Courage to change
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to
change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Serenity Prayer
Recovery involves change, and change means doing things differently. The problem
is, many of us resist doing things differently; what we’re doing may not be working,
but at least we’re familiar with it. It takes courage to step out into the unknown.
How do we find that courage?
We can look around ourselves at NA meetings. There, we see others who’ve found
they needed to change what they were doing and who’ve done so successfully. Not
only does that help quiet our fear that change-any change-spells disaster, it also
gives us the benefit of their experience with what does work, experience we can use
in changing what doesn’t.
We can also look at our own recovery experience. Even if that experience, so far, has
been limited to stopping the use of drugs, still we have made many changes in our
lives-changes for the good. Whatever aspects of our lives we have applied the steps
to, we have always found surrender better than denial, recovery superior to
addiction. Our own experience and the experience of others in NA tells us that
“changing the things I can” is a big part of what recovery is all about. The steps and
the power to practice them give us the direction and courage we need to change. We
have nothing to fear.
Just for today: I welcome change. With the help of my Higher Power, I will find the
courage to change the things I can.