RECOVERY

[Rocketman]

Recovery

How easy it is to blame our problems on others. "Look at what
he's doing." . . . "Look how long I've waited." . . . "Why doesn't she
call?" . . . "If only he'd change then I'd be happy." . . .

Often, our accusations are justified. We probably are feeling
hurt and frustrated. In those moments, we may begin to believe
that the solution to our pain and frustration is getting the other
person to do what we want, or having the outcome we desire.
But these self-defeating illusions put the power and control of
our life in other people's hands. We call this codependency.

The solution to our pain and frustration, however valid is to
acknowledge our own feelings. We feel the anger, the grief; then
we let go of the feelings and find peace - within ourselves. We
know our happiness isn't controlled by another person, even
though we may have convinced ourselves it is. We call this
acceptance.

Then we decide that although we'd like our situation to be
different, maybe our life is happening this way for a reason.
Maybe there is a higher purpose and plan in play, one that's
better than we could have orchestrated. We call this faith.

Then we decide what we need to do, what is within our power
to do to take care of ourselves. That's called recovery.

It's easy to point our finger at another, but it's more rewarding
to gently point it at ourselves.

Today, I will live with my pain and frustration by dealing with
my own feelings.