If you are not accepting your reality, you are choosing to be in denial of it. It really is that black and white.

If something in your life is causing you discomfort, annoying you, making you frustrated, consider whether or not you're spending energy wishing it was some other way.

Wishing things were any other way than they are is otherwise known as denial.

Example:

You got 4 hours of sleep last night.

You have a really important meeting with your boss' boss' boss today.

You spend most of the day obsessing over either queuing up cups of coffee or wishing you had gotten just two more hours of sleep.

The reality is, you cannot go back in time and get more sleep. You can only learn from that experience and to the best of your ability, set up circumstances such that you can be well-rested in the future. The time you spend being in denial of that reality will make you MORE tired.

Denial is EXHAUSTING. Denial of self (lack of authenticity), denial of others (judgment), denial of circumstances (delusion), are some of the biggest energy sucks that exist.

Once you've accepted your reality, you will be significantly better positioned to actually change it. But you can't change it from the past. You can only change it going forward.