Radical Acceptance is an important skill for achieving Wise Mind.
It sounds so easy and yet it is one of the hardest things to do: accept something completely without judging it no matter how bad that thing was and the ramifications that exist today because of it
It requires you to accept a situation without getting mad, trying to fight it or change it into something it’s not. It’s taking your power back. Sometimes, we lose the battle to win the war.
Fine distinction between radical acceptance and giving up/in: accepting that something bad happened instead of something bad happened “to you” is not allowing the past to remain in the present. This removes judgment and overwhelming emotions such as hostility and frees us to live in the present as we move forward without the baggage of the past. Sometimes the healthy choice is to stay the course and allow the course to straighten out as the issues resolve with time.
Radical acceptance allows us to look at an old situation with new perspective and to accept things that we cannot change. It helps us to look objectively at our roles in situations, areas where we have control (such as what happens next) and where we do not have control (what happened and how others are impacted by those past actions), the impact that our actions going forward have on our own responses as well as the response of others.
Radical acceptance gives us the opening to be compassionate to ourselves and to others who made mistakes and to step out of situations where there are still issues out of control.
We acknowledge what has happened and how it has made us feel while we find the best possible solutions to move forward making the healthiest decisions available.
Self-compassion through radical acceptance helps us to reach these conclusions about ourselves.
I am a good person who makes mistakes.
I care about myself and other people.
I accept myself for all that I am, including my imperfections and my unique qualities.