Onewithwings

I am working on one spiritual principle a week right now, and this week's spiritual principle is acceptance.

Before I do anything, I have to accept the situation I am in.

Accept that my brother is royally pissed at me.
Accept that I missed an appointment and owe $50.
Accept that I'm getting a huge pimple right on my chin.

Acceptance is the answer to all my problems. If I accept something, it ceases to be a "problem" and becomes Life on Life's Terms.

I believe that if I practice this spiritual principle in all my affairs, I will be that much closer to serenity.

Timebuster

Some other significant Spiritual Principles include: honesty, acceptance, hope, commitment, faith, courage, willingness, humility, unconditional love, perseverance, open-mindedness, awareness, vigilance, self-discipline, sharing and caring, and service.

Those are the basic principles from which we receive our strength and courage to move onward in our quest for spiritual enlightenment, personal fulfillment and positive growth. As we incorporate these principles into our daily lives, we gain awareness and become open-minded towards all values and virtues that free us from our addictive patterns and selfishness.

TB

JackNWA

Thanks. I needed to hear this today.

Missybuns

When we practice acceptance in all our affairs, trust me, we have serenity in our lives.

peace,
Missy

Onewithwings

I chose acceptance because once you stop fighting everything and just do what you need to do and try to do the next right thing, you realize that God's will is really not that bad. Of course, acceptance is at the end of a grieving process. It's easy to accept the good things, but in order to practice real acceptance, you must come to accept the realities of life by grieving what could have been, but not fighting it, just laying it to rest. I know a lady in NA whose youngest son was murdered while she was in recovery. If she didn't pick up over THAT, I have NO excuse! That is probably the ultimate test of one's ability to practice acceptance.

Onewithwings

I found a list on another forum that someone posted

IAmMyProblem

Thanks for the post OneWithWings.

I've been working on acceptance as well, and it's a tough one. I could never really accept myself for who I was, and subsequently, my view on the rest of the world was unhealthy, filled with many expectations and even more resentments. Why couldn't people act the way I wanted them too? I had absolutely no control over my own my life, yet I believed I could control everyone and everything around me. Because I'm a very sick person, I've lived most of my life plagued by irrational beliefs; I wasn't able to cope with a [I]seemingly[I] hostile world. It took me to get to this program to realize that the problem was within myself, and that no matter how much drugs I put on top of my problem, my perceptions of reality might have changed, but reality in itself, for me, never got better, only worse.

Until I could accept my addiction, I could not remaiin sober. Unless I could accept life completely on life's terms, I could not be happy. I heard in a meeting the other day, that once we let go of our expectations, only then can we allow acceptance into our lives.

God runs the show, not me. When I've taken the reigns back into my hands and am playing Director, I know I'm headed for a relapse. It's foolish: I could not control my addiction, so what makes me think I have the power to control the outcome of my everyday reality?

For me, a huge part of acceptance is accepting that I failed as controller of my life, so, I submit to God, for He knows better than I the path(s) I should take.

And acceptance is the answer to all life's problems today......

Onewithwings

This week I am practicing forgiveness, including forgiving myself. This also includes asking God for forgiveness (to me). When I do this, I can go on and do the next right thing. I don't hold a grudge, and I pray for the person I am forgiving. The Lord's prayer says "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us". To me, this means we have to forgive to be forgiven. So I am practicing forgiveness, and I feel the burden of my past lifted off my shoulders.

REZ

I need to work on accepting myself and other people. Thanks for the post.

Gmoney

Welcome back, Rez. :-)

johndelko408

Acceptance is tough one. But the best way I heard it was "we have to live life on life's terms, we are going to encounter things we may not like or agree with. But we have to accept them, we don't have to like it, but we have to accept it".

Timebuster

I accept myself completely.
I accept my strengths and my weaknesses,
my gifts and my shortcomings,
my good points and my faults.

I accept myself completely as a human being.
I accept that I am here to learn and grow,
and I accept that I am learning and growing.
I accept the personality I've developed, and
I accept my power to heal and change.

I accept myself without condition or reservation.
I accept that the core of my being is goodness
and that my essence is love, and I accept
that I sometimes forget that.

I accept myself completely, and in this acceptance
I find an ever-deepening inner strength.
From this place of strength, I accept my life fully and
I open to the lessons it offers me today.

I accept that within my mind are both fear and love,
and I accept my power to choose which I will experience as real.
I recognize that I experience only the results of my own choices.

I accept the times that I choose fear
as part of my learning and healing process, and
I accept that I have the potential and power
in any moment to choose love instead.

I accept mistakes as a part of growth,
so I am always willing to forgive myself and
give myself another chance.

I accept that my life is the expression of my thought,
and I commit myself to aligning my thoughts
more and more each day with the Thought of Love.
I accept that I am an expression of this Love.
Love's hands and voice and heart on earth.

I accept my own life as a blessing and a gift.
My heart is open to receive, and I am deeply grateful.
May I always share the gifts that I receive
fully, freely, and with joy.

Today I accept life on life's terms, not mine.

TB