Accepting doesn’t mean surrendering; it means evolving and learning to become better versions of ourselves.
How can I truly face the world if I can’t even confront my own feelings? I often find myself feeling lost, demotivated, and confused about who I am. Sometimes, it feels like the weight of life is just too heavy to bear. There are days when everything feels overwhelming, and I just want to escape from it all.
Take, for instance, that fateful day at the end of the semester when I broke down in my room, sobbing over my grades. I kept asking myself questions that haunted me: Am I failing? What if I never become the person I aspire to be? Will I even make it through school? What if I can’t find a job I love after graduation? Will anyone be proud of me? My anxiety spiraled out of control.
But here’s the thing: life doesn’t come to a screeching halt just because of a few bad grades, right? I remember nervously approaching my lecturer, tears still fresh in my eyes, and asking, “Is there a chance for me to improve my grades, Sir?” I can still feel the relief wash over me when he responded, “Yes! There’s still a chance next semester. Keep that enthusiasm alive; I believe in you!”
Throughout my college journey, I faced setbacks that felt monumental. I didn’t make it into a student exchange program abroad, missed out on government internships, failed English tests, and even struck out at conferences. But despite all of that, I still pushed myself to try everything I wanted to. I learned that it’s far better to feel the sadness of not achieving something than to live with the regret of never trying at all.
Life doesn’t come to an end when we encounter failure, does it? Perhaps our greatest opportunities lie in places we never expected. It’s essential to shift our perspective and embrace that sometimes, things simply don’t go as planned. I’ve come to understand that we can’t control every aspect of life, and accepting this fact is liberating.
I’ve made it a practice to let go of things that don’t serve me. The pain we often feel stems from our own hopes and expectations — like people who come and go from our lives. When someone chooses to leave, it’s okay to let them go. We don’t need to hold on to every person we meet because, ultimately, new and better connections await us in the future.
Acceptance doesn’t imply defeat; rather, it’s about recognizing that every experience carries a lesson. Accepting what life throws our way doesn’t mean we’re giving up. It means we’re learning to approach life with sincerity, free from anger over things we can’t control. This philosophy aligns with Stoicism, which teaches us to maintain calmness and focus on what we can control to find happiness.
Embracing acceptance is also a way of honoring the life we’ve been given, a way to appreciate every moment while striving to live it well. Let’s choose to be happy and open ourselves to the good that life has in store for us!