Every day we have to align ourselves with the God of our understanding if we want good orderly direction, coupled with peace of mind. No doubt you have made the decision to seek that direction at least once in your life or you wouldn't be interested in a blog such as mine. But seeking it once doesn't mean we are home free, if you know what I mean. It's been my experience, in fact, that an every day request is necessary. It's also been my experience that an answer is always forthcoming. That's some thing we can count on, "put in the bank," so to speak.[...]
4 I have been a proponent of the concept of detachment for many years now. I know, from my personal life, the devastation of being overly "attached" to people, to their moods, their opinions, their actions. I developed this trait as a very young girl and it followed me into my first marriage. I was certain "you" were about to reject me so I clung as I tight as I could. Fortunately, and I do mean fortunately, everyone I clung to managed to escape. It wasn't until years later that I was able to understand what had given rise to my drive to hang on to "you,"[...]
I love the simplicity of this solution to whatever is getting under my skin at the moment. Any moment. I well remember being given the small blue booklet titled Acceptance when I came into the 12 step rooms of recovery back in the mid 70's. The first time I read it, it offered great relief and on every subsequent reading too. I experienced a big sigh of relief washing over me, in fact. Acceptance was such a simple suggestion but it moved me in a profound way. I had never before felt hope at such a deep level. I knew, without a doubt, that something p[...]
I have certainly learned after years of walking the path of recovery that faith cannot be a "sometimes thing." We either have it or we don't. However, I have also learned that practicing to have faith is almost as effective as the real thing. As you know, if you have been following my blog, I just came through a dark phase. It came on me gradually but it was "full-blown" in no time and I felt immobilized. I had no impetus to do any thing and was fearful that the darkness wouldn't leave any time soon. I have suffered chronic depression over the years[...]
My last post was regarding how blue I had been feeling. I am relieved to say my spirits have lifted. Many things contributed to the freedom I now feel, but the primary "lifter" was a comment from a loving friend who walks the path I am on. He was God-sent, that day. I'm sure of it. I think God is always sending help. We simply don't always "see" it or accept it. I knew my friend's words were Truth and I was more than eager to allow them to recharge my perception. As I left the meeting, I knew my heart had been touched. The veil of darkness was l[...]
I have been in a funk the last couple of weeks. And I hate it. I was reminded today, while reading my ACIM book, that we are always in the right place at the right time. And then at the AA meeting an hour later, the topic was the now. Readjusting my vision and aligning my attitude with those two ideas is the assignment. Not just today but every day. I surprisingly feel far better already. I know well the slogan: this too shall pass. I repeat it to others regularly. However, I need the nudge from those same others to remember it myself on occasio[...]
My life has markedly improved since embracing the idea of surrendering to the uncontrollable, (and all things separate from me are uncontrollable by me) rather than insisting my opinions, my way of doing any task, my outlook on life, particularly on how others should see life too, are the only reasonable choices. As Marianne says in the above quote, something amazing indeed does happen when we give up or give in, when we let go and release. “Stepping aside,” letting what is, be, rather than bulldozing our way over or through the situations that have drawn our[...]
IN EVERY CONFLICT, ASK, “WOULD I RATHER BE PEACEFUL OR RIGHT?”I was raised by a father who always insisted he was right. Perhaps you were too. It became my nature, even as a youngster, to fight him at every opportunity. I felt like it was my job to defend the family against his certainty that there was one way to see every thing, and it was his way. He and I battled for years while my mother, approvingly, looked on. Over politics, religion, even music and the mundane too, like which television shows worth watching. We were on opposite sides of ever[...]
WE CAN NOT CHANGE THE WORLD DIRECTLY, BUT WE CAN CHANGE HOW WE SEE THE WORLD AND THEN THE WORLD CHANGES TOO. When I was first introduced to this principle, I failed to understand it. I had always believed that it was our task to change the world. What I now understand the statement to mean is that changing how we think must come first and when we have changed that, our behavior changes and the world then reflects those changes. It’s clear, we have work to do. There is much in the world that needs changing, from my perspective. But I want to be clear,[...]
Feeling hopeless about a situation in your life makes all forward movement seem impossible. It’s not an accident that we have people around us who can share our sorrows and express hope for us when our own is depleted. Our lives are quite intentional, aren’t they? As has been said many times, nothing is happening accidentally. When one of us is down, another person appears who can show us the rainbow that’s hidden from our view. She didn’t appear haphazardly. She had an assignment. And you are fulfilling that “assignment” on occasion too fo[...]