The material presented
here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method
to exchange
information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal
level.
Good morning MIP family! The C2C had no reading for today so no summary......
JK - April Fool's!!!
Today's reading talks about Acceptance being one part of the three A's - Awareness, Acceptance and Action. We might be inclined to jump from awareness to action without even pausing for acceptance. Often our thinking goes from, "There is a problem" to "QUICK, let me fix it before I even feel discomfort."
When we skip acceptance of the situation, defect or memory that has come up, we often don't take the most effective action of live serenity with the consequences. That action we hurried to take doesn't work or it makes things worse and we feel hopeless and helpless. Even if it does work, we have self-doubt and don't realize it. Many times, we still have to back up and sit still, feel and then accept.
It helps to keep in mind that we are loved on good days and bad days by our HP, and that he accepts me and situation exactly as it is.
Our reminder today suggests that it takes time and practice to move from awareness to acceptance to action. We are continually learning to accept our defects, circumstances and feelings. We are worthwhile exactly as we are, and accepting ourselves helps us to better see our options and begin to change.
The quote of the day is from Alateen ---- A Day at a Time ----- "....someone suggested I stop concentrating on changing myself and think first about accepting myself. That gave me the boost I needed."
I was all about awareness and action - with most of my action being reaction. I feel as if I lived my life in a perpetual reactive mode, always felt behind and always carried tension and anxiety. Most of this reactive thinking was also based on projections based on future events that had not even happened! I truly prefer to plan - am a planner - but the program told me that trying to anticipate and plan based on negative projections was damaging to me, my serenity and my spirit.
So, adding acceptance between awareness and action for me was the pause and breathe moment. I do not have to take action for every situation, and I have learned I can accept and take action in my timeframe....no matter what another is doing, suggesting or projecting. By being quiet, and looking at exactly what is happening in the moment, my HP will help me see options that are way better than reactive ones of before.
Accepting myself, the good and the bad, helped me see where I needed to grow. Accepting the people, places and things around me exactly as they are helps me better understand my part and what makes good sense for my program in the present. Focusing on the past and/or the future throws me sideways of my reality and recalling HP's plan and love for me brings me back to center.
So grateful for a new way of being and thinking. I owe it all to Al-Anon and those who came before me!
TGIF family - make it a great day!!
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Practice the PAUSE...Pause before judging. Pause before assuming. Pause before accusing. Pause whenever you are about to react harshly and you will avoid doing and saying things you will later regret. ~~~~ Lori Deschene
This really spoke to me as I am my own worst enemy with my expectations of how things should go. Accepting things for what they are and realizing I don't have to react to everything is so uplifting. Often I felt frantic trying to stay ahead of everything and then like a failure if I was caught off guard by a "crisis" and not averting it. I am not perfect, I do not have a perfect RAH, my children are not perfect, and I cannot control what any one of them do when I am not looking.
