While I think of myself as addicted to PD drugs, it is not the same addiction pattern as those of alcoholism, et al. However, I feel that it's not right to compare ordeals and make the judgment that alcoholics are necessarily worse people because it seems they could have chosen better behavior. Many people are thought to have a particular genetic makeup that is different than others and makes them physically susceptible to alcoholic addiction in a way that I know I am not.

That said, Rosebud, Steve, all you guys, what a lovely idea about forming a helpful mental/emotional protocol to follow. I responded by - without thinking about it too long - listing my version:

1. I accept that love is stronger than death and fear.

2. I accept that life and the universe hold infinite possibilities and ways of healing.

3 I accept that somehow my body has become oriented to a biochemical fault pattern of some sort.

4. I accept that people, possibly including myself, have placed a particular judgment on my body and its future which may or may not have validity.

5. I accept that my course through this process is unique.

6. I accept that the reasons for my condition are as yet unknown, and could include environmental factors and/or inner emotional elements.

7. I accept that the medical world may not always have my best interests at heart.

8. I accept that I have to carry or actively disassociate myself not only from my own fears but those of the people around me.

9. I accept that healing is possible and that my body's nature is to want to heal, although the path to that healing may not yet be visible, but that my body holds absolute divinity within it.

10. I accept that others are suffering more than I am.

11. I accept that I will have times of weakness or sadness, but that the seeds of the opposite and change are always present in every situation.

12. I accept that the path to healing demands that I discipline myself to staying open to its possiblity, to understand that I cannot dictate its shape or the emotional outcome of my journey, and to accept that its meaning is as yet unrevealed but reflects my innate participation in the divine.