recoveringangel

Acceptance in Recovery

Acceptance in recovery necessitates enduring those things that you cannot change. Once we realized that our disease of addiction was overpowering us, we surrendered to a Power greater than ourselves, and we came to accept our powerlessness over drugs and alcohol. We received willingly the fact that the 12 Steps could help us to restore our sanity and recover all that was lost in our addiction. Positive change cannot occur without surrendering our will and our lives, and furthermore, accepting ourselves as a recovering addict. Only then can forward progress commence.
As we emerge from our isolation and stop resisting change, we allow ourselves to be open-minded towards new ways of living. We come to terms with What Is in our lives, not with what was or what should be. We gain hope, trust, and faith in our recovery, motivating us to do those things that are necessary for positive change and growth to occur. Acceptance keeps us focused on our journey. The road to recovery has now begun. Acceptance is the dawn of a rewarding experience to come about.
On our journey in recovery, there will arise situations that must be accepted in order for us to have a chance to make improvements. However stressful or aggravating a circumstance may be, we must first accept it as it is which will open the door for change to begin. Unless we accept whatever may happen, we won’t acquire the opportunity to detect a problem and achieve a resolution.
Another category of acceptance that is vital to our ongoing recovery is self-acceptance. If we are insecure with ourselves, or lack self-esteem, then positive growth would be complicated. Feelings of hopelessness, despair, hate, fear, shame, and guilt would overwhelm us if we were deficient of self-acceptance. The spiritual segment of our program assists us to overcome our personal insecurities or hopelessness, thereby allowing us to use the spiritual principles offered to help us gain self-acceptance. By relinquishing ourselves over to the care of our Higher Power, we achieve the strength and courage necessary to reclaim hope, self-esteem, self-acceptance, and the drive we need to battle the perils of the moment. By accepting God’s guidance and direction, we obtain the opportunity for positive, productive change and growth to take place.
For us to enter the realm of recovery, we must accept that we have an addiction; accept that we are powerless over drugs and alcohol; accept those things that we cannot change; acquire self-acceptance to re-establish confidence in ourselves; accept that we must surrender our will and our lives over to the care of God; and, we must accept the situations and circumstances of the present – thereby further increasing our ability for positive change. These measures will pave the way for us to travel along the road to true peace, personal fulfillment, progressive recovery, and, most of all, ongoing sobriety. Acceptance is an act of the will, and must occur if we are to continue in our recovery. Thank you. My name is Terry, and I am an addict.

Phinneas

Boy, this was... ahem... IS hard for me. More work to be done here. It was such a relief to finally accept the fact that I am an addict because I could then start living the SOLUTION. What I struggle with today is letting go of the past - all those awful, terrible, horrible things I did to other people and myself when I was in the grips of my disease. For me, self-forgiveness is the "final frontier." But you know what? I will get there. I have a program, tools for living, the support of my recovery family and a very personal relationship with god. Some healing takes more time than others. But I know I am on the right path today.

This is a good reminder to me that Acceptance is really the answer to all of those "impossible" things. May I leave the impossible to god and focus on the possible today.