Weight Loss Tip # 23: Realize that acceptance is the answer to all of your problems today.
I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes.
Acceptance has taught me that there is a bit of good in the worst of us and a bit of bad in the best of us; that we each have a right to be here.
When I focus on what’s good today, I have a good day, and when I focus on what’s bad, I have a bad day. If I focus on a problem, the problem increases; if I focus on the answer, the answer increases. When I focus on people’s bad qualities, they multiply; when I focus on people’s good qualities, they seem to grow and grow.
Perhaps the best thing of all for me is to remember that my serenity is inversely proportional to my expectations. The higher my expectations of other people are, the lower is my serenity. I can watch my serenity level rise when I discard my expectations. I have to discard my ‘rights’, as well as my expectations, by asking myself, “How important is it, really? How important is it compared to my serenity, my emotional sobriety?”
I do whatever is in front of me to be done, and let go of the results.
I must keep my magic magnifying mind on my level of acceptance. When I remember this, I can see I’ve never had it so good.
Adapted from “Doctor, Addict, Alcoholic” by Dr. Paul O. in Alcoholics Anonymous (The Big Book)