Acceptance is hard for some people to give. They see it as defeat when in fact it's not defeat it's accepting that you value your relationship more than being the same.
Acceptance can only be reached once you yourself show acceptance. In order to have others accept you you must accept them. You can't demand that those around you accept you if you refuse to accept their differences as well. This is something I myself have been struggling with. I feel the need to lash back at those who attack my beliefs and try to make me think like they do. I know it's wrong and I know the anger is wrong. It's something I'm working on. In order for me to demand their acceptance I need to learn to let their attacks float on by like a bad smell in a good strong breeze. I've learned to just say "thank you" to those people who tell me they will pray for my soul when they find out I am not Christian. I'm trying to meet ignorance with education. I listen to what those people tell me they think I believe and then explain to them what they have wrong about me. But I find it so hard not to ask some one to show me how to turn water into wine when they ask can I turn someone into a toad, or ask them to show me how to walk on water when they ask me to teach them how to fly on a broom! I'm a work in progress and this clay is still wet!
Blessed be,
Lady Alice