by Megan Sy, M.S.
There are approximately 15 days left in 2016. As we look back on the past year, there are likely many moments we have cherished and many others we would rather forget. For some, maybe our “Best of 2016” list is longer than our “Worst of 2016” list. For others, maybe the “Worst” list is longer or just the same. Regardless of how we take stock of the year, we can avoid unhealthy negative emotions through unconditional life acceptance.
Unconditional life acceptance does not imply that we should like our negative experiences or resign ourselves to things we dislike about our world. Rather, it means that we acknowledge the presence of adversity, believe that it will exist even though we might prefer that it didn’t, and understand that it is undesirable but not unbearable. Unconditionally accepting that something has occurred as opposed to demanding that things should be different allows us to maintain a healthy and rational perspective even when things do not go our way. We cannot control everything that happens, but we can choose to view life as good regardless of what’s on our “Best” and our “Worst” lists.
