What really is Serenity? Webster says “marked by or suggestive of utter calm and unruffled repose or quietude.”
I remember when I was very new to the program and white-knuckling it, I heard people telling me “This too shall pass.” I wanted to pass 5 knuckles across their lips. “Don’t you know what I’m going through? Or even care?
If you are new to the program, are you still struggling mentally with the concepts you hear here or do you have, as Webster says, “utter calm and unruffled repose or quietude?”
If you have been in the program longer and still sometimes struggle because you are right and want everyone else to think and believe as you do or are you Happy, Joyous, and Free, letting others do whatever they wish?
I choose Serenity and do my own thing, as long as it harms no one else. How can I achieve serenity? I dive head first into the 3rd Step and turn my will and life over to my Higher Power, who I choose now to call God.
Then, just go on with my life. Early in my program, I saw how doing this was working great for those who actually practiced it. I wanted it, too, so I took it for my own.
I started to receive the benefits almost immediately. The more that I practiced turning it over, the easier it became to actually feel peace coming over me. It is as simple as that. However, it is not always easy!
To most of us, driving a car is simple. But, think back to before you ever drove, there was so much to learn so it was not easy. As you learned and practiced more, it became the simple and easy act that it is today.
The AA Program, and the Serenity that comes along with working it, are a lot like learning to drive a car. Overwhelming at first and then done with not much real thought.
What do you really want from your life on this earth? Constant conflict and war with others or peace and serenity and being able to love and, just as important, being able to be loved by others?
If others around you are so unhappy in their own lives that they do their best to keep you agitated, maybe it is time to rethink how much you want them to remain in your life.
This is exactly what led to my divorce two years after coming into AA. Since then, I have had a life that a rich man can‘t buy and a thief can’t steal! It all started and continues to this day with the shortened version of the 3rd Step.
I simply say “God, Help Me!” Guess what, He does and I am truly too blessed to be stressed because of it.
When I came into the AA Program, I was a very large, very angry, very violent, well-trained, well-armed man who was liked and loved by very few, if any. My children feared me, and my first wife wanted me dead, literally.
My fellow employees wanted me elsewhere. My bosses had me transferred all over the City of Detroit. If the change can happen in and to me, I believe that it can in anyone who is willing to go to any lengths to get it.
Try it and then please get back to me and tell me how it worked. I really want to know! It all starts with “God Help Me!” Then step aside and let Him.
Don’t be afraid of living. Be happy with the fact that you can now truly live and enjoy life. If you didn’t drink or drug today, you now have choices, maybe for the first time.
Do you choose to be miserable or do you choose to be happy, joyous, and free? The choice is yours and nobody else’s. Choose wisely! Thank you, God!
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