Once we come to understand the concept of DENIAL and accept the first recovery principle:
Principle 1: Realize I’m not God. I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life is unmanageable.
Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor. – Matthew 5:3
Only then can we take that first step out of our denial and into reality, we see there are very few things that we really have control over. Once we admit that by ourselves we are powerless we can stop living with the following “serenity robbers,” spelled out in the acrostic POWERLESS.
Pride – ignorance + power + pride = a deadly mixture
One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor. – Proverbs 29:23, ESV
Only Ifs – our “only ifs” in life keep us trapped in the fantasy land of rationalization!
There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. – Luke 12:2-3, NIV
Worry – worrying is a form of not trusting God enough!
So don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time. – Matthew 6:34, TLB
Escape – by living in denial we may have escaped into a world of fantasy and unrealistic expectations of ourselves and others.
For light is capable of showing up everything for what it really is. It is even possible for light to turn the thing it shines upon into light also. – Ephesians 5:13-14, PH
Resentments – resentments act like an emotional cancer if they are allowed to fester and grow.
When angry, do not sin; do not ever let your wrath (your exasperation, your fury or indignation) last until the sun goes down. Leave no [such] room or foothold for the devil [give no opportunity to him]. – Ephesians 4:26-27, AMP
Loneliness – loneliness is a choice. In recovery and in Christ, you never have to walk alone.
Continue to love each other with true brotherly love. Don’t forget to be kind to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! – Hebrews 13:1-2, TLB
Emptiness – you know that empty feeling deep inside. The cold wind of hopelessness blows right through it.
The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows. – John 10:10, AMP
Selfishness – we often pray: “Our Father which art in heaven; give me, give me, give me.”
Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. – Luke 17:33, ESV
Separation – some people talk about finding God – as if He could ever get lost!
For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels won’t, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God’s love away…Nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us. – Romans 8:38 – 39, TLB