Acceptance

Tathata is sort of the Buddhist equivalent to a higher power. Shapiro says in Recovery, "Tathata is the way things are at any given moment. Tathata is not static; it is changing, but changing at it's own pace."

Ahh, the pace of God. He does things slowly, or quickly, depending on your perspective of time. The promises of AA say that things may come to us quickly or slowly. We can not expect things to be done any other way. We have to come to grips with the fact that we are not in control. We are just waiting to hear from our higher power about what's happening, and then move to act on it.

We expect things to change instantly. I want a job, and I want it now. I want an apartment, and I want it now. You may want something to happen, and you want it last Thursday. But that's not the way life, or your higher power, works. We've got to wait, and not hurry up to wait like we do when we're racing through bumper to bumper traffic.

We need to accept things as they are at the moment. That's part of powerlessness. Acceptance. Probably the hardest thing to do. I know I'm having trouble with it. But once I do it, I feel free. I feel better. It's just a continual process of letting go.