Some of the hardest work in love is letting someone be who they are, while they are still changing, and while you are still changing too.
Combine love with acceptance. True love accepts the other as they are, recognizing and celebrating their uniqueness.
Acceptance is not the same as approval.
You can accept reality and still want growth.
You can accept a person as they are and still set boundaries.
What acceptance really says is, “I see what is true right now, instead of only relating to my fantasy.”
Teachers who speak about radical acceptance invite us to drop the constant war with “what is.”
Rather than “You should be different by now,”
there is “This is where you are. This is where I am. What is the next kind step from here”
Some philosophers describe life as a larger living field, expressing itself through each of us in a unique way.
In that view, each person is one specific way the universe tries out being alive.
Your quirks, gifts, and limits are not mistakes.
They are part of your pattern.
Loving with acceptance means you treat that pattern with respect, in yourself and in others.
You stop trying to rearrange people into your preferred shape.
You stay curious about who they are, rather than only who you want them to be.