God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.
I am a compulsive overeater. No matter how long I am abstinent, I will still be a compulsive overeater. I can't stop being a compulsive overeater any more than I can wake up ten years younger or six inches taller.
The courage to change the things I can.
I don't have to let my disease be fatal. I am going to be a compulsive overeater no matter what, but I can be an abstinent compulsive overeater. Yes, it takes courage to become abstinent in a world that has such a poor understanding of the disease, but this is something that I can change.
And the wisdom to know the difference.
I needed a flash of wisdom to see that it was possible to change myself. It took wisdom to see that having an eating disorder did not mean that I was doomed to be forever gorging myself to death. I didn't have to live in that constant state of compulsive overeating torture. I could choose life. And I have.
[Adapted from pages 18-19 of Living Sober.]
