I listened to a wonderful speaker this morning in an internationally-attended women’s meeting. A statement she made stuck with me, since I had already made the intention to write about the subject of wanting. Her reminder was that wanting never changed anything.
One of the tenets of AA is also the title of one of the chapters in our Big Book: Into Action. We also hear it in the slogan “Nothing changes if nothing changes.”
I have wants. I also have gratitude for what is, and for all that I have. The challenge for me is to not allow those wants to eclipse anything real and present in my life. Wants have the power to take me out of gratitude; I have the choice to place gratitude above desire, to love what is, and stand back to allow what will be to unfold. Wants can point me in a direction of positive change, as long as they are in alignment with my highest good.
The Serenity Prayer, my most constant mantra, always brings me back to reality. If I want something to change, is it mine to change? If it’s mine to change, am I willing to do whatever I need to do to effect that change? If it is not mine to change, can I resist the urge to plow ahead anyway, and simply be at peace with it as it is?
My wants don’t get to be in charge of my emotions for long. They sneak in, hogging my attention, until I recognize what is happening. It’s a present-moment reminder to look around with deep gratitude for all I see, all I feel, and how I’ll move forward, taking the next right action.
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