so hard to be aCcEpTeD.  I tried to be who I thought my parents wanted me to be.  I tried to be who I thought my husband wanted me to be.
 I tried to become who I thought I should be so I would be LoVeD.  I couldn't do it.  I failed miserably.  I was miserable and unhappy while trying to achieve it, too.  The person that I thought everyone wanted me to be aLwAyS remained just outside of my grasp.  Why?  Because I needed to uNdErStAnD that I'm acceptable just the way I am. I needed to learn to accept myself.  I am exactly who I'm supposed to be.  Right or wrong.  Good or bad.  Acceptable or unacceptable to anyone else.   I'm me.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.  Just me.  I LiKe tHaT!

I Am AcCePtAbLe!