Glossary of Heart: Resignation vs. Acceptance

Rooted in hopelessness, resignation is an attempt to escape and refuse to feel emotional and spiritual pain. In resignation, we feign acceptance of life issues that are very painful and unresolved. We use resignation to avoid dependency, neediness, and vulnerability because we see these experiences as weaknesses.

Acceptance is having emotional and spiritual serenity about a situation that we can’t do anything about. It comes through the willingness to grieve and is a result of working through the pain of life problems, in hope that good will come. Acceptance is rooted in the certainty that comes from experiencing the truths of the heart.

This Glossary of Heart presents a daily choice for us. The first option keeps us where we are. The second option takes us on a journey into our hearts. It’s the hardest yet most courageous choice we can make. I hope you take the risk.