“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.
Big Book of AA, page 417
Life is definitely not always easy. People, places, and things many times are not as we would like them to be. One part of being able to live a relatively happy existence is to be able to accept the world as it is and people as they are.
Many times, at least in my mind, I have a certain picture of the way I’d like the world to be. I’d like people to act a certain way, I’d like places to be as I’d like them to be, I’d like situations to be as I think they should be. And the fact of the matter is, most of the time the world is not going to align with these expectations. And these expectations can fester and become resentments.
Best I can figure, people are doing what they feel is the right thing to do at any point in time. And since they have a different reference point than I do, chances are it’s not the same thing I would do if I was in the same situation. I can question people’s motives and actions, yet I’m sure at least in their minds, they’re doing the right thing. And who’s to say that I know what’s best? I sometimes struggle to know what’s best for me, so why would I think I know what’s best for anyone else?
Just for today, I will try to stay in the present moment and be acceptive of what others choose to do. In some cases, I may find it necessary to alter my course and take action, but much of the time things will proceed just as they are intended to, with or without my permission.
It’s also important, at least for me, to have continued faith in my Higher Power, who does see and know all. My lack of acceptance in any situation may be due to a lack in my own faith life and nothing more.
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.”
David Lee
David Lee 