Acceptance was the answer

It was our monthly "topic night" at my AA 12x12 meeting tonight, and Acceptance was drawn from the hat.

What a wonderful discussion! I immediately went to one of my favorite passages from the Big Book - these wise & powerful words resonated with me the very first time I read them, and it's a passage that I often revisit when I am discontented with circumstances in my life. It always helps me get back on a path of right thinking & right action, and helps restore my proper balance...

"And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation - some fact of my life - unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment. Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in God's world by mistake. Until I could accept my alcoholism, I could not stay sober; unless I accept life completely on life's terms, I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes."

-- Big Book, p 417 (emphasis mine)

For this tall order, the Serenity Prayer is the most helpful resource for me. When I can truly surrender disturbances that are out of my control, and be genuinely accountable for things I can control, then I can't deny that things work out amazingly well! Good stuff.

A work in progress...
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Now playing: U2 - grace