I would like to share with you an amazing experience I just had. My seven year old daughter is going through a difficult time at school at the moment, both socially and academically. This morning, she had a massive tantrum that she is not going to school, refusing to eat breakfast and throwing her bag around. In the car on the way to school, she told me how sad she is that she does not have friends, etc. I was able to sympathize with her and I told her that I will speak to her teachers.
After she left the car, a huge craving to act out swept through me. My daughter is suffering, which is in turn causing me great emotional pain as a father. I am also an addict, which means I am pre-programmed to "medicate myself" with acting out or food, whenever I face difficult situations. However, what my program has taught me, is that difficult feelings won't kill me. I was able to sit through the craving until it passed, and then I experienced the sadness for my daughter and I cried for the first time in many many months. I also phoned my sponsor and shared with him what had happened, not to get advice, but just to share with another person who understands the way I work. He encouraged me to pray for my daughter and told me, as they say in AA, "this too shall pass".
I am so grateful today for my program that is giving me another choice, to be able to experience difficult situations without acting out. There is no way I can do this on my own, I need other people to constantly fall on to give me strength and encouragement. Through this, I can accept my situation and daven to Hashem that "His will, not mine, be done today".