Ann

Acceptance

Our basic recovery concept that never loses its power to work miracles is the concept called acceptance.

We do not achieve acceptance in a moment. We often have to work through a mirage of feelings - sometimes anger, outrage, shame, self-pity, or sadness. But if acceptance is our goal, we will achieve it.

What is more freeing than to laugh at our weaknesses and to be grateful for our strengths? To know the entire package called "us" - with all our feelings, thoughts, tendencies, and history - is worthy of acceptance and brings healing feelings.

To accept our circumstances is another miraculous cure. For anything to change or anyone to change, we must first accept others, the circumstance, and ourselves exactly as they are. Then, we need to take it one step further. We need to become grateful for our circumstances or ourselves. We add a touch of faith by saying, "I know this is exactly the way it's supposed to be for the moment."

No matter how complicated we get, the basics never lose their power to restore us to sanity.

Today, God, help me practice the concept of acceptance in my life. Help me accept others, my circumstances, and myself. Take me one step further, and help me feel grateful.

From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie

Ann

Acceptance is not approval, it's not defeat, it is the simple honest acknowledgement of what is. It is what it is and the next step is to decide what we want to do about it.

Faith was the acceptance that I was exactly where I was supposed to be and that God had my path ready, as soon as I was willing to follow.

For me, I had to accept that I could not fix, change, manipulate, or cure my son of his addiction and the behaviours addiction brought.

Only then could I start working on myself, also accepting myself exactly as I was and then deciding what I needed to do to begin living a healthy happy life once more.

Before I could change, I had to acknowledge that I had a problem (my codependency), accept the honest fact that I needed help and make a decision to do something about it...followed by the actions needed to do so.

Bird615

Thank you; practicing this in my life has made all the difference.
Not easy at all sometimes, but I know it works.

Turtle76

Thank you. This is exactly what I needed to start my day 😀

Anaya

I, too, am grateful for this thread and feel I need to focus more on the message Ann generously shares.

Some days are tougher than others, today is one of those.

So grateful for the SR community.

Ann

(((Anaya))), I have always said that the difference between a bad day and a good day is usually about two days. I hope your tough day brings you better tomorrows.

I gave some thought to "acceptance" today. For me it was preceded by denial.

"It isn't so bad."

"He'll snap out of it"

"He's not like those other people"

"I'm his mother, I need to put a stop to this."

It was that bad, he never snapped out of it and still struggles, he is no better or worse than any other loved one lost in addiction, and all the mother's love in the world cannot save those who don't want to be saved...if it could not one of us would be here.

Once I finally faced the cold hard truth, I could stop struggling with life and begin to find ways to live in a happier, healthier way.

For me, acceptance was simply the clarity to see things exactly as they were, and to know that there was hope for me, meetings and a great program showed me that.

I'd love to hear from others here, on what finally brought you to "acceptance" and where it led you. There is a lot of strong recovery floating around this forum, so let's hear your take on all this, share how it works for you.

Hugs

Anaya

Ann: Thank you for your kindness! It's very much appreciated.