Reflection
Before getting sober, much of my suffering came from arguing with reality.
Wanting people to be different…especially our special guy, Jordan.
Wanting circumstances to change.
Wishing the past hadn’t happened.
Then one night, I was reading the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous (Third Edition), and the Good Lord spoon-fed me exactly what I needed to read, hear, and believe in a single paragraph on page 449:
“And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today.”
The author explains that when he is disturbed, it’s often because there is some person, place, thing, situation, or fact of life he refuses to accept. Serenity comes when we stop fighting reality and begin accepting “life completely on life’s terms.”
The shift is powerful: Stop trying to change the world and start allowing God to change me and my attitudes.
That paragraph remains one of the deepest pieces of wisdom I’ve found in recovery.
Acceptance doesn’t mean I approve of what happened. It means I stop demanding that reality be different before I can have peace.
Facts:
I can’t change what I won’t accept.
I can’t surrender what I’m still fighting.
And I can’t find serenity while insisting life happen on my terms.
Once I accept what is, I can begin asking what God wants me to do about it.
Recovery teaches us to distinguish between what we can change and what we must release.
Soul Search
What reality am I exhausting myself trying not to accept?
“Be still, and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
Amen and Amen.
P.E.A.C.E.
Jay@EagleLaunch.com
