Originally Posted by
sbxx1985
Hang in there, pcad.
In two weeks, we find out if my wife has the rare, incurable, fatal brain disease that killed her mom a few months ago. The disease is triggered by something, but no one knows what it is. Once triggered, she goes crazy and dies while we watch. Her mom went from fine to dead in four weeks.
If she has the gene mutation, she'll have the rest of her life to contemplate her demise.
Oh man sbxx. Hang in there pal. That's a rough scenario indeed.
All you can do when you get dealt hands like this is stay calm, take it one day at a time, and try to do some things that make you feel better or help distract you.
Serenity prayer: Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, to change the things I can and to know the difference. Some days I chant that to myself like a mantra, and some days it helps. Some days not so much.
A day at a time. Look, I've been sober for 18 years, and in AA that whole time. The thing about AA (which doesn't work for everybody to be sure) is the combination of a Judeo Christian spirituality (which turns some people off and makes AA a target for criticism) with this clear Zen-like philosophy (i.e., the only way you can win with addiction is to surrender to the fact that you're helpless over the addictive substance). That works for me, if you think that's bull****, I get that point of view as well.
Anonymity is part of AA, but I've been at this for a long time, I am what I am, if that doesn't work for you, just add that to the 99.9999% of life that's beyond my control. I try to focus on the .0001% that I can do something about.