Acceptance is about meeting people where they are, instead of expecting others to back into our views. It’s going out of our way to make people feel welcomed. It’s accepting people as they are and not trying to change them into you. It’s being able to stand-up independently to group think and see beyond prejudices. It’s being the opposite of self-righteous. It’s respecting and accepting differences in race, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, political affiliation, nationality, etc. Acceptance means that you understand that everyone is trying to find their way in this world. That no one has a corner on the right or wrong market, because right or wrong comes down to subjectivity. You will naturally become more accepting when you allow people the space they require to uniquely express as only they can.
Acceptance also means believing that your life is a gift and so is everyone else’s. While we strive to achieve more and become more, we embrace knowing that our life is what it’s supposed to be. That we are living grace filled lives. If you are six feet above ground, then you have reason to be grateful. This doesn’t mean that we settle for mediocrity. It just means that we believe goodness is ahead for us and those we care about. We accept our unique life as something great. We accept and recognize that the world is full of meaningful experiences. It’s just a matter of tapping into the significance of our lives. We symbiotically add opening our hearts and minds to the unique differences in people and what they can teach us about life. We do this by maintaining steady, heart-mind openness while accepting and receiving what the external world mirrors back to us. This receptivity allows us to recognize and embrace the fluidity of change that occurs within and without the world around us.
Having acceptance takes a load off our shoulders. It allows us to show-up with levity instead of judgement and ignorance. We’ve all experienced situations where either we or someone else has been on the receiving end of non-acceptance. It’s not an uncommon occurrence in the workplace. I find it hard to watch and will normally do something to interrupt what can become a toxic situation. At GlobalStar, we made a conscious decision from inception that we would create a culture that supports and accepts the unique differences of our team members, partners and clients. We have an emboldened respect for not only the differences in others, but also the genius those differences elicit in all of us. Acceptance creates the possibility for great change and growth within an organization, which is nothing more than a compilation of individuals. These uniquely complex and different individuals will only thrive if they feel accepted for nothing more than just being themselves and doing a great job.
