Accepting Life

[MajestyJo]

December 21
Acceptance And Change

"Freedom to change seems to come after acceptance of ourselves."

Basic Text pg. 56

Fear and denial are the opposites of acceptance. None of us are perfect, even in our own eyes; all of us have certain traits that, given the chance, we would like to change. We sometimes become overwhelmed when contemplating how far short we fall of our ideals, so overwhelmed that we fear there's no chance of becoming the people we'd like to be. That's when our defense mechanism of denial kicks in, taking us to the opposite extreme: nothing about ourselves needs changing, we tell ourselves, so why worry? Neither extreme gives us the freedom to change.

Whether we are long-time NA members or new to recovery, the freedom to change is acquired by working the Twelve Steps. When we admit our powerlessness and the unmanageability of our lives, we counteract the lie that says we don't have to change. In coming to believe that a Power greater than we are can help us, we lose our fear that we are damaged beyond repair; we come to believe we can change. We turn ourselves over to the care of the God of our understanding and tap the strength we need to make a thorough, honest examination of ourselves. We admit to God, to ourselves, and to another human being what we've found. We accept the good and the bad in ourselves; with this acceptance, we become free to change.

Just for today: I want to change. By working the steps, I will counter fear and denial and find the acceptance needed to change.

pg. 371

When I read the reading from Just for Today, I thought it was the answer to most of my life.

For so many years, I have just accepted that there will be pain and there was nothing I could do about it. I never considered the source and I am not sure anything can be done about it.

As my arthritis finds it's way to more spots and escalates in my body, I will have to find more acceptance and be willing to make changes in my life. I just can't do what I use to do, the way I use to do it and when I want to do it.

Recovery taught me to accept my addiction, through that acceptance I learned to accept other things in my life. Accept what is in the moment, knowing it is subject to change. I don't have to like it. I don't have to know what it is. I don't have to know what is causing it. I just have to know it is!

Have reach out to different sources over the years, the Holistic Center has been life saving for me.