Acceptance is one of the most powerful tools in
recovery. It does not mean liking, approving, or giving up—it means
acknowledging reality as it is, right now. Many of us spent years fighting
life, people, circumstances, and ourselves. That constant resistance created
frustration, anger, fear, and exhaustion. Acceptance is the moment we stop
arguing with reality and begin to live in it.
In recovery,
acceptance starts with a simple truth: I cannot control everything. We
cannot control other people, the past, or how life unfolds. What we can control
is how we respond. When we accept what is happening instead of resisting it,
emotional intensity decreases. Problems become clearer. Choices become calmer.
Acceptance removes the fuel from resentment and allows us to take constructive
action rather than reactive action.
Acceptance is also
deeply connected to emotional sobriety. When we accept uncomfortable feelings
instead of avoiding or numbing them, those feelings lose their power. Fear
passes. Anger softens. Anxiety settles. Acceptance allows us to stay present
without escaping. It teaches us that feelings are temporary and manageable—and
that we do not need alcohol or drugs to survive them.
Over time,
acceptance brings peace. Not because life becomes perfect, but because we stop
fighting what we cannot change. Acceptance opens the door to growth, humility,
and gratitude. In recovery, acceptance is not weakness—it is strength. It is
choosing reality over resentment, peace over control, and progress over
perfection—one day at a time.
Myths vs. Facts About
AcceptanceMyth:
Acceptance means giving up or doing
nothing.
Fact: Acceptance means recognizing reality so you can respond wisely.
When we stop fighting what is, we free up energy to take the next right
action. Acceptance is not passivity—it’s clarity. Myth: If I accept something, I must agree
with it or like it.
Fact: Acceptance does not require approval. You can accept that
something happened without liking it, excusing it, or wanting it to continue.
Acceptance simply means stopping the inner argument with reality.
Myth: Acceptance means people can walk all
over me.
Fact: Acceptance actually strengthens boundaries. When emotions calm, we
communicate more clearly and set healthier limits. Acceptance reduces reactive
behavior and increases self-respect.
Myth: I can’t accept this—it hurts too
much.
Fact: Pain is real, but resistance often adds suffering. Acceptance
allows pain to move through instead of getting stuck. Over time, acceptance
reduces emotional intensity and brings relief. Myth: Acceptance is a one-time decision.
Fact: Acceptance is a daily practice. Some days come easily; other days
require reminders, prayer, or support. Progress—not perfection—is the goal.
Acceptance is the Answer
(A.A. Big Book) Page 417
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. Nothing,
absolutely nothing, happens in God's world by mistake. Until I could
accept my alcoholism, I could not stay sober; unless I accept my life
completely on life's terms, I cannot be happy. 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.
After a moment of silence for the alcoholic who still
suffers within and outside these rooms, will you please join me in
(Readers’ Choice): the Lord's Prayer or the Serenity Prayer?
Acceptance PDF
The Promises
(A.A Big Book) Bottom of Page 83
If we are painstaking about this phase of our development,
we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a
new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish
to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will
know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see
how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and
self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and
gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away; our whole
attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of
economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to
handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that
God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.
Are
these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among
us-sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if
we work for them.
After a moment of silence for the alcoholic
who still suffers within and outside these rooms, will you please join
me in (Readers’ Choice): the Lord's Prayer or the Serenity Prayer?
the promises pdf
A Vision for You
(A.A Big Book) Page 164
Our book is meant to be suggestive only. We realize we
know only a little. God will constantly disclose more to you and to us.
Ask Him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man
who is still sick. The answers will come, if your own house is in order.
But obviously you cannot transmit some-thing you haven’t got. See to it
that your relationship with Him is right, and great events will come to
pass for you and countless others. This is the Great Fact for us.
Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to Him
and to your fellows. Clear away the wreckage of your past. Give freely
of what you find and join us. We shall be with you in the Fellowship of
the Spirit, and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road
of Happy Destiny. May God bless you and keep you—until then.
After a moment of silence for the alcoholic who still
suffers within and outside these rooms, will you please join me in
(Readers’ Choice): the Lord's Prayer or the Serenity Prayer?
a vision for you pdf
Lords Prayer
Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our
daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that
trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us
from evil. For thine is the kingdom, The power, and the glory, For ever
and ever. Amen
the our father pdf
Serenity Prayer
GOD, grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can;
and the Wisdom to know the difference.
***************
(Full Version)
Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting
hardship as the pathway to peace. Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that He will make all things
right if I surrender to His will; and that I may be reasonable happy in
this life, and supremely happy with Him in the next. Amen.
serenity prayer pdf
Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me a channel of thy peace; Where there is hatred, I may
bring love; Where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of
forgiveness; Where there is discord, I may bring harmony; Where there
is error, I may bring truth; Where there is doubt, I may bring faith;
Where there is despair, I may bring hope; Where there are shadows, I
may bring light; Where there is sadness, I may bring joy.
Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be
comforted; to understand, than to be understood; to love, than to be
loved.
For it is by self-forgetting that one finds. It is by
forgiving that one is forgiven. It is by dying that one awakens to
eternal life. Amen.
prayer of st. francis pdf
