Peace.

How do I achieve this? First and foremost, I let go of that which I cannot change - other people. This frees me to work upon the one person I can change - myself.

Then, I accept. I accept others just as they are, today, with no improvements desired or requested or expected. I accept their frailties, and I make the conscious effort to concentrate instead upon their strengths. It never ceases to amaze me how much of the "I can't stand it when he/she does this or that..." has fallen away as I practise program. (I said how much, not all - when I am tired and grumpy, I may choose otherwise for a time, but the habit is strong enough now, that I will revert to my positive attitude eventually.)

A program friend says, "That which I feed, grows." So simply true. I used to feed my anger and resentment, and then couldn't understand why I was unhappy so much of the time. In Al-Anon, I've got it on a starvation diet, and it has shrunk from the mountain taking up the entire skyline, to a rock beside my foot - I can still injure myself if I decide to give it a good hard kick, but I can walk around it, if I so choose.

I no longer give much headroom to what others may think of me - I care more what I think of myself. But I do recall, with a shiver, the way it felt to be so obsessed with that particular misery - it tainted everything.

I live in the moment as much of the time as I can manage. (This isn't to say that I don't make prudent plans for future security, but we're not talking about RRSP's, here - we're talking how to live mindfully, and with peace.)

I strive to be the best person I can be, and then I turn the rest over to my Higher Power, and I go out to play.