
A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.- Mark Twain
I don’t know about you, but something I have been looking for all my life is acceptance, whether that has been from family, friends, lovers, co-workers, bosses, or more importantly myself.
As I see more and more of my high school friends’ names on Facebook I am reminded of a time where there always seemed to be an “us,” and “them.” What I have learned over time is that is exactly how “them,” were feeling too. And yes I know I used the word them improperly.
I believe it was my Sophomore year of High School when our student body president took his own life after a party at his home, just days before school was to start. I regret that I can’t even recall which school year it was, or even his name but it was such a surprising turn of events for someone so popular, so well liked at school, someone with such promise to do something so horrible. The discussions surrounding the event always seemed to hover around the question, “How could he be so sad? He had it all.”
Fast forward a couple of years to the high school I actually graduated from, and it is my senior year. I won’t name any names, just in case. But as graduation day approached every senior was of course bombarded with that same question day in and day out, “What do you plan to do after graduation?”
Once again, there was a person who I thought had it all together. It all seemed to work out for him, he was constantly in the limelight and was chosen to play lead in all the best plays we produced. But when I asked him that very same question, all I saw was fear in his eyes when he attempted to answer that his choices were between the air force, and college. I think it would be funny if he actually came across this post, that’s how much an impact his reaction had on me, I still remember what his choices were.
While the two cases are different in that the first more than likely suffered a mental illness and needed medical attention, and the second was just having some doubts, where they are similar is in the lessons I learned but never took to heart.
There is no such thing as a perfect life, there is no one out there who isn’t looking for some form of acceptance. We all feel a bit lonely and insecure at times, we all doubt ourselves, we all suffer from some fear that immobilizes us from time to time. I think about Bam Margera the professional skateboarder and just plain action junkie who broke down into tears in the movie Jackass, when they locked him in a horse trailer with a snake. This is a guy who’s broken many bones doing some of the craziest action stunts and he’s utterly terrified.
The acceptance I am focusing on now is the only one that is important, self-acceptance. One of the most valuable lessons I have learned over the last year is that to be a whole person does not mean you have alleviated every single problem out of your life, that you are perfect. The last time someone showed up and was perfect we all know how that went down, and believe me I tried to walk across our pool water to see if I was perfect and I fell to the bottom and got a nose full of chlorine.
However, to be a whole person means to accept both parts of yourself the effective, and ineffective. It is realizing and accepting both your attributes and faults, then improving on them both to spur continued growth.
As always, the things I am grateful for have not been fully realized. I accept that they will be someday, so therefore I am now grateful for it being true.









