Acceptance

[MegustaMucho]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acceptance

Acceptance, in spirituality, mindfulness, and human psychology, usually refers to the experience of a situation without an intention to change that situation. Acceptance does not require that change is possible or even conceivable, nor does it require that the situation be desired or approved by those accepting it. Indeed, acceptance is often suggested when a situation is both disliked and unchangeable, or when change may be possible only at great cost or risk. Acceptance may imply only a lack of outward, behavioral attempts at possible change, but the word is also used more specifically for a felt or hypothesized cognitive or emotional state. Thus someone may decide to take no action against a situation and yet be said to have not accepted it.

Acceptance is contrasted with resistance, but that term has strong political and psychoanalytic connotations not applicable in many contexts. Acceptance is sometimes used with notions of willingness: "Even if an unchosen, undesired, inescapable situation befalls me, I can still willingly choose to accept it."

By groups and by individuals, acceptance can be of various events and conditions in the world; individuals may also accept elements of their own thoughts, feelings, and personal histories. For example, psychotherapeutic treatment of a person with depression or anxiety could involve fostering acceptance either for whatever personal circumstances may give rise to those feelings or for the feelings themselves. (Psychotherapy could also involve lessening an individual's acceptance of various situations.)

Notions of acceptance are prominent in many faiths and meditation practices. For example, Buddhism's first noble truth, "Life is suffering", invites people to accept that suffering is a natural part of life.

Minority groups in society often describe their goal as "acceptance", wherein the majority will not challenge the minority's full participation in society. A majority may be said (at best) to "tolerate" minorities when it confines their participation to certain aspects of society.

Why should we feel angry, depressive or another negative emotion in situations we can't change? I think it's better to accept the things that we can't change, but unfortunately, many people in Occident don't understand this or have not heard about it. It's not by feeling bad that the things will get better, it could make them worse right?

This is my first thread here, so let's see if it will be good or bad hehe.

 

[metal_wrath]

Rebel against Everything!!!!

haha...I don't understand your question...

 

[MegustaMucho]

oh I just want your opinion about acceptance

 

[Έρεβος]

oh I just want your opinion about acceptance

Uhm, I believe in fighting for what you believe. And that often requires not accepting many a thing. Acceptance is okay to an extent, but to just accept everything is weakness. If we don't try to change things, nothing will ever improve, we'll stay in this shithole we are stuck in right now. I'll never accept many things, and oppose them in every way I can [eg: christianity, democracy, ignorance, etc].

 

[judas69]

This is my first thread here, so let's see if it will be good or bad hehe.

Good or bad, I guess you'll have to grow to accept it.

I actually lean towards this appraoch in life, but I have a few questions to whomever might want to answer (in order from shorter to longer).

Is there an allusion to passivity?
Where does morality fit into all of this?
How would you go about convincing someone of this method?
Is accepting everything any different from denying everything?

 

[jojoNZ]

We feel angry or sad or depressed when something happens that we don't like. It's all natural. I know it really doesn't change anything, but at least it's a way to let your emotions out, how it makes you feel.

It's really hard to accept changes in your life that you don't want, and i find it so sad that some people have to resort to drugs and alcohol to take their mind away from it.

 

[Seditious]

Why should we feel angry, depressive or another negative emotion in situations we can't change?

While I like Buddhist psychology myself, one insight on non-acceptance comes immediately to mind---the words of Elie Wiesel, "There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest."

 

[Seditious]

We feel angry or sad or depressed when something happens that we don't like. It's all natural. I know it really doesn't change anything, but at least it's a way to let your emotions out, how it makes you feel.

expressing anger, according to Daniel Goleman (author of Emotional Intelligence), doesn't decrease it, and expression of emotion which is rational heightens in rather than decreasing it, so if you have a valid reason for being depressed then you're only going to make it worse in articulating and entertaining it.

in any case, on topic, the concept of acceptence is that if you accept what is rather than desiring change then you wont feel bad and thus have no feeling you want to express, so even if that reaction is 'natural' that attachment to 'what isn't' is merely man-made.

It's really hard to accept changes in your life that you don't want

most good things don't come easy, and like you say, it's kinda sad that people take these 'substance' shortcuts trying to change things for the moment.