My Search of Acceptance
All my life I have searched for acceptance in one form or another. When I was young, I was considered slow – for many reasons. As I grew, I questioned inwardly why everyone just couldn’t accept everyone else for what they are or where they are at. It took awhile, many years really, to realize that, one, everything is not always as simple as it first seems and, two, if everyone accepted everyone else so readily, we would never be challenged to grow as individuals.
Because I wasn’t accepted so readily by my peers, I questioned what was wrong with me and how I could better fit in. I tried to understand others’ viewpoints in an effort to be more accepting of them, hoping that I might receive the same in return. As time went on, I found that many times I did not want to fit in and follow the crowd. I came to realize that everyone is different, and no matter how much effort I invested, I wasn’t going to be accepted just because I wanted it to happen.
Learning Wisdom
Now that I am older, much older than I ever expected to be, I can look back and see the wisdom in all of that searching. Through observing others’ behavior and reading self-development books, many of my questions about acceptance kind of worked themselves out over time. As the years rolled by, my angst about not fitting in, or not understanding certain situations, slowly dissipated and life took over in other ways.
Still, and even though I have come a long way from that little girl of so long ago, there are daily challenges that make me wonder if I will ever figure out how all of us can accept others more freely. There are times when I so desperately want to impart to others how they can be more accepted and how they can accept others more easily, or the situations in their life, that bring them unrest. Of course, this is if others want to be accepted or not, or if they want to learn how to be more accepting of others or find peace in their life.
Acceptance Brings Peace
Over the years, I have found that there are those who don’t see a need to grow, be accepted by others in any way, or want to accept anyone who does not fit their comfort level. I try to understand where everyone is coming from, and although I don’t agree with every viewpoint, I am learning that accepting where a person is at on their journey, or learning experience, does two things. It brings peace to myself, and it offers acceptance to the other person.
I cannot expect anyone to be what I am seeking – that of acceptance – if I cannot offer it to another myself. And, so here I am at the beginning, where I started so long ago. Just me looking to be accepted for who I am. All of me. Not just part of me. Looking to accept others. Right where they are at. No questions. No fear. So, where to begin? With a handshake? A smile? Our openness? Theirs?
Tune in next month as we answer that question. This blog post is the beginning of a series that I will post monthly, usually on the third or fourth Sunday of each month, over the coming year. I will discuss ways that we can be more accepting of ourselves, more accepting of others whom we may not fully “get,” and more accepting of situations that can puzzle, overwhelm, and simply frustrate us. These posts will include answers to your questions about acceptance in your life.
Please feel free to post your questions in the comments or email me at honeysucklepublishingllc@yahoo.com. I will do my best to provide positive insight into how we can embrace acceptance more easily and accept one another for who we are as persons of value. Next month’s post will focus on how we speak, treat, and view ourselves, and how this vision of ourselves greatly affects how we allow others to “see” us and accept us – or not.
If you’ve been tuning in, you know by now that I recently published a book. It’s a nonfiction, inspirational, easy-to-read, feel-good kind of book. “HONOR ONE ANOTHER: The ABCs of Embracing Our Spirit Within” is a culmination of many years of wanting to share so many things with so many others. I hope you will be moved enough by my writings to check it out. You can find it on my Books page or by visiting my Amazon author page at: amazon.com/author/virginia.alice.crawford.
Next week’s blog topic: Integrity (click for January’s blog post on Integrity).
Virginia Alice Crawford 