God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
We are raised to believe that hardships are meant to be conquered and overcome. Some of the greatest challenges I have faced in sobriety revolved around problems which I felt were the result of someone else's poor choices. It is easy to get "stuck" waiting for someone else to rectify a situation they created, hoping to be rescued from the prospect of making painful choices and actions necessary to bring our lives back in balance.
Acceptance is far more than mere acknowledgement that a problem exists. Most alcoholics can superficially accept that they have a drinking problem - but to recover they must accept without reservation that they are and always will be an alcoholic. Once we accept a hardship, without any buried expectation that somehow we will be relieved of its burden, we can truly move forward irrespective of the ultimate disposition of the hardship.