Acceptance: What does it mean to you?

There is a very cool group called 3E Love Network that promotes acceptance of disability.

Today is their International Day of Acceptance.

The group was founded by siblings Stevie and Annie Hopkins, two young adults with spinal muscular atrophy.

Their message: "tell the world you embrace who you are; a person with social rights, who has an opinion, who has interests, who has goals, who loves life, and who will not be without a voice in society. You are not living disabled, you are living."

Read Annie Hopkins' powerful story here. Annie grew up facing discrimination. She had a ton of spunk. "In college, she wanted to join a sorority, so she forced more than 40 houses on campus to build ramps so she could participate in rush week," according to the 3E Love website.

Annie created a wheelchair heart symbol to unify people of all abilities and spark conversation that would change attitudes. She and her brother Stevie started a company to spread the message. Unexpectedly, Annie died in 2009 due to a complication from a simple medical procedure. Stevie took the company forward.

To me, acceptance means respect for a person's intrinsic self-worth, their value as a human being, regardless of anything they do.

What does acceptance mean to you?