Daily Reprieve

From Courage to Change of May 1:

At a recent Al-Anon meeting we were asked to fill in the blank in this statement: “If only _____ would happen, I would be happy.” Many of us were tempted to answer that we would be happy if our loved ones got sober or handled sobriety differently. But other “if only’s” also kept us feeling deprived: If only my boss, family, job, government, finances, would change in the way that I want, I would be happy. It became clear that many of us have put our happiness on hold for things beyond our control.

So we applied the First Step, and admitted that we were powerless over these people, places, and things. These “if only’s” made our lives unmanageable, but a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. Many of us decided to surrender our “if only’s” to a Higher Power. When we did, we stopped acting like victims, waiting for things to change. We chose to take a more active role in seeking happiness in the here and now.

Today’s Reminder

There are many areas of my life that I cannot change. What I can change is my attitude. Today I can accept my life as it is. I can be grateful and happy, here and now, with what I have.

“Life holds so much — so much to be so happy about always. Most people ask for happiness on condition. Happiness can be felt only if you don’t set conditions”

~ Artur Rubinstein

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When I hear talk about being happy with life, it is easy for me to confuse an emotional reaction with a willful intent to police my attitude. Emotions are fleeting. Emotions make horrible leaders. But, they can be powerful servants. Gratitude is the training arena for domesticating my wild emotions. I am happy in the morning, angry at lunchtime, and profoundly sad in the evening. I do not have to remain powerless over my emotional reactions. Identifying reasons for gratitude helps me develop the power to summon the most helpful emotions in a given situation. Staying connected with the Spirit of Recovery inside and outside the rooms makes this possible for me.

This entry was posted on July 24, 2022 at 1:52 pm and is filed under Uncategorized with tags Addiction, Alcoholism, Courage to Change, Journal, Life, Personal, Recovery, Spirituality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.