Acceptance is Not Complacency

“Just let it go, you can’t do anything about it anyway”
“Just let go of it and move on”
“It’s the way things are…”
“Just accept it”

Has anyone said things to you before?
It feels like you’re resigning.
Like the problem is way bigger than you and that you can’t do anything to change it.
It feels hopeless.
It feels like giving up.

I used to be someone that didn’t “just accept” anything… defeat is not part of my vocabulary.

I don’t like giving up… or losing… (I’m an Aries after-all)

When I see a possibility for change – no matter how impossible it may seem to achieve it – I am relentless in the pursuit of it.

I mean hell… I created an entire brand centered on creating a more compassionate world through self-discovery and leadership.

Throughout my life, I’ve struggled with “just accepting” things.

But that is because my previous understanding of the concept of “acceptance” was infected with the concept of giving up.
I will NOT accept the injustice in the world.
I will NOT accept the inequality in our society.
I will NOT accept this small version of myself.
I will NOT accept that “it’s just how things are”
I will NOT accept the cultural rule that oppresses us.

But we must.

To accept something is to acknowledge the reality of it.
To accept is to be able to be present with that person, concept, or situation and whatever it/they represent.
To accept is to understand what can and can’t change.
Accepting something doesn’t make it “okay” but it allows us to begin again.
Acceptance gives us the opportunity to look around and say “where can we go from here?”

It is from a place of acceptance that we can create lasting change.

Acceptance is groundedness
Acceptance is centered.
Acceptance is peace.
Acceptance is not reactive.

Complacency, on the other hand, is looking at the problem in the face and ignoring it anyway.
Complacency is giving up.
Complacency is abandonment.
Complacency is dangerous.

So what can you do when the world seems bleak and hope is lost?
See it.
Feel it.
Accept it.
And then become bigger than it.