Acceptance doesn’t mean always saying “yes” to everything.
Acceptance is not toleration. When we are tolerating, we are pretending to have a “yes” when we secretly feel a “no”. We are pretending to accept, in order to appear nice, or kind, or spiritual, or positive, or in control, or enlightened.
In Acceptance, there is no pretence. Acceptance means living as a giant YES to a life which can include an honest “yes” and an honest “no”. We no longer say “yes” just to please others, or to hide our doubts, or to give the impression of being decisive or courageous. We no longer say “no” out of fear or deficiency.
Spoken in truth, both a “no” and a “yes” are expressions of an infinitely bigger YES to life. The little “no” and the little “yes” become celebrations of that limitless and uninterruptible YES that we are, and will always be.
– Jeff Foster