Good Intentions

'When our actions are based upon good intentions our soul has no regrets' The key word in this nugget of wisdom for me is 'actions' for all too often I have had good intentions and never acted or attempted to implement them.  I still remember someone once saying ' The road to Hell is paved with good intentions'  so for me the very inaction is the key. My life was and still is to some extent littered with good intentions that I never really intended to act upon.  I suppose the very thought was enough for me; appearing to have done something simply by thinking about it.  Doing something took effort and determination and that is where I often ceased.

 

The Serenity Prayer's first two lines are ' God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can't change...'  the second part being 'the courage to change the things I can...'  and for me it is too easy to use the first part to excuse a lack of action.  When I decide something can't be changed I can easily let it go and the need for the courage to change is thus discarded.  Yet I have come to realise that I am bending things and the prayer to ease my own conscience and gain personal peace of mind.

 

The key for me is perspective. Even now with all my efforts to embrace the recovery road , perspective still trips me up and also enables the selfish part of me to bend the meaning of the serenity prayer to my will and not that of my higher power.  Some of my most disappointing moments come when I fail to see the other point of view. Frustration, anger and resentment fester and I ultimately fail in that moment.

 

I attend support meetings and in them I listen at least twice as much as I share.  I need to hear and understand the other's point of view.  There are over 8 billion souls on this planet and I wonder how often each of us balances perspectives; I know I don't do it often enough.