Quote:
Originally Posted by ToughChoices  Reading a little last night got me thinking....
I bought the whole "powerless over his drinking" thing a while back, but I didn't realize how hard I'd been trying to exert some power over pretty much everything and everyone else. |
Hi ToughChoices:
For me, the key to understanding step one was embodied in the serenity prayer.
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. My insanity has been to put tremendous energy into controlling the uncontrollable. There are some things in this life, no matter how hard I try to control them, I will not succeed. I simply have to accept it. It is what it is.
On the other hand, there are situations in life where one's power over others may be severly limited, but that may change in the future. Barak Obama would be a good example of that. His power over others now is limited, but that is going to change when he is sworn in as President. Also, there are other situations where one may have had power over others, but no longer does. A good example of that would be my son. When he was very young, I had power over him. Now that he has moved out and is on his own making his own decisions in life, I no longer have power over him.
Step one for me was about performing a power assessment. Admitting my powerlessness over someone or something is about aligning my thinking with reality. It took me a long, long time to admit that I was powerless over something or someone because in my mind I was telling myself that I was in control.
Peace.