Acceptance can be hard. A parent who chooses not to get help for a drinking problem. A child who succumbs to addiction. Or a spouse who suffers with terminal cancer. These are some of the challenges that people struggle with on a daily basis.

On a walk with a friend today, she talked about the term “radical acceptance.” In a Psychology Today article, radical acceptance is defined as “accepting life on life’s terms and not resisting what you cannot or choose not to change.”

I know that I’ve spent a lot of time and energy worrying about the past or focusing on how things “shouldn’t” be a certain way. The reality is that bad things happen to good people. How we embrace life’s events defines us.

If you grew up in a dysfunctional family or are living in one now, you might be in a virtual prison but don’t even know it. Does your family build you up or try to belittle you?

Do you have infinite possibilities in front of you or are you being held back?

The psychological bonds among family members within an alcoholic/dysfunctional family are complex and can be damaging to your well-being.