Acceptance means different things to different people. Acceptance, to me, is when you make the conscious decision to be at peace about an event or person that perhaps previously you would have been judgmental about, but no longer have the desire to be that way and so respect their freedom of choice.

There comes a time on different occasions when we realize that parts of our lives are no longer what we need to become the person that we want to be. As we grow and learn, our thoughts, I find, rather than becoming more complicated, tend to simplify. A clarity of inner vision develops because we are seeing more than is on the surface, getting straight to the heart of the matter rather than judging it by what our eyes alone see when we look at others or ourselves.We pay attention to our inner voice and learn to trust its guidance. We begin to see what works for us and what does not. What is helpful in our world and what is not. What is right for us and what is not. As we recognize these differences, we make choices whether to continue to allow them to be part of our lives or to let them die a natural death, so to speak.

Acceptance allows you to not feel the need to reproach yourself or doubt yourself and your decision making skills. It calms you, reminding you that you have made the choices that only you can make, under your own steam. People all over the world rightly so do the same thing for themselves. They do not need me to say if they are right or wrong in their choices.

When we can accept situations created by others that are beyond our control, especially when we do not agree with them, we no longer feel the need to have some kind of negative emotional reaction to it. This frees up that energy to be channeled elsewhere, into positive, fulfilling activities of the mind and the heart. If I practice acceptance of their right to exercise free will, then that has to be a better option than to feel a tide of draining negativity in whatever form it takes.

So perhaps if we learn to accept that everyone in this world is learning, just as we are, and we are all on our own paths, that brings peace to us. We do not have to take their route, nor do they have to take ours. We may walk a while together or we may not. With acceptance in our hearts, there is room for us all to walk different roads or the same ones - sometimes arm in arm, sometimes miles apart - without hurting one another along the way and allowing plentiful space for tolerance to grow by the roadside.