The word acceptance only has ten letters in it and yet it is by far one of the hardest words for me to hear, understand, and ironically, accept. I’ve had doctors, speech therapists, occupational therapists, etc throughout my journey tell me that I had to move towards acceptance. Their advice of moving towards acceptance almost always went in one ear and out the other accompanied by some pretty heavy eye rolling. I have rolling my eyes down to an art. I’m not sure if that’s a strength or not, but it’s definitely something I excel at.

It was hard for me to embrace the idea of acceptance because I thought that meant I had to be ok with, like, be happy about, etc everything that has happened with my health and continues to happen. It’s really easy to say move towards acceptance when you aren’t the one trying to navigate and build a life around debilitating symptoms. It’s difficult to be joyful about not being able to work, struggling to complete basic household tasks, and having to check an app to determine what my body’s stability score is for the day. None of these well-meaning professionals explained to me what acceptance actually is.. Or let’s be honest maybe they did and I was too busy rolling my eyes to really hear them.

Acceptance is simply accepting the present moment and saying, “It is what it is.” That definition of acceptance I can wrap my arms around. I can’t work right now.. it is what it is. I can’t do laundry on my own.. it is what it is. I can remember Taylor Swift lyrics over what I ate the day before..it is what it is. My heart rate beats like the deep bass that shakes the dance floor of a club when I’m getting dressed in the morning… It is what it is.

I am by no means an expert at this whole acceptance thing and there are many days I find myself fighting against my body, my symptoms, and my illnesses instead of learning how to accept and live with them. Right now this is the deck of cards life has dealt me. Would I like to speak to the dealer of the cards of life and get a new deck? Of course. However, I don’t think there’s a customer service complaint line for life.If you by chance have the number for the customer service complaint line for life, drop it in the comments below. I have two choices. I can accept the deck I have and do my best to build a life with this deck or I can fight against the deck of cards I’ve been dealt and waste a lot of time and energy trying to change something that can’t be changed.

I am doing my best each day to choose option 1. To work towards acceptance and to say it is what it is. It is a daily choice and sometimes it’s an hourly choice depending on how the day is going and how I’m feeling.

If there’s something, an experience , or someone in your life you’re trying to change or you’re fighting against, try moving towards acceptance. Try on the phrase “It is what it is” for a couple days and see how it fits.