Acceptance
Acceptance in human psychology is a person's assent to the reality of a situation, recognizing a process or condition (often a negative or uncomfortable situation) without attempting to change it or protest it. The concept is close in meaning to acquiescence, derived from the Latin acquiēscere (to find rest in).[1]
The term acceptance is a noun with various different meanings.[2] When the person to whom a proposal is made signifies their assent, it is an "acceptance" of their offer, also called an agreement. For example, if someone gives a gift and another receives it, then they have accepted the gift; therefore, having acceptance. Another definition of acceptance has to do with positive welcome and belonging, favor, and endorsement. For instance, one can like someone and accept them due to their approval of that persons. Another description is that acceptance can be an act of believing or assenting. The definition overlaps with toleration, but acceptance and tolerance are not synonyms.
Acceptance – "An express act or implication by conduct that manifests assent to the terms of an offer in a manner invited or required by the offer so that a binding contract is formed. The exercise of power conferred by an offer by performance of some act. The act of a person to whom something is offered of tendered by another, whereby the offered demonstrates through an act invited by the offer an intention of retaining the subject of the offer."[3]
Eckhart Tolle, a spiritual teacher who is alive today, defines acceptance as a "surrender to the Now" response to anything occurring in any moment of life.[4][5] There, strength, peace and serenity are available when one stops struggling to resist, or hang on tightly to what is so in any given moment. What do I have right now? Now what am I experiencing? The point is, can one be sad when one is sad, afraid when afraid, silly when silly, happy when happy, judgmental when judgemental, overthinking when overthinking, serene when serene, etc.
What Tolle teaches is to observe what is happening without telling a story about it. For example, Tolle shares in his book Stillness Speaks[6] how easy it is to confuse a story one tells for the facts of a situation. If someone doesn’t return your call one may say “He didn’t have the decency to return my call.”[7] That is the story one tells. On the other hand, the facts of the situation are “He did not call.”[8] The facts don’t tell a story about the person or make a judgment about the situation. The facts are always neutral. When one observes what is happening there is an awareness brought in and then acceptance of the situation becomes an option that is available at any given moment.
To simplify, acceptance means allowing; allowing unwanted private experiences (thoughts, feelings and urges) to come and go without struggling with them.
