Sunday, October 4, 2015

Accepting Others & The Solution - Personal Story

(This post is a personal story from one of our members.)

I appreciate the reminders I get of how my life is so much better when I finally give up trying to change other people.  I continue to learn that attempting to change other people is simply a battle I can not win, and as such, all I succeed in doing is to frustrate myself and others when I try to do it. It's just one of those "accept the things I can not change" situations.

Granted, if someone really wants my help because they are really ready to change and will go to any length to do that, that's a different story. In that case I need to be unselfish enough to actually offer the experience, hope and strength that I've been given because of what God has been doing for me, and because of the help I got from other people in the program. Specifically, I can try to suggest that there is a solution that works if someone is willing to work it.

And I don't think it can be said too often that the solution is to get a sponsor and follow the sponsor's directions to work the 12 Steps as a means to connect rightly with God (who keeps me sober) and others (which means I don't have nearly as much pressure/temptations/triggers to return to the lust drug I used addictively for decades).

I guess it really is a simple program. It's just 12 simple Steps that if taken with the right attitude of surrender, result in a life-changing, spiritual awakening. Yeah, it's hard work, but it's worth it.