We talk often about acceptance, accepting ourselves, being accepted by the world around us.
It seems simple on the surface. But when you look closer, acceptance is something nearly everyone is searching for, what do they name it or not.
Those of us who have walked through grief or deep loss often recognize this longing quickly. Loss strips away certainty. It leaves us exposed tender and aware of how deeply we want to be seen without explanation of defense.
Yet I come to believe that even those who have not suffered great loss are searching too. Perhaps just as desperately.
We see it in the way the laws are written, rules are enforced, and positions are defended. Somewhere along the way, acceptance has become something we try to force rather than offer. Power replaces kindness. Control replaces understanding. ,And strangely Those who have fought hardest to be accepted sometimes struggle most to accept others.
It becomes a quiet War, not built on compassion, but winning.
I am not a perfect "live and Let live" person. But I am a believer and withholding judgment. In choosing not to criticize. In staying out of another's life unless someone is truly being harmed.
I'm not speaking of criminals are those who repeatedly cause damage without accountability. I'm speaking of good people, living as they believe, doing their best, sometimes imperfectly, often quietly.
What I've learned is this: acceptance goes best we're listening lives. Were curiosity replaces assumptions. We're kindness comes before conclusions.
If we begin to listen more and judge less, we may find ourselves receiving the very acceptance we've been longing for.
I learned long ago that I cannot save the world. But I can keep trying, one person, what animal, what emotion at a time.
And sometimes, this is more than enough.
Acceptance cannot be forced into existence,
it grows only we're kindness is willing to stay.