Acceptance

And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today.

When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing or situation

-- some fact of my life -- unacceptable to me,

and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing,

or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment.

- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 417

This is such a powerful passage for me. It reminds me of what a control freak I am. When I get disturbed by things in my life I must realize that I AM the one that is distrubed. Not my wife, my dog, my son, my boss, my co-workers. I have learned over time that the ONLY thing I can control in ANY situation is the way I react or respond to it. It's very hard some days to NOT tell that person they are screwing up their lives and if they just did it my way things would be so much better for them. I mean look what a wonderful job I did of managing my life!! Each day I try to live in acceptance, when I do this I have a smaller chance of being irritable and discontent.

"Nothing absolutely nothing happens in Gods world by mistake. Until I could accept my alcoholism I could not stay sober;unless I accept life completely on lifes terms I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes."

I always have to remember when the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence....its time to do some work in MY yard