It is what it is. Some people don’t like that saying, because they think it means that the person saying it is abdicating responsibility for making changes. I think that there may be some people who mean it that way, but I do not. When I say it is what it is, I mean that there are some things that I have no effect on, and must come to grips with the fact that they are happening whether or not I want them to. So when I say “it is what it is” about the weather, what I mean is that the rain that is falling is going to continue to fall regardless of me and what I do, so I put on my raincoat, and go out and do what I need to get done. “It is what it is” is my way of verbalizing my acceptance of what I cannot change. It does not, however, relieve me of my responsibility to try to change something what may seem impossible to change, but is really just going to take some work to change.