{"id":968,"date":"2023-12-10T10:18:52","date_gmt":"2023-12-10T15:18:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acceptingcollapse.com\/?p=968"},"modified":"2026-03-14T10:01:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T14:01:05","slug":"acceptance-and-serenity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acceptingcollapse.com\/index.php\/2023\/12\/10\/acceptance-and-serenity\/","title":{"rendered":"Acceptance and Serenity"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Having walked the journey of sobriety for several decades, I have been
\nblessed with the gift of the serenity prayer: Grant me the serenity to
\naccept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and
\nwisdom to know the difference.<\/p>\n

It was a longing for serenity around the Great Unraveling that I had been
\nwitnessing that nudged me towards wanting to take greater steps towards
\ndiscovering how I might apply acceptance to the predicament of collapse.
\nComing together with two great friends and with the guidance of Spirit, the
\nR&A course was the result of that journey.<\/p>\n

I learned early in my recovery the value of being of service. Although I
\nhad a strong longing for some measure of acceptance of collapse, and what I
\nexpected would also include serenity, I really didn\u2019t know how to get
\nthere. The journey of assembling the course would reveal a mountain of
\nwisdom and insight. The very act of working (it really was and is a labor
\nof love) to put together something that made sense to us, and hopefully
\nwould hold value for others on this often confusing journey became a
\ngrounding and rewarding path forward.<\/p>\n

Now, a year and a half into the journey of the R&A course, I continue to
\nfind that keeping the course fresh and relevant is what is mine to do.
\nBeing of service by paying attention to my Original Instructions (2 years
\nago, I had not yet become aware of this part of my Instructions) keeps me
\nin the act of being of service. It also allows me to be in that \u201chollow
\nbone\u201d space, a place of being open to what comes my way, and of using
\nmy\/our good mind to discern what might be added to the course, or where it
\nmight be tweaked to offer even more.<\/p>\n

Michael Dowd would often say after espousing the benefits of collapse
\nacceptance that the next step is trust. It took me some time to wrap my
\nmind around what he meant by that. I understand now that it really goes
\nback to The Theme of Detachment: \u2018Whoever is present are the right people
\nto be there; whenever we start, it\u2019s always the right time; what happens is
\nthe only thing that could have happened; when it\u2019s over, it\u2019s over.\u2019<\/p>\n

As Harrison Owen says in his book \u201cLeadership Is\u201d: \u201cUnderlying each of
\nthese premises, whether we agree with them or not, is the principle of
\nacceptance rather than resignation. Can we accept the experience as it is
\nand then be creative with it, rather than be resigned or fatalistic about
\nit? Acceptance is an important part of detachment. The feeling of
\nresignation is always a sign of the presence of attachment.\u201d<\/p>\n

My personal journey of discovering and understanding acceptance is clearly
\nlifelong and will continue to be influenced by the wisdom of the Dowds and
\nOwens of the world. Still, it is my journey, just as yours is for you to
\nwalk. If I am to find and hold onto some measure of serenity that might
\naccompany acceptance, I must put in my \u201cdirt time\u201d, to be willing to talk
\nand think, to write and read, to be open to Spirit and to walk this path of
\ndiscovery that is open to all of us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Having walked the journey of sobriety for several decades, I have been blessed with the gift of the serenity prayer: Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_ecp_custom_2":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acceptingcollapse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acceptingcollapse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acceptingcollapse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acceptingcollapse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acceptingcollapse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=968"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/acceptingcollapse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/968\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2633,"href":"https:\/\/acceptingcollapse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/968\/revisions\/2633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acceptingcollapse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acceptingcollapse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acceptingcollapse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acceptingcollapse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}