Lifestyle

10 Things You Must Accept And 10 Things You Must Change In Your Life

by Lauren Martin

Life can be a hard pill to swallow. On a daily basis, we are consumed with regrets, failures and insecurities that plague our minds and control our actions.

We are overwhelmed by situations we cannot change and things we wish we could take back. We experience heartbreak, loss and fear, along with betrayal, jealousy and bad memories.

However, life doesn’t have to be so hard. There’s an art to learning to let things go and leaving the worries of the past to yesterday. Because in life, we’re all carrying the same load, yet what differentiates us is how we choose to carry it.

Those who go through life with a seemingly unaffected attitude are the people who understand the angles of life and the differences between what can be changed and what cannot. In understanding those differences, they are able to move on and enjoy life as it’s presented.

It’s the people who don’t get worked up when their plane is delayed or when they didn’t get the promotion they wanted.

It’s the people who can move on effortlessly from one heartbreak to the next. They don’t fret about the inevitable and move on to bigger and better things before they have time to cry about the past.

You shouldn't be choking on life. All you need is water, a good mindset and an understanding between the things that can be changed and the things that must be accepted.

Accept your imperfections, change your idea of beauty.

There’s nothing you can do about your long arms or your elbow knees. You can’t fix your big ears or your even bigger feet, but you can change how you feel about them. Your imperfections are only imperfections as long as you make them so and it’s up to you to accept yourself, flaws and all.

Beauty is a standard that we make up ourselves and no one can define it objectively. Tell yourself you’re beautiful and let your imperfections become defining qualities rather than flaws you wish you could get rid of, because you never will.

Accept your family, change your friends.

You can’t choose your family, but you can choose your friends. Even if you have a great family, it’s important to maintain a friend group that's like family because we all know that in the game of life, you need good friends on your side.

Because sometimes family just isn’t enough to assuage the pain of loneliness and the hardships of life. So whether you have a great family or one you’d rather get away from, choose your friends wisely because they have a tendency to become another type of family.

Accept your losses, change your earnings.

Things you’ve lost in the past, whether it be a lover or a priceless piece of jewelry, can be hard to let go. However, the ghosts of things and people past have no room in your present and will only haunt you as long as you let them.

Don’t let the memory of things departed become part of your life any longer. The only thing you can do now is make up for your losses. Find a new lover, a better piece of priceless jewelry or a hypnotist who can help you forget it all.

Accept your situation, change your outlook.

What’s happening to you here and now is not something you can change, but you can change how you respond to it because there’s nothing worse than someone who doesn’t know how to “go with the flow.”

Life is too short not to be making the best out of situations and fretting over things that cannot be changed. Learn to adjust your expectations and change your outlook so you don’t waste moments that could have been great ones.

Accept your fate, change your journey.

Whatever happens, happens. It’s a simple saying, but it’s a simple concept. The things that happen in life cannot always be explained or changed, but you can change the path you take to them.

Fate has a weird way of showing us that we aren’t always in control over what happens to us, but it does tell us that we can make our own paths, even if we can’t see where it will lead. If you want to change what’s happening to you, change your path.

Accept where you are now, change where you’re going.

You may not like where you are now, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have the power to change where you’re going. Only the weak let their current situation determine their future one.

The strong and the passionate take charge of their futures and don’t let their surroundings stop them from getting somewhere else.

Accept the choices you've made, change your next ones.

Holding on to regrets is like bringing a jar full of bees into your house. There’s no need for them and they will only end up stinging you when you’re trying to watch TV.

It’s irresponsible, dangerous and downright stupid. Accept your regrets as moments passed that have nothing to do with you now and stop bringing them into your life. You can’t change your past mistakes, but you can change how you make up for them.

Accept those who hurt you, change who you surround yourself with.

Hurt you once, shame on them. Hurt you twice, you're a masochist. If someone hurts you, there's nothing you can do, but use the pain and the knowledge of that pain to refuse to let it happen again. Surrounding yourself with people who are only going to hurt you is like deliberately cutting yourself.

Pain is supposed to teach you a lesson, to keep you from making the same mistake twice. Learn from those who did you wrong and choose the next person you let into your life with trepidation and the knowledge of that pain.

Accept your body, change your health.

Many times your body will never change from its predisposed weight or form. You are who you are supposed to be and your body is just a vessel that carries your soul. Just because you're not a size 2 doesn't mean you shouldn't treat yourself like the most beautiful and extraordinary person on this earth.

Your body is your temple, and though you can't always change it, you should take care of it. Do not destroy it, respect it the same way you take care of your own home.

Accept the things you can’t change, change the things you can’t accept.

There are some things, like the weather and the stock market, that you cannot change. However, there’s always something you can do. If you hate the cold, move to Hawaii. If you hate losing money in the stock market, start a company that will get you big earnings.

If you absolutely can’t accept something, then you must make bold moves to change it. However, the sooner you start accepting the things you cannot change, the happier you will be. The more you change the things you refuse to accept, the greater person you will become.

Photo credit: Sanja Marusic