Finding Serenity in the Midst of Frustration and Fear
Posted by Second Chance to Live on April 8, 2012
Hello and welcome back to Second Chance to Live. I hope you are doing well today. In my experience I have found that when I am frustrated and afraid, I forget to use the power of choice. When I forget to use my power of choice I succumb to the notion that no other alternatives exist. With my awareness, I can choose to examine why I am frustrated and in fear. By doing so I can seek to make changes.
“If you do not like something, change it. If you can not change it, change the way you think about it.” Mary Engelbreit
Over the course of the past several months I have found myself frustrated about some thing. I found that my frustration led to my experiencing some ongoing fear. Although I had written about and spoke with trusted friends about my frustration and fear, I continued to experience that frustration and fear. This past Saturday morning I decided to attend a meeting where the topic of acceptance was discussed.
“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.” C.S. Lewis
Because I had been experiencing frustration and fear, I found myself identifying with the person who was sharing why they were frustrated and in fear. As I listened, the reality of why I was experiencing frustration and fear became clear to me. I was having a difficult time accepting some thing over which I felt powerless. As I listened to what members shared, I became aware of why I was feeling stuck.
As I listened, I remembered what I had forgotten. Acceptance is the end stage of the grieving process. Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and then Acceptance. As I listened, I realized that I had been in the midst of a grieving process over something that I had difficult time accepting. The meeting helped me to realize that I needed to take the steps to accept what created frustration and fear in me.
Before I am able to move into acceptance, I first need to have awareness. My awareness — through my acceptance — gives me the willingness to ask for help and to move into action.
Through attending the meeting, listening to what people shared and through processing what I had forgotten, I realized that I needed a power greater than myself to help me. Through my awareness and acceptance, I took the action to surrender what I was frustrated and fearful about to a loving God. By doing so I was able to let go and let God. By doing so I was able to let go of my frustration and fear.
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This entry was posted on April 8, 2012 at 9:06 pm and is filed under 12 Step Recovery, ABI: Acquired Brain Injury, acquired brain injury and feeling alienated, Acquired Brain Injury and Suicide, adult children of alcoholics and traumatic brain injuries, Adult Children of Alcoholics living with traumatic / acquired brain injuries, Brain Injury Education, Caregivers for people with traumatic / acquired brain injuries, celebrities with brain injuries, Codependency, combating brain injury isolation, Empowerment and Inspirational Speaker, Empowerment Speaker, Families impacted by brain injuries, Fulfilling your Destiny, Learning to Accept Yourself as a brain injury survivor, Learning to Love Yourself as a brain injury survior, life challenging experiences, living life on life's terms, Living with a Disability, Living with a Invisible Disability and feeling shame, living with a traumatic / acquired brain injury, Living with a traumatic brain injury and feeling shame, Living with an Invisible Disability, living with meaning and purpose, messages of hope and inspiration, Military Personell impacted by Traumatic Brain Injuries, Military Traumatic Brain Injury Support Meetings, Motivational / Inspirational Speaker, Overcome Being Bullied, Overcoming Societal Stigmatization, Parents of children with Acquired brain injuries, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Post Traumatic Syndrome and Suicide, PTSD, Revealing your Destiny, Soldiers and Marines who sustained traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injury, stroke, Suicide and Hope, tbi adults, tbi children, tbi families, tbi veterans, Traumatic Brain Injury and being Bullied, Traumatic Brain Injury and Comfort, traumatic brain injury and frustration, Traumatic Brain Injury and Hope, Traumatic Brain Injury and Learning, Traumatic Brain Injury and Significance, Traumatic Brain Injury and Suicide, Traumatic Brain Injury and What is my Destiny?, traumatic brain injury feeling alienated isolated, traumatic brain Injury in adults, traumatic brain injury in schools, traumatic brain injury Iraq, Traumatic Brain Injury Research and Resources, Traumatic Brain Injury Self-Esteem and Self-Worth, Traumatic Brain Injury Support Groups / Meetings, Veterans Living with Brain Injuries. Tagged: Awareness Acceptance Action, C.S. Lewis, Finding grace, finding hope, finding serenity, Freedom from frustration fear. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
