Acceptance & Comfort...they often go hand in hand. If you accept something, then you are comfortable with it. Recently, after reading a story online, I found that to be very untrue.
When searching for a definition of acceptance, you'll find it to be very broad: Acceptance is a person's agreement to experience a situation, follow a process or condition (often a negative, or uncomfortable situation) without attempting to change it, protest, or exit. When searching for the definition of comfort, you'll find it to be just as broad: Comfort is a state of physical or psychological ease, often characterized as a lack of hard-ship. That being said, they often are coupled together, with people assuming that because they accept something, they are comfortable. Therefore, when one finally realizes they ARE uncomfortable with a situation, they often don't know how to approach the person about their discomfort, & keep it hidden.
I've always been extremely open-minded, never judging, ridiculing, or shunning anyone. Always helping, advising, & accepting everybody, naturally. So, when I read that story, & I realized that I was uncomfortable with that particular situation. I thought to myself, "If I'm not comfortable, how can I say I accept it fully?" In truth, I don't feel I can, so my answer is to work at ridding myself of discomfort, which starts with admitting it to that person.
I'm writing this so people will think. If you are uncomfortable with a situation, for example, with me being a lesbian, say something. Ask for help. Just because you are uncomfortable, doesn't mean you are unaccepting. Most likely, it means you're in a situation that's new to you. You can't become accustomed to a situation without first being new.
Acceptance comes easy, comfort, often, does not. Thus proving, acceptance doesn't always come with comfort.