What is the difference between acceptance and giving into something?

I’ve been pondering this question over the last couple of weeks. Having been given a diagnosis I don’t want, my key phrase has been ‘I don’t want to give into this like others do’ but realising that phrase as much as it’s fighting talk it’s stopping me accepting the situation.

So how do you accept something but not let the illness define you and who you can be?

According to Wikipedia “Acceptance in human psychology is a person’s assent to the reality of a situation, recognizing a process or condition (often a negative or uncomfortable situation) without attempting to change it or protest it. The concept is close in meaning to acquiescence, derived from the Latin acquiēscere (to find rest in).” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acceptance

Even in that definition there is an element of negativity of giving in, but is there another way to look at acceptance? Should acceptance be admitting there is something you don’t like, something that you don’t want and taking that and saying ok that situation has happened, that illness has been confirmed BUT what is important is what I do with that. Yes we can accept and give in, and allow that situation to have a negative hold on us or we can say ok this is what it is but I am going to do what I can to not let it impact who I am.

In the definition above I like that acceptance derives from the term “rest in”, so accepting is finding peace with the situation, being able to say its ok. It’s not about giving in and letting something overtake who you are and what you can do. It involves change, adapting your lifestyle, and not seeing either of those as negative.

Something that strikes me as well is that acceptance is not a weakness, as I was told last week I could spend time fighting the diagnosis, not accepting it but that is taking up negative energy, and energy that I don’t have. What I need to do is accept, not see it as a negative but think about the changes I can make, how to accept help (there is that word again), but to continue to challenge myself on what can and can’t be done.

Accepting things won’t always be easy and we each find our own way of doing so, and this differs greatly on what the thing is we are accepting but I know I have been challenged to try and see the positive and make those changes so that the diagnosis does not define me but that I can do all the things I want to be able to do. Now to keep remembering that and putting it into practice.