Radical Acceptance by Andrea Miller is a book that will show us how go better love others and ourselves. This book shows us the practice of accepting others as they are without trying to change them. I liked that this book pointed out that this does not mean accepting abuse in any form and clearly states that is a line that should not be accepted. This is a wonderful book that I think everyone who is in a of any kind relationship should read. It will help improve all of your relationships not just your romantic ones.

I've contributed several articles to YourTango over the last year or two. They initially reached out to me after reading some of my pieces from Babble. Honestly, I'd never heard of the site before, which was kind of surprising because their articles are everywhere! Once I got into it, I really loved their edgy, fun voice. Andrea Miller, the CEO and Founder of YourTango came out with Radical Acceptance on May 2nd, which is published by Simon & Schuster. Simon and Schuster put me on the NetGalley list for the book, and after reading the excerpt, I was pretty pumped to dive in. 

The book starts with, "Loving your partner without judgement is the ultimate gift you can give them -- and yourself." Instantly hooked. The whole book is filled with actionable advice on learning how to increase emotional resiliency, build confidence, reduce conflict, and so much more. At first I thought, well, my relationship is pretty healthy so I'm not sure how much I'll learn from this. That was a narrow minded view! There's always something to learn and always opportunities to grow and better yourself. Radical Acceptance definitely helps with that! 

One of the most enlightening sections was on learning how to really listen. Miller states that one of her favorite quotes is from the Christian existentialist philosopher Paul Tillich, which says, "The first duty of love is to listen." She then goes on to talk about how though that's something we all may inherently know, it's much harder to put into practice. She challenges us that next time our partner talks to us, whatever they're saying, to actually listen. Not just with our ears, but with our eyes, our body language, really take in their words. It's such a little act that can make a huge difference. 

The whole book is well-written, insightful, filled with research and information from studies in the fields of brain science, sexuality, psychotherapy, and neurobiology. There are also a several stories from real-life couples that make the information more relatable. Overall, I'd absolutely recommend this book to anyone seeking to better their relationship. It's humorous, fun, easy to read, and comes from a knowledgable source who's spent her career writing about these topics!

Sound advice from the people who know about relationships, how to start them and how to keep them. Recommended read