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Acceptance is the answer...

Taradactyl
Taradactyl
I love this from the AA Big Book. We read it every day in treatment. It took every bit of 60 days for me to get it. "Nothing happens in God's world by mistake." Everything that happens has meaning. I believe everything in my life is by design, a part of the grand plan for my journey. When I remember this, I CAN accept things that seem wrong and out of place. It brings me a lot of peace to know there IS a plan for me. All of my life and troubles make sense when I view the world this way. I am not in control and that is just fine. I am just along for the ride, doing the next right thing.

Someone said... One day you will realize that everything IS perfect, and you will look up to the sky and feel a new freedom.

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From the BB "Doctor, Alcoholic, Addict"

"Acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situationsome 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 Gods world by mistake. Until I could accept my alcoholism, I could not stay sober; unless I accept life completely on lifes 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."
deleted_user
deleted_user
Yea! Gonna make a quick copy and put this in my wallet. Thanks Anna
billwfriend
billwfriend
that comes from the third edition page 449 having said that guess where my family cemetery is located....right off Missouri road 449....out in the country where my grandfather and grandmother on mom's side are buried. It will be where they place the memorial bench that will contain my ashes....

hugs bill
gjm
gjm
Read this daily early on was very important to me also.
Also found it kind of ironic some think its all about alcohol in the BB and here is something many people relate to.

Goes to show ya the drink or what ever is just a symptom to our disease, also in the BB.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Dr Paul's story has been inspirational to many people including me. My sponsor used to tell me to read page 449 whenever I had a problem with a person. He'd also say, "instead of eliminating the people in your life who push your buttons, eliminate the buttons."
deleted_user
deleted_user
I really needed to hear that today and this week. My attitudes or periods of self pity can change in a n instant if I change my attitude and accept.

Thanks!
CoogeeMum
CoogeeMum
"on what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes". That para pretty much summed up where the change was needed. In me. Serenity prayers helps daily too :}
gjm
gjm
CM, no doubt about the serenity prayer.

Acceptance, Change, and very important the Wisdom to know the difference.
deleted_user
deleted_user
I used to take comfort from this but then my sponsor pointed out that some may take it as a fatalistic view - there are things I should not accept, thus making the serenity prayer more accurate - to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE.

The phrase "acceptance is the key" is not a part of the instructions in the first 164 pages of the Big Book and so the stories at the back are the "meeting between meetings" in my view, and not a code to live by.
deleted_user
deleted_user
That story was the introduction of psychotherapy into AA.
gr8ful2b
gr8ful2b
While the stories in the BB are not the instructions in the first 164 pages and while I don't agree with some of them, I'd be remiss if I didn't admit that I've seen many people helped by that particular paragraph. In that story, I identified with Dr Paul in relation to his relationship with his wife and their subsequent healing.
deleted_user
deleted_user
That part of his story is a bit overused. Just another members share. I identified with his relations to his pets. lolol
gjm
gjm
@ response #8, just because the BB doesn't say that acceptance is key does it mean that its not? I think not.

just mine and many others take on it.
deleted_user
deleted_user
gjm, no, acceptance is not key according to the 12 Step programme - the spiritual awakening as a result of the 12 Steps is.

Anything else is just someone's opinion.
gjm
gjm
with all due respect i forgot you had all the answers.

have a great day.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Strewth gjm!

Smiles, waves, and skips off into the sunny garden...
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