of a situation, then deciding what you're going to do about it.
-Kathleen Casey Theisen
I'll be very honest--it's become very difficult to accept the things that are happening in the United States these days. The masked "law-enforcement" officers, the deportations of people who don't deserve to be deported, the pardoning of scores of guilty people who were given fair trials--the list goes on and on, and it's getting worse and worse. And the unjustified murder of an unarmed woman in Minnesota seems to be the next step in the escalation of actions and policies designed to sow chaos and disorder, to pit people against each other on political and ideological bases, and to keep people from trusting anyone, anywhere.
But accept these things we must, because until we acknowledge the truth that things are not going to go back to how they used to be, we'll never be able to move forward, away from the awful things that are going on.
No matter how much we don't want to admit it, the current situations in this world make it impossible to go back to any sort of "good old days." We may want to say things like "There's no way that I'll accept a killing in Minnesota," but when one says such a thing, then one is talking about denial, not ethics or morals. If anything is going to change in this world, then the current facts must be accepted as a first step towards change. Things are as they are, and pretending they aren't happening is to sabotage any chance for healthy change.
Accepting the fact that a woman was killed in her car while doing nothing wrong does not, by any stretch of the imagination, mean that you somehow condone the action. It does not mean that you support the people who did it. It doesn't mean that you don't care about it. It simply means that you're willing to say "Yes, this did happen." "Yes, I live in a country in which a man wearing a uniform is allowed to kill anyone he wants without facing any repercussions so far, and who is actually defended by many people in positions of power."
And acknowledging that fact along with all the other horrible things going on means that we're aware of them, and that we know that change has to come from the place we're at, not from the place we wish we were. Alcoholics can't really start to overcome their alcoholism until they accept the fact that they're alcoholics. Until I accept the fact that the kitchen faucet is broken, I can't fix it. And when I do work on it, I undertake the job knowing that it's broken, not hoping that it's going to miraculously fix itself and be as good as it was last year at this time.
Acceptance is often very difficult. Right now, it's very hard for me to accept that the country I've lived in for many decades is no longer the same country as it was when I was a kid--opportunities for everyone have dried up as the wealth disparities grow more and more pronounced, and the spending power of the money we earn shrinks regularly. The amount of debt that young people have to rack up in order to get a college education cripples them, and simply sabotages their futures. The young people I know today simply don't have the opportunities ahead of them that they would have had at the same age forty years ago. These are simple facts, and I can't ignore them or deny their importance.
But I still hope for change. I hope for improvement. I know that it can't come from me, for I have no real influence on any policies or policy makers, but I accept the fact that I can't affect things directly, and I still try to affect things indirectly as much as I can. I've taught for almost forty years because I've wanted to do all I can to help young people to know things that would help them in life, and I can keep on teaching, hoping to help people to see directions they can go and methods they can use to bring about change themselves. I accept my limitations because I know that I can still accomplish something, but I don't waste my time or energy doing things that won't have any effect at all.
Acceptance is not submission. Acceptance is strength, acceptance is clear-headedness, and acceptance is awareness. Acceptance is one of the first things that has to happen before any change can be implemented, and it's one of the most important elements of our lives.
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