WHAT IS RADICAL ACCEPTANCE?
Radical acceptance sounds like the kind of new-age bull you might want to steer clear of, along with juice cleanses and ‘think yourself better’, but it’s not what you think.
Before we talk about what radical acceptance really is, we need to highlight what it definitely isn’t!
Radical acceptance is not approval of a situation. Just because you are accepting a situation for what it is, it does not mean that you think it’s good or right. It just means you are aware you can’t change it.
Radical acceptance, at its core, is about recognising what we can and can’t control in our lives. There are some things, like whether or not you become sick, you don’t get a say in. It’s about finding a way to live with that situation as peacefully as possible.
For many chronically ill people it can be hard, particularly when first diagnosed, to accept the challenges and limitations a chronic diagnosis can bring. Sometimes, it can feel that the negatives outweigh all the positives in our daily lives. Radical acceptance is one way to help balance the complexity of feelings chronic illnesses and disability can bring.
