Unconditional acceptance

I feel quite confident in saying that everyone has a longing for complete and unconditional acceptance. We can't always get that from another person but we can certainly get it from ourselves. In fact, giving ourselves unconditional acceptance will cure any "hungry ghost" tendencies we may have in which we're constantly seeking approval and affirmation from other people. Here's a story I found in 1,001 Meditations by Mike George that illustrates this principle:

Consider the snake. In an old folktale a snake was once asked whether it would have preferred to have legs, if given the choice. The snake was mystified by the question. "No," it said. "I am what I am." We are what we are. We need have no wish for anything that we do not have.

So let's remember the snake and not make the impossible demand on ourselves that we be other than we are.