Sometimes you will have an undesirable situation that won’t change. You may not like it or approve of it, but acceptance will allow you to feel peace and provide you with the space to move on.

Radical acceptance acknowledges that we all have choices, and it sometimes comes down to choosing whether or not we are going to accept the reality of our situation. You can choose to stay miserable about the situation, or you can choose to accept it and move forward.

Imagine that you are terrified of the dentist. You tried to ignore it. You tried to deny it. But you know you have a cavity. You had a good relationship with your previous dentist, but he just retired. Your new dentist isn't warm with his patients and seems a little too eager to wield around that sharp, spinning drill.

In an attempt to avoid the dentist and manage the pain you’ll probably start cutting out some of your favorite foods that irritate the cavity, such as sugars and cold food. But that’s fine, right? You’ve been thinking you should eat more fish and veggies, anyway. That works out okay, except when you eat an unknown cavity irritant, or the cavity pain just flares up for no good reason.

By practicing radical acceptance, you choose to accept that you are scared of the dentist, it will be a miserable experience, and the cavity needs to be filled regardless. You can't leave it or else you'll eventually need a root canal, and no one has time for that. (Read: That's like, the scariest dental procedure there is.)

So you go to the appointment, embrace for the worst, and 45 minutes later you walk out with a full set of teeth and a renewed commitment to floss.

And let’s not forget—when you’re in that dentist chair with a suction tube hanging from your lip and the hygienist misting your entire face with water, you can use the IMPROVE skill set to successfully make it out the other side.