Radical Acceptance

“Pain is inevitable but suffering is preventable!” unknown 

Radical acceptance is an art or a skill that makes a person tolerate distress or pain by enabling acceptance of life (or a situation) as it is. It does not allow the pain to become suffering. Radical acceptance plays a significant role in breaking the cycle of emotions and thoughts, bringing positive change in our approach towards life.

Radical acceptance is the ability to accept situations that are outside of our control without judging them. We experience negative emotions for different reasons. For example, whenever there is any type of loss in our lives, whenever someone shows us disrespect or a taxi drops us few meters away from our stop, etc. We get angry or sad and ruin our day. Radical acceptance is a great tool for such kind of emotion regulation. Through radical acceptance, one will learn how to accept some of life’s unfair situations.

Radical acceptance does not mean agreeing with what has happened or denying it. It does not also mean being passive nor giving up on situations. So, what does radical acceptance really mean?