What we represent

Love: Love is here and now! It surrounds us in both work and rest. Love is waiting for you to extend your hand to embrace the blessings it holds. Will you reach out to love? By looking toward your higher power’s heavenly throne, you can take up love for what it is and accept the abundant blessings that flow through it. Tolerance: Tolerance is vital for any relationship to thrive! We may not always see eye to eye. Being tolerant and understanding of another’s viewpoint or stance can help us step outside our own mind. By hearing another’s ideas or beliefs on a topic we may see differently, we can begin to ask why their viewpoint is so different from ours. Doing this allows us to look at the bigger picture, expanding our perspective and consciousness beyond our own understanding. We have grown! Acceptance: Acceptance is a master key that opens many doors in life. Instead of scrutinizing the teeth of each key or trying to remember the last time its shine caught our eye, we can save ourselves frustration. Through acceptance, we access our master key, setting all struggle aside. The serenity prayer briefly touches on things beyond our control. Day to day, no matter how much we wrestle with the idea of controlling our lives, some challenges seem like immovable mountains. We must surrender that control and accept what our higher power has planned or predestined for us as we walk this path. Gratitude: Being grateful, rather than indifferent to whether things go right or wrong, might be the missing puzzle piece that many addicts and alcoholics come to appreciate later in recovery. Gratitude, or an attitude of gratefulness, can be invaluable during low points or when dealing with new challenges. Appreciation for what we do have helps solidify the uncertainties we face in reality. At any point in life, things could be better or worse. Staying in the present—whether today or tonight—while making a gratitude list brings peace of mind, which benefits us physically, mentally, and, most importantly, spiritually. Say a prayer, whether to a tree or to a God of your understanding, and give thanks with a heart full of gratitude. Your reward will be grace!