It Is What IT IS!

[Thomas3.20.2010]

These past several days have been Days of Transition. For me Transition is seriously challenging – even good change!

In the long run I will have better transportation, a better job, and a better lifestyle. In the short term, I’m faced with uncertainty, stress, and anxiety. But perspective is everything!

In March I chose to take on a second job, pay off some medical debts, and think about even changing careers! Then my car broke down! When I look at it one way it’s good news! My car could have broken down just after switching jobs – with a higher interest rate! I could have broken down on the first Week at my new job and been tagged unreliable! I could have been left with no certification which would limit my career options!

But God was looking after me! He is anyway whether I acknowledge it or not! But by recognizing that it’s all in His Hands – what’s to worry about?

 Knowing is easy. Acceptance means getting to the other side. I get to acceptance by realizing that I am powerless to change certain things – my car is broken beyond repair. There are aspects of my job that are making me miserable. There’s no attitude adjustment left to give it!

That doesn’t leave me hopeless or helpless but simply unable to control these outcomes.  “Acceptance is the answer to all of my problems today. When I am disturbed it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation – some fact of my life – unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment.”  AA Big Book p. 417

Whatever I choose not to accept is likely to continue bugging me until I get right with it. I do get to decide! While things are not how I want them to be, then perhaps it is how they’re supposed to be…

So I will make this job – or maybe career transition. I will make this car transition. I will come out on the better end of all of this! And I choose to do it with a minimum of stress and worry by accepting the natural boundaries of what I can and cannot change and trusting in my Higher Power to have my back while I go through it.

Any of this sound familiar? Smoking Cessation – true Recovery – was probably the Biggest lifestyle change I ever faced! I had to learn to accept that I have a Smoking related illness. I had to learn to accept that I would go through uncomfortable Withdrawals for a short time. I had to accept that I was even more psychologically addicted than physically!  I had to learn to accept that I would change – a lot!

Quitting may be a time full of doubt, stress, and anxiety for the first few weeks but you do have a choice about how much  - by learning to accept Life on Life’s terms.  In the long run I came out better than ever – not just physically which is remarkable enough! But in every single way I have become a more mature experienced person.

Experience teaches us, guides us, and offers us wisdom. Just as acceptance is always optional, so too is making sense of life’s lessons. Choosing to live in the present without regret and as little resentment as possible affords us greater opportunity to gain wisdom and incite.

I went from “IT is what it is!” to “It is what it is meant to be!”

In a few Months I’ll have a newer car and a better job. In a few short Months you could have the FREEDOM you really crave! Circumstances no longer overwhelm me because I have learned from my Quit Journey!

  

“I did then what I knew to do. Now that I know better, I do better.” – Maya Angelou