Accepting Someone as They Are Doesn’t Mean You Have to Stay With Them
You had the power all along
I’m a Big Fan of telling people to accept everyone exactly as they are, right here, right now, in this very moment. I harp on it because I’ve hitched my wagon to the imaginary star of “potential” only to be left on the ground still waiting to get anywhere
Banking on mythical “potential” is only justifying the crap behavior you’re putting up with. And here’s the secret: you don’t have to put up with it!
*Gasp*
When I tell a friend they have to accept the way the person they’re dating is behaving and treating them, I often get a violent, “NO!” in return.
When I say “accept them and their behavior” I’m not saying be OK with it. I’m not saying put up with it. I’m not saying “hope they change.”
I’m saying accept this person and how they act because you can’t change them. Then you get to choose whether or not you keep seeing them.
It’s that last part that a lot of us forget.
My therapist asked me, “Where is your power?”
“I have power?” was my awestruck reply.
When you’re used to having to accept everything as it is, shitty or not, as a means of survival, you…
