Radical Acceptance

Radical Acceptance

Last week I posted I pic of old journals that I had finished writing in. I had gone through these journals reading through the pages I filled with my most intimate thoughts and feelings. As I read through these journals I compared dates and subjects I had written about. I noticed recurring situations and how I handled them differently every time, it felt good to read through these journals, It filled me with pride in the fact that I have come such a long way.

As I opened each journal I looked in the front of each one. I always keep papers and things of relevance that happened while I was writing in each journal. Sometimes there are hand outs from my therapist, home work that I work on in between sessions.

When I was going through one of my journals I found a hand out on Radical Acceptance. It is a pretty heavy hand out because you have to look at things in your life and realize that you can not change things. That sometimes things are just the way they are. At first this was crushing to me because I had to admit that there were things in my life that I could not change or control that sometimes there is just no way of changing situations that happened, they happened and that is it.

It is a very hard thing to do, but! In acknowledging these things and knowing that they are the way they are you can then learn to let them go, come up with ways of moving forward. Find solutions for your self because you are the most important person in your life. You control your reactions and your moods, you can find healthy ways to deal with bad situations and feel good about it in the end. You can with practice and then practice more and learn to turn a negative into a positive.

As I read through this hand out I smiled because it found it’s way into my hands when I needed it the most! I tool that I needed to practice again, a refresher not only to remind myself to use this tool but also that I have tools to use! That using them everyday is part of being happy and treating myself with love.

I sat down and I wrote about the things I needed to write about, I accepted that I can not stop bad things from happening. I can not control people and how they act or the things they say, the views they have. But I can come up with health ways of dealing with any situation. I can feel good about looking out for myself and not allowing these situations to control me. I can look back and accept that with out my past I would not have the present. I would not have the tools I have right now.

Radical Acceptance wasn’t that scary at all! It reminded me to use this tool, to finally let go of the problem that I had and move forward! In a health way.

“Only with open conversation can we break the stigma behind depression, let’s start talking and do it together”