Recently I wrote and article on stress and courage emphasising the things that one can change to manage stress. This is its sister article on acceptance and stress.

Many  people I work with who are stressed…and myself on a stressy day…have problems:

• Giving up
• Letting go
• Acknowledging that some things can’t be changed (e.g. death and taxes)
• Turning off
• Surrendering (even the word makes me shudder!)
• Quitting (the ultimate un american act!)
• Acknowledging the limits of their power (a.k.a. “King Canuting”)

Acceptance and surrender have long been a part or eastern spiritual traditions but the modern Western world in a fit of ego positively discourages acceptance. I believe this is one reason stress is so endemic in the British, Dutch and American workplaces I’m called into. Maybe it’s time for a change.

So what do you need to accept to be less stressed? What are the things in your life that you can’t change that accpetance would help with?