ACCEPTANCE

WHAT IS ACCEPTANCE?

Acceptance in human psychology is a person's assent to the reality of a situation, recognizing a process or condition (often a negative or uncomfortable situation) without attempting to change it, protest, or exit. The concept is close in meaning to 'acquiescence', derived from the Latin 'acquiēscere' (to find rest in).^[1]

Acceptance is fundamental to the core dogma of most Abrahamic religions, the word "Islam" can be translated as "acceptance", "surrender" or "voluntary submission" ^[2][3] and Christianity is based upon the "acceptance" of Jesus of Nazareth as the "Christ" and could be compared to some Eastern religious concepts such as Buddhist mindfulness. Religions and psychological treatments often suggest the path of acceptance 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.

DEFINITION

The term acceptance is defined as a noun, in which it shows to have three different meanings.

The first is known as the act of taking or receiving something offered. For example, if someone is giving you a gift and you receive it, then you have accepted the gift; therefore, having acceptance.

Another definition of acceptance has to deal with positive welcome; favor and endorsement. In which, a person could like someone and, have acceptance for them due to their approval of that person.

The third description of acceptance is that it can be an act of believing or assenting.

Acceptance - "An express act or implication by conduct that manifests assent to the terms of an offer in a manner invited or required by the offer so that a binding contract is formed. The exercise of power conferred by an offer by performance of some act. The act of a person to whom something is offered of tendered by another, whereby the offered demonstrates through an act invited by the offer an intention of retaining the subject of the offer." (Chirelstein, 2001)

This definition overlaps with the definition of the quality known as toleration. Acceptance and tolerance are not synonyms.

E. Tolle (Power of Now, etc.) defines acceptance as a "this is it" response to anything occurring in any moment of life. There, strength, peace and serenity are available when one stops struggling to resist, or hang on tightly to what is so in any given moment. What do I have right now? Now what I am I experiencing? The point is, can one be sad when one is sad, afraid when afraid, silly when silly, happy when happy, judgmental when judgmental, over thinking when over thinking, serene when serene, etc.