June 19: Troubled by Another's Errors

(Adapted for personal use from Courage to Change in Alanon.)

When I am troubled by another person’s behavior, a complicated situation or a disappointing turn of events, our program reminds me I don’t have to take it personally. I’m not a victim of everything that happens unless I choose to see it that way. Though things don’t always go my way, I can accept what I cannot change, and change what I can.

Perhaps I can take a different view of my problems. If I accept them at face value, without taking them personally, I find hat they are not problems at all, only things that have not gone as I would have liked. This change of attitude can help free me to evaluate the situation realistically and move forward constructively.

Today’ Reminder

Blaming my discomfort on outside events can be a way to avoid facing the real cause—my own attitude. I can see myself as a victim, or I can accept what is happening in my life and take responsibility for my response. I may be guided to take action or to sit still, but when I listen to the guidance of my Higher Power I will no longer be the victim of my circumstances.

“God asks no many whether he will accept life. That is not the choice. You must take it. The only choice is how.” Henry Ward Beecher