The only acceptance I will ever get is SELF-acceptance.
Everything else is just a way of deciding whether or not I will accept MYSELF.
Smiles, kind looks, expressions of understanding, accepted invitations, signups, sales, follows, likes, awards, accolades, citations, shout outs, job offers, compliments, good reviews, expressions of gratitude, thumbs up, high fives, pats on the back…
They’re all just conditions I put on whether or not I will accept MYSELF.
If they accept me then I’ll accept me.
And in the end, it is impossible to confirm whether or not anyone else really accepts me. Even if they say they do, I’ll never believe it unless I …well… believe it. If I don’t believe it, I’ll just tell myself they’re being polite, or backhanded, or patronizing or manipulative or stupid. The only acceptance I will ever really accept is my own.
The good news is: acceptance is always there for me. All I have to do is recognize where acceptance comes from and grant it to myself.
And when I finally recognize that my true nature is inherently acceptable I will be able to bask in the acceptance I have always had and can never lose: the total acceptance of a benevolent universe prior to my story that I am somehow separate - from the universe, from others, from anything.
And I will give up trying to get the acceptance that is always there for me and I will simply allow it.
And, when I do, I can never be separated from the feeling that I am accepted.
And I will begin to experience acceptance wherever I go.