Are you wondering what is the power of acceptance?
Well, in simple words, it helps you keep up with the unpredictable world. It sets a positive mindset and makes you happier and more peaceful. You learn to find lessons behind all sorts of incidents in life.
Acceptance is a difficult choice, but it’s not impossible. Of course, it has several blessings for everyone.
So, let’s know more about it here…
What is the Power of Acceptance?
The power of acceptance is being mindful, active, and nonjudgmental while you embrace your experiences. It’s when you observe the moment quietly – even if it’s something heartbreaking, accept it, and don’t try to fix or change anything.
However, quiet observation isn’t easy. After all, the human mind is hardly ever silent. People are always thinking of something or the other.
It might be about regrets about your past, anxieties about your future, or even what should and should not happen in your present. There’s always something “wrong” or “concerning” in life, so humankind can’t stop worrying!
However, the power of acceptance is that it can dull down these internal noises, accept the moment, and respond in the most appropriate way. This promotes empathy, improves relationships, helps in finding solutions, and aids in keeping up with change.
But acceptance isn’t that common. So, if you’re wondering what happens in the absence of acceptance, let’s find out here…
What is the Result of Not Accepting, aka Resisting?
Humankind, by instinct, resists uncomfortable situations instead of accepting them. However, struggling won’t help. Instead, it will only bring the following kinds of misery:
1. Upset and disappointment
When you resist a moment, you feel upset, and you can’t perceive things from others’ perspectives. It blocks your creative thinking skills, and conflict resolution becomes tough.
You feel disappointed and angry, and you fail to question your own judgment. But you need to be empathetic to resolve issues. Judgment doesn’t help.
2. Stagnation
Resistance stops you from growing. When you think that something must not be a certain way, you prevent yourself from changing for the better.
Your beliefs and behaviors get solidified into the old ways. You struggle with the situation and ruminate over it. But nothing changes, and you stay stuck.
3. Stress
When you demand the world to follow your ways, meet your expectations, and struggle with frustration and disappointment, you feel stressed. You take the burden of finding ways to change and control others. This damages relationships and further stresses you.
Now, are you wondering about the reason behind resistance? Let’s learn that here…
Why do People Resist?
Resistance causes a lot of distress, but people hardly recognize that and continue resisting. This is because most people were disciplined with refusal. Or their parents told them how wrong they were. This made it hard for them to accept anything easily.
Some examples of such discipline are:
- “No running is allowed at home!”
- “What are you supposed to do right now?”
- “Where should your clothes be?”
But is there any way to change this? Let’s find out…
How to Deal with Resistance?
Most people’s minds are full of “what should” and “should not be.” Thus, they instinctually judge a moment as good or bad and react accordingly.
So, if you start judging like this, here’s what you must do…
- Stop right there and take deep breaths for a few minutes. This will calm you to think rationally.
- Once you’re calm, consciously think whether your thinking style is right or wrong. You’ll naturally overcome the judgment.
If you consciously practice these steps, you will be able to embrace the power of acceptance. But now, you must be curious how that will impact your life. So, let’s know that here…
What is the Result of the Power of Acceptance?
Acceptance helps you embrace change, and your brain can keep up with different things easily. It also keeps your brain in the optimal state, which helps you be empathetic toward others and solve problems easily.
You can also think from others’ point of view, which frees you from judgment and unrealistic expectations. So, the major benefits of the power of acceptance are:
- You can give and receive empathy, compassion, and kindness without feeling you’re losing out on anything.
- You learn to set healthy boundaries but don’t show conditional love.
- You nurture communication skills, which improves your relationships and makes you and the other person feel understood.
But if you want a better understanding of this, let’s learn with examples…
Example of Using Power of Acceptance
The best way to understand the impact of acceptance is to take the example of a parent-child relationship. Suppose a child doesn’t want to sleep. Their parents can respond in two ways:
Response 1:
“We’ve had this discussion way too many times. You have school, and I have work tomorrow. There’s no chance of negotiation. So you better sleep!”
This response shows that the parent showed zero understanding or empathy. Instead, they just poured out all their frustration on the kid. The child can’t manage their emotions with such words.
This makes the child feel far worse, and they just learn the “right and wrong things to do.” They don’t have the option to understand and rationalize through it.
Suppose the child becomes an adult and has a disagreement where the parent doesn’t agree on their spending habits. Their reaction becomes like this:
“I’ve told you again and again. This is my hard-earned money, and I’ll spend it however I like. You can’t force me to change my expenses. So, you better not interfere!”
The child grows up just like the parent – someone who can’t empathize or be understanding.
Response 2:
“Oh, you wanted to stay up late and watch the action show tonight? But you have school, and you’ll be tired if you stay up. Don’t worry, we can watch a rerun/record it. So, try to breathe and prepare to sleep.”
This response shows that the parent thought from the child’s perspective, gave them a solution, and gave them a reason to sleep.
The child thus grows up to be understanding of others and seeks rational solutions to overcome issues.
However, it’s not possible for the best parents to always follow Response 2. So what about those times? Let’s know more here…
The Link Between Power of Acceptance and Emotional Regulation
Sometimes, the kindest parents unintentionally ignore, dismiss, or punish their child’s emotions with words like these:
- “It’s not that hard.”
- “Stop making a fuss, it’s not a big deal.”
- “Distract yourself, and you won’t feel so low!”
- “How can you forget to brush your teeth again? Why can’t you remember?”
Rationally speaking, they are right, and they mean no harm. But they can’t frame their words right.
This makes children focus more on their parents’ anger instead of their own regret. They again have difficulty in dealing with negative emotions, i.e., emotional regulation. This leads to more negative behaviors like aggression, whining, manipulation, and name-calling.
So, how does a parent take care of this? Let’s find out here…
How to Understand and Regulate Your Emotions?
As a parent, you must acknowledge that there is no “bad” emotion. All of your emotions are valid with a good purpose.
So, rather than controlling or suppressing your emotions, you must always regulate them.
For that, you must be aware of your emotions and listen to the reasons behind them. Then, with the power of acceptance, feel and embrace your emotions. This way, you’ll guide your children to feel their emotions and manage them well.
A word from TheMindFool
When you resist a situation, you judge yourself and others. But when you let the power of acceptance take over, you become compassionate, accept yourself and others, and learn to think positively.
This lets you feel satisfied and happy in life. So, embrace acceptance and keep growing!
