A big part of living a happy, joyous, and peaceful life is learning the art of acceptance. The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous tells us that “acceptance is the answer to all our problems today, and I believe that. It might sound a big far-fetched to say that simply gaining acceptance will be the answer to every single one of our problems, no matter how large or small, but if you really think about it - it’s true.

When we are struggling with an issue in our lives, it’s because we lack acceptance of the issue. Say, for instance, your mother-in-law drives you crazy because she still wants to control your husband. If you accepted the fact that your mother-in-law was a control freak and that no matter what you do, you can’t change it, it suddenly becomes a non-issue.

I have been amazed at how praying for and receiving acceptance has worked in my life. When the dog chews up my favorite pair of shoes, I have a choice: get pissed off or accept the fact that the shoes are gone and move on. I could choose to stay angry at the dog and waste hours of my day harboring bad feelings for her, telling everyone I come across about my problems with her. Or I could accept the fact that the shoes were left in her reach (my fault), she’s just a dog who hasn’t learned better impulse control yet, and that the shoes are not going to come back no matter how hard I wish for them unless I can find them at the store again. When I choose the latter attitude, I have much more peace in my life. And that’s what I’m striving for today: I want to live a peaceful, serene life. Thankfully I know today that I have the power to change my thoughts and actions to bring about the life I want. This doesn’t mean that I won’t have problems - on the contrary! Life still happens and things I don’t like keep coming my way, but what I choose to do and think about all of those things are what makes the difference.

Today I choose serenity. I choose joy. I choose peace. Because today I choose acceptance.