The psychological glue that holds everything together is acceptance; and it is acceptance based on values and standards that you must decide are important to you and essential for your personal growth and satisfaction. Growing to accept yourself and nurture your emotions is a process, a way of living and interacting with others, a way of holding a great conversation with life. It takes preparation, practice, and effort. Acceptance grows out of a type of thinking and acting that focuses on being realistic, not irrational; it emerges from facing your challenges, not avoiding them; it is based on positive – not negative – and realistic actions and thoughts, not pie-in-the-sky fantasy.
When you base this acceptance on the values and standards that provide you with a social conscience and give your life purpose and meaning, you will feel tremendously empowered. You will feel more confident and assured. Your values will give you the ability to act independently, and result in actions and thoughts that will provide you with a sense of satisfaction and productivity. Effective coping with life’s challenges flows from cultivating values that guide you and allow you to venture confidently outside of yourself.
At work, Maribeth is a supervisor who is very popular with members of the team she leads. She believes in explaining strategies and plans carefully to her team; she asks for and listens to their feedback; she involves each member of the team in the work they must do, and she feels it is important to give each of them a sense of ownership. Those are her values, embedded firmly in a social conscience that makes respect for others a part of her leadership style. She easily spreads her sense of purpose and meaning in her work to her colleagues. It is no surprise that Maribeth’s team is the most productive in her company.
Psychology and Stress 