STOP. If you didn’t read my last blog post, “I’m still Alive,” you need to do so now.

Now that you’ve read the last post, I’ll continue…

In that post, I shared with you some gratitude I have. What I didn’t share is that I’ve cried more in 2019-2020 than I did in my first 28 years of life… tears of sadness, pain, regret, fear, dread, worry, and confusion. Those blessings, in the last post, came from burdens, and the only reason that happened is because I dug deep to find silver linings…

What if I told you…

… a loved one had to be sentenced to years in prison, in order for a relationship to be rekindled?

… a new-to-me- car came as the result of an interstate accident, totaling the last car?

… my time off work was due to the car accident on October 25, 2019, which I’m STILL in physical therapy for?

… the murder of my 17yr old cousin is what brought my family closer together?

… finding balance came from my husband getting in a motorcycle accident?

“I can find no serenity until I accept that [everything] is exactly the way it’s supposed to be at this moment. Nothing, absolutely NOTHING, happens in God’s world by mistake… unless I accept life completely on life’s terms, I cannot be happy.”*

I started crafting my art of mining for silver linings in 2016, but it’s taken this long for it to become second nature. Mining for those silver linings is not something I necessarily want to do… However… I know that I have to be willing to do some stuff I really don’t want to do, in order to get the results I really want!

What results am I talking about, you ask? I’m seeking serenity. And what I’ve come to learn is that, without acceptance, peace of mind will cease to exist.

Burdens? Or blessings?

  • the loss of a best friend
  • financial hardship
  • a toxic living environment
  • countless phone calls with lawyers
  • betrayal
  • a pandemic
  • people dying
  • a custody battle

Without the “burdens” listed above, there would be no gratitude list in my last blog post.

I create my own reality, and it’s up to me how long I want to sit in sadness, pain, regret, fear, dread, worry, and confusion. As time goes on, and I continue to use the tools I’ve picked up along the way, the amount of time I sit in those unpleasant feelings decreases. And that’s all because I’ve learned…

“Acceptance is the key to my relationship with God today. I never just sit and do nothing while waiting for Him to tell me what to do. Rather, I do whatever is in front of me to be done, and I leave the results up to Him; however it turns out, that’s God’s will for me. I must keep my magic magnifying mind on my acceptance and off my expectations, for my serenity is directly proportional to my level of acceptance. When I remember this, I can see I’ve never had it so good.”**

I have chosen to wholeheartedly believe that nothing happens in God’s world by mistake. I trust that He is not responsible for the evil in the world. I choose to believe He uses EVERYTHING for the good, and it’s up to me to find that silver lining, even if I have to mine for it.

My Lyrica journey update comes next…

Until next time…

Hugs and love ❤️

Chelsea

10.22.20

*Big Book 417 **Big Book 420