The art of acceptance

It is very important to remember that acceptance does not necessarily mean approval. I think that confusion often is what trips people up when they're trying to learn how to accept what is. We can also still work to change something. It just that right this very second, we need to be able to accept what actually is the case in order to free up our energy to make wise choices about the matter.

I started to discover the meaning of happiness when I started to discover--and practice--the art of acceptance. When I started to accept life for what it was and I started to accept whatever situation I was in as the way things were, I started to see that my happiness depended on my own attitude. When I started focusing on getting the most out of my life the way it was rather than trying to turn it into what I thought it should be, I started to realize that I was, indeed, becoming a much happier person.

-- Tom Walsh