Acceptance: Virtues Studies

By Betty Bassett

The virtue of acceptance has three parts: acceptance of others; acceptance of circumstances; and acceptance of self.

Practicing acceptance of others is practicing kindness.  It is seeing the other person, whoever that person is before you; and just giving them permission to be who they are without judgement. When you practice acceptance; people feel seen and heard; as opposed to unworthy and insufficient.

Acceptance gives others energy to withstand their difficulties and work on the task at hand.  Aceptance of others builds their positive self concept of how they are in the world.  It gives them a sense of validation. 

There is another kind of acceptance.  It is the acceptance of circumstances that you face in your life.

Life is change.  Who are you amid a shifting reality?  When circumstances are difficult then the virtue of acceptance means discernment of things within your control and things beyond your control.

Practicing the virtue of accepting yourself can be the most difficult task.  Oftentimes people's reactions are not what you anticipated.  How you are in the world is "less than" in their eyes.  How then do you come to terms with that?  What can you do in the face of that?  The answer is: do something different.  Life is like a science lab.  The way to success is through experimentation.  Failure is often a course that life serves cold.  How do you embrace that failure?  You embrace failure with courage and self compassion.  A rock starts out jagged and ill formed.  As it is carried through a river and abrades with others then the jagged edges are worn away and it becomes rounded and smooth.  The virtue of acceptance is finding patience for yourself when your ego is bruised; the virtue of acceptance is treating yourself with compassion when other people treat you unkindness.

In your life it is incumbent upon you to develop a goodness of sort.  That is what you must do to coexist in a society with others.  You develop virtues of character.  In that way you become a person of character; you become  someone you can be proud of.  At the end of the day there are  transactions in the way you have dealt with others.  At the end of the day there are transactions in the way you have dealt with yourself.  If you practice acceptance there is greater peace.

Reference:

Li, Jini. "The Virtue Acceptance ." https://radiantacquiescence.com/the-virtue-acceptance.