The Necessity of Cultivating a Grateful Heart
June 5, 2018How Faith Strengthens Sobriety
July 23, 2018The Necessity of Cultivating a Grateful Heart
June 5, 2018How Faith Strengthens Sobriety
July 23, 2018No Regrets
By Anthony Acampora, Director & Chaplain
Banyan’s Faith in Recovery Program
You may have heard the saying “What’s done is done.”
I know I have been told this often, during the most difficult times of my life. I am sure I deserved being bombarded with that phrase or similar ones. I lived in my thoughts for many years, continuously focusing on horrible situations. I realize now that talking about these situations repeatedly only made me feel worse! I was adding fuel to an already burning fire, turning it into an inferno with my own thoughts and words.
If you are experiencing a similar issue you may come to the same realization that “What’s done is not done at all”. If we continue to bring up negative situations they can feel as real as they did when the event/s actually occurred. The past begins to consume your present moments. In my case I began to despise my own thoughts, as I knew they were destroying me. Yet I could not break the vicious cycle. That is not to say that we shouldn’t share our issues in addiction treatment during groups or individually with a therapist. This is paramount to recovery. I’m referencing the times when we are lying in bed each morning and night, thinking about what we should or could have done differently, meditating on past mistakes or missed opportunities. One of the many Biblical passages that helped me overcome living in a state of regret was Romans 8:28 NKJV.
“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.”
Upon reading this, it began to really speak to my heart and change my mindset. If He does everything for the greater good, then even though I made some really horrible decisions He still wants to use them, and us, for a greater purpose!
He wants to use these past mistakes and poor choices according to His purpose for them. Wow, that’s encouraging news! During the storms of life we may not realize how Romans 8:28 rings true, but when we move past those storms, from darkness into light, we then understand how God has turned a mess into our message!