Jessie, a 32-year-old white divorced mother of 3 children, is unemployed, alcoholic meth addict who has 4 DWI’s and is fighting with Child Protective Services to keep her children and her ex-husband to get three years of back child support, raised Acceptance as the topic this evening In These Rooms. Jessie says “…what I love most about the past is it’s the past…” She said she is hoping to find Acceptance In These Rooms. I find it curious how often this topic comes up In These Rooms. I also find it damn curious how often I hear the same people who say they found Acceptance In These Rooms also say “…I am not that person any more or I don’t want to be that person anymore…” Hmmmmm….
It’s said people would rather see a sermon than hear a sermon. This is what Acceptance and lack of Acceptance look like:
“…The need for Acceptance drove me to stay connected to the man who molested me. What wouldn’t I do to be somebody? Feeling powerless and wanting to be powerful. My need for approval has been my drug of choice. There I was, bending into a pretzel to be thought somebody. My need for Acceptance kept me from being present to myself and understanding who I was. I thought I knew what I wanted from life and what I wanted to become but how could I having never found self-love? My Acceptance today is embracing all this shit as part of my Higher Power’s twisted but empowering sense of humor. I get it…“
Yalie
“…When I’m rolling hard, I don’t have time to be worried about who I did or don’t want to be or who the hell accepts me. What the fuck people think of me doesn’t mean a damn thing to me. Acceptance to me is people accepting that if you get in my fucking way your ass is gettin run the fuck over. I want people to get that my Higher Power didn’t put me on this damn earth to be nobody’s fucking doormat nor to take no Goddamn prisoners. Like those people In Kirk’s Rooms, I ain’t down with no damn causes and don’t like controversy unless it’s of my making. I ain’t here to take sides. I believe my God put me here to take the fuck over. You asked. This is what this fucking Acceptance shit looks like to me…”
Fr. Esteban
“…Hell, Acceptance is believing I am the hero of my story. My lifelong struggle has been to find and believe in a purpose, my purpose. I know I can’t change my past but I’m finding the courage to make sense of it. I’m learning who the fuck I am and the meaning of shit that has been knocking me on my ass all my life. Yea, I’m making sense of and finding peace with my past. This is a beautiful thing. I want to make a difference in this world. I want the shit I’ve been thru not to be in vain. That is finding Acceptance. My Acceptance is embracing and even celebrating the fucking shit of my past and my humanity…”
Hunter
Today, Acceptance means: 1) I’ve stopped hating being who I am; 2) I not only embrace who I am but I also celebrate the gift of my faults; 3) I don’t see myself as a bad person trying to become good or a sick person trying to get well. I am a badass becoming more fully human and beautiful; 4) I am free to create the world I want to see and draw myself as the hero of my narrative; 5) I am free to keep evolving; and 6) I have been empowered thru this work to turn the wreckage of my past into the gift of my salvation. This is my Acceptance.
Read more about Yalie, Fr. Esteban and Hunter and tell your story. Listen to Hunter’s Podcast. All on wreckedamerica.com. In Wrecked America, #AcceptanceMatters
The Struggle Continues….
