"You can't experience victory if you refuse to surrender."
Boy, that surrender thing was (and sometimes still is) a hard thing for me to accept. I mean, how could I possibly win or succeed at something if I'm told to give up and surrender? I've always been taught that the things worth having were worth fighting for, yet the program told me to surrender. What was up with that?
I remember trying to figure this out when, during a meeting, I heard someone define surrender this way: "Surrender means laying down your arms and joining the winning side." Suddenly it made sense. I looked around at all the winners who had surrendered and overcome their addiction, and I realized that if I stopped fighting, stopped resisting, and surrendered too, then I could recover as well.
Today I have come to see the wisdom in the saying, "We ceased fighting anything or anyone." I now understand that the majority of my pain and discomfort comes from fighting and resisting things as they are, and that immediate peace and serenity are mine the moment I surrender. Once surrendered, I can pray for the right thought or action, and the solution always comes if I remain open to it.
Today I understand the saying, "You can't experience victory if you refuse to surrender."
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Copyright @ 2013 Michael Z
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'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
Hello and good morning! Can't tell you how much I enjoyed the quote on surrender you posted. Sometimes I need to hear old things said in new and different ways....or, at least, from a another perspective. That's part of the beauty of the A.A. Fellowship: Someone says a certain thing in a certain way that finally sinks in, or gets through to me. True Surrender happened for me when I was in my 2nd treatment center. I was so scared and so desperate that I prayed to a God who I didn't believe would ever help me. Because I hated me so much, I thought that God hated me too. So, when I prayed, I was praying to Someone who I thought actually hated and despised me. I was sitting on the bed, alone in that hospital room. It was a short prayer. Nothing fancy. All I said was "God....I can't do this....will you please help me?" What happened?? Here's what happened: In less than one second, I was shown that God loves me. I saw it, and heard it, and knew it, as plain as day. He had always loved me. In fact, He had NEVER STOPPED loving me. That was brand new information for me. And, that was the beginning of Step 2 and Step 3 for me. This event was a miracle for me. But, the bigger miracles came after I did my 4th Step in A.A. with a sponsor and worked through the Steps that followed. Thanks for allowing me to share this with you on this forum. Sincerely, Mike D.
Wonderful testament to the power we know is there but don't understand ... My story is similar to yours but I had to go to treatment a 4th time ... until then ??? ... I always KNEW that I KNEW more than them ... LOL ... I was a hard NUT to crack ... I'm grateful to God and AA for saving my butt before I cashed in my last empty bottle for a spot 6 ft deep ...
Oh, and you are so very right about hearing things over and over and not making sense of them until someone finally sez the same thing in a different way, and 'BAM', ... it all makes sense now ... Great observation!!! ...
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'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
