I was talking to a friend today and said “you can’t expect them to accept you unless you accept them”!
I realized this was a big idea! All too often we want people to accept us the way we are. But we won’t accept them the way they are (probably that’s why we want them to accept us the way we are!). That’s so much irony! If you accept the other person the way s/he is, you don’t even need them to accept you the way you are! Because you are ok either ways!
Most important thing about acceptance: accept the other person the way s/he is, and not only that, but the way s/he is NOT!