I don't give you permission to affect my happiness.

"We are responsible for our own behaviors, moods, choices, problems, attitudes, happiness, character defects, thoughts, feelings, hopes, dreams, mistakes, the way we treat others, and whether or not we allow others to abuse, manipulate, or mistreat us. We are not responsible for other people's choices, behaviors, bad decisions, addictions, the consequences of their choices, their hopes, dreams, character defects, thoughts, feelings, problems, attitudes, and moods. We are responsible for ourselves; we are not responsible for others. Does this mean we do not care about others? Of course not. It simply means we give others the respect of being responsible for their own lives, and we give ourselves the same respect of being responsible for our lives"


This is very powerful for me, especially today.  I take a lot of responsibility for other peoples' happiness.     I thank a dear friend for pointing this out to me today whether she knew she was or meant to or not.  But it's true.

There's a situation going on in my life right now where this completely applies.  It's a hard pill for me to swallow.

Having trouble focusing my thoughts on it right now.  But I'm going to print this passage out and keep it in my purse and pull it out frequently when I feel defeated by other peoples' choices.  Because their happiness is not mine to create and mine is not decided by their actions or words or feelings.

Although what I am going through is not alchohol related, the 3 C's definitely apply:



"I didn't cause it, I can't control it, and I can't cure it"