seek...first--love that quote by Saint Julian of Norwich...and learned it before I truly understood the toll that addiction (alcohol and drugs) had already taken on my life from childhood and would take on me through adult children and immediate family. Over time,
have found that it has a deeper meaning than I originally was able to even understand...although it resonated deeply as I, too, am intuitive and empathetic...
Julian of Norwich lived after losing all of her family in the Black Plague and was a 'prayer person' who was cemented into a monastery as was common in the time...and there, she had her spiritual visitations...when I learned this part...I started to understand that the path of suffering can lead to greater spiritual depth...and can elicit great costs as well.
The bolded part of the serenity prayer above...came to me only about a year ago...from a friend...and it also 'informed' me that life is harder than I was brought up to believe and that suffering is a common denominator for those who choose to deal with what they are asked to deal with by life.
As Morning Glory mentioned...in explaining acceptance...awareness...and action (the examples really helped me grow today). Glad you are here...and thank you for your post...as these too articulated circumstances in my own life that I grapple with and wonder about (at a meta level often)...and yet...working my codependency (CODA) and Adult Child (ACA) and attending naranon and alanon meetings (yep...got both kinds)--always helps remind and bring me closer to a center that I cannot get to without walking in faith and in my own walk.