Acceptance Along the Way

I know it is going to be a great day when my son climbs into our bed as the sun is rising on a Sunday!! Today being a Sunday makes this even extra special. Over the past few weeks my son has refrained from coming into our room on the weekends for an unknown reason; however; today he was back his usual cheerful self at daybreak while he wedges himself between my wife and me. We all fell back to sleep for another hour or so before starting our day. I did just lay there thinking how wonderful my life has become especially since I entered recovery.

Last night I met with a very dear friend who is facing a few “challenges” in their life and as we talked the subject of acceptance came up. This is a critical component of the many things I continue to learn in recovery and is an unbelievable concept. I have and continue to accept the fact that I am a compulsive gambler; however; instead of not doing anything about this I have made the concerted effort to change my ways and it has come acceptance. I realize there are many people who won’t accept the fact that I continue to make changes for the better and this is alright by me.

“What you think of me is none of my business” is also part of this acceptance. In the past I would do everyone in my power to please everyone and I lost tract of me. Instead of concentrating on what others think I concentrate on the real blessings in my life which are my family, recovery, Higher Power and friends. Through all of this has come incredible experiences and yes, I am blessed in every way possible. My dear friend is struggling (not with a compulsive gambling disorder but with what life has dealt out.) but I know this friend will come out of all of this a much better person and in a much better light because of acceptance. Life is an amazing journey and I enjoying every step of this journey.

This morning was a typical Sunday morning as we stayed in bed watching the CBS Sunday Morning program which is always a great way to start a peaceful serene Sunday. When the program concluded I made my way downstairs to prepare the usual pancake breakfast and yes, I am sneaking in the protein powder and amazingly no one has complained. My children do complain when I over brown the pancakes but invariably still eat what is on their plates. I am glad I have started adding the protein because my family certainly does not receive enough protein in their diets and the powder helps a great deal. My daughter literally eats like a “bird” and her two pancakes will fill her up for the rest of the day. My son is the antithesis as he will be hungry in an hour after eating four pancakes which is probably why he weighs about 10 pounds more in spite of being three years younger.

The day continued as my wife had a religion lesson with the children. My wife has “home schooled” the children in religion because it is much easier than having to get them to the religion classes at the school. It does have its challenges as my son often times has difficulty in concentrating and my daughter has difficulty getting motivated. My daughter is pretty much self reliant when it comes to these lessons since she can do it herself whereas my son needs assistance. I think they are halfway through the lessons and it seems to be working well. I keep my distance and let everyone do their thing but I am a very interested observer.

I took the time to do some writing and later on during the day I went outside to play a game of football with my son. My son is getting very creative and as I went outside I noticed that he had drawn a football field on the street with chalk. On one side was the lines for an end zone which read “NY” and the other side the end zone which read “Gators” (for the University of Florida). My son actually took the time to draw the lines all the way across the street and it was very impressive. He was saddened when he sister wouldn’t join us saying “I did all this work for nothing!” However; the two of us had a game which was a great deal of fun pitting me against my son. He did prevail 27-26 and wanted to play more as the sun was setting. We couldn’t play anymore because my wife and the children were off to church and I was off to the Sunday evening GA meeting.