36. Radical Acceptance

Do you ever find yourself thinking "this isn't fair" or "I shouldn't be. having this problem"? Did you know that having those kinds of thoughts can actually make the pain of whatever you are struggling with worse? Instead, you can try practicing some Radical Acceptance! 

Radical Acceptance simply means that you recognize and accept a situation as it is instead of continuing to think, ruminate, or spiral about how you wish things were different or how you could change something. (We're talking about situation that are out of our control here).

For example: Maybe you applied for a job and you thought the interview went very well, you know you're qualified, but you end up not getting the job. A typical way of thinking might be "this isn’t fair”, “that should’ve been me”, “that other person isn’t as competent or deserving as I am”… Instead, Radical Acceptance would be you accepting the situation as it is, feeling a little bit bummed out, but overall understanding that the business chose to hire someone else.

Radical acceptance doesn't mean that you necessarily like or agree with a situation, but by accepting situations that are out of your control, you are much more likely to experience less anxiety, anger, and disappointment when dealing with situations out of your control.

Stay tuned for an upcoming post about Circle of Control in order to learn more about regaining control in other types of situations.

— Emily Duncan, LCSW
Duncan Counseling, LLC
Therapy for bright young women in TN, KY, FL