Born a Compulsive Overeater?

I BELIEVE I WAS born a compulsive overeater. When I was eighteen months old, my parents found me on the floor, sharing a bone with our labrador retriever. At age three, I discovered “trick or treating”: the next time Mom wouldn’t give me candy, off I went to the neighbors. It worked once, why not again? ~ Anonymous, Overeaters. Overeaters Anonymous, Second Edition . Overeaters Anonymous. Kindle Edition.

When did you develop your affinity for food
to calm your insecurities? We had no dog,
so I never reached for those cookies,
but cookie packages and cookie jars,
those I knew, raided, emptied.
And the treasure trove oh Halloween
wasn’t a bag but the bowl at the front door.
I was an easy baby to entertain,
my companion a Raggedy Ann
to chatter with from my bassinet.
When did I first require clothes marked “chubby”?
Was I born a compulsive overeater or just
get there as quickly as I could.
It doesn’t matter. Overeaters Anonymous
was there to meet my needs when
I finally got there!

If Wishes Were...

We could wish to be moral, we could wish to be philosophically comforted, in fact, we could will these things with all our might, but the needed power wasn’t there. Our human resources, as marshaled by the will, were not sufficient; they failed utterly. ~ World Service, Alcoholics Anonymous. The Big Book and A Study Guide of the 12 Steps . Anonymous Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Horses, ponies, fishes, thrushes…
Wishes have found their place in similes
at least since the sixteenth century.
But there are good and bad wishes.
If we’re discontented, rebellious,
attempting to change the result
but not our actions, wishes are folly.
But if we’re looking at what we need to become,
what we’re accepting guidance for,
if we are seeing how we might better be of service,
if we’re telling God our wishes,
knowing He may have much better for us,
then we’re wishing in the right spirit.

How to Remove Guilt

I pray to be relieved of guilt and self-hate, and to accept and like myself exactly as I am. That is where I can begin to change. ~ Anonymous, Overeaters. For Today (Kindle Locations 199-200). Overeaters Anonymous, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

How do we get restored to sanity?
What does it mean…restored to sanity?
Sure, I acted crazy about the food,
ate in the car where nobody could see me…
except all the people who knew me,
recognized me since I was far from a private person…
and the Blizzard and candy wrappings lay strewn
throughout the car in plain sight.
And size 28 clothes didn’t give it away. did they?
Yes, I was insane and it played out
in the disgust I felt about who I was,
how detestable, how worthless…
Then I found hope, possibility,
the idea that a God to whom I had given lip service
for many years really might possibly make me sane.
I hung around thirteen years
and know He can. And as I surrender to Him
I find I can, too.

Just Dirty Dishes

I am learning to take things at face value. Sometimes dirty dishes are just dirty dishes.
~ Family Groups, Al-Anon. Courage to Change—One Day at a Time in Al‑Anon II . Al-Anon Family Groups. Kindle Edition.

I don't get upset
when nobody but me
cleans up the kitchen.
But if you want me to come help,
could you not give a clue
before you start and yell
you want me there?
When I ask what you want for a meal
don't refuse to eat because
you would not suggest what to buy
and don't like what I chose.
When I remember my readings
and know all that's not loving
is fear, even if it seems snide,
currish, nasty, paltry, or just mean.
I can choose to love,
to change the universe to love.
I can choose to see anything
that is not love is merely dirty dishes.

The Privilege of Wisdom

It is the province of knowledge to speak and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Poet at the Breakfast Table
Knowledge is a straightforward word,
we can define as facts, information
and skills acquired through experience
or education; a theoretical
or practical understanding
of a subject. But wisdom
is harder to define.
It has been equated with
sapience and sagacity and defined
as the ability to think and act
using knowledge, experience,
understanding, common sense
and insight. It is the privilege
of wisdom to listen. But
should knowledge set aside arrogance.
it, too, may have the joy of listening.

Look at the Right Person

Sometimes he even seems to pour the breakfast cereal wrong! Although it’s important for me to learn to recognize and protect myself from unacceptable behavior, that’s not always what is going on. When I catch myself watching and criticizing every little detail of his behavior, I can use this as a signal that something is going on with me that I’ve missed or discounted. ~ Family Groups, Al-Anon. Courage to Change—One Day at a Time in Al‑Anon II . Al-Anon Family Groups. Kindle Edition.

We in the rooms of Recovery got here
specifically because we were powerless
over our addiction but also because
we could not manage our own life,
That did not mean, though, we did not try
to change the lives of others, especially
those of people closest to us. Of course
we also offered advice for strangers
met in passing...and everyone in between.
Early we took the words Reinhold Niebuhr
wrote praying for wisdom to know
what we could or could not change...
ignoring three-fourths of it,
adopting it as our own!
Most of us know, though,
what we can change is us,
what we cannot is everybody else
but we often choose not to discern
what that difference is.
God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.
And remind me to remember
and to act on it!

Reinhold Niebuhr 

Blessed Me

A simple thing like giving up the idea of “poor me” opens the door to a clarity and a peace of mind that is beyond our wildest dreams.  ~ Casey , Karen. 52 Ways to Live the Course in Miracles: Cultivate a Simpler, Slower, More Love-Filled Life (Kindle Location 518). Red Wheel Weiser. Kindle Edition.

I create my world, or more accurately
my thoughts, my concentration, my focus
shapes the life I live. I can choose to dwell in fear,
to accept abuse or unfair criticism…
I can think on these things and if I do, my life 
is a reflection of my focus. On the other hand
I could and hope I do, not merely day by day
but constantly. moment by moment,
choose love, giving love when others act out of fear
doing and saying things for which my ego self,
the me driven by fear, would have triggered anger,
sarcasm, self-righteousness. envy, jealousy…fear.
I choose not “poor me” but love extended to all,
the giving of which leads me to clarity and peace of mind
beyond my wildest dreams!

God Does It Right

The instructions of the Lord are perfect,
    reviving the soul.
The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy,
    making wise the simple.
The commandments of the Lord are right,
    bringing joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are clear,
    giving insight for living.
9Reverence for the Lord is pure,
    lasting forever.
The laws of the Lord are true;
    each one is fair. ~ Psalm 19:7-9 New Living Translation (NLT)

Ancient wisdom it is,
but still wise despite antiquity.
It’s strange, when you expect guidance
personal and delivered to you,
how there it is.
And when you accept it,
can believe you actually are
the intended recipient,
then joy inhabits your heart,
the wise actually is simple
insight on living comes naturally,
insight suddenly is natural,
you see inherent fairness
in the laws of the Lord,
natural law, and reverence
for the laws of God…
those laws you see were always there
though you didn’t perceive them,
and reverence fills your heart
and imprints the truth
that it is pure love
that has and will last forever!

copyright: stillfx

Love One Another

When we treasure one another and don’t waste our time finding each other’s faults, we will begin to have fewer faults. ~ Anonymous. Today’s Gift: Daily Meditations for Families (Hazelden Meditation Series) . Hazelden Publishing. Kindle Edition.

After a while, you get so that you really enjoy simple, healthy, normal living. ~ Anonymous. Twenty Four Hours A Day: Meditations (p. 15). Hazelden Publishing. Kindle Edition.

When we stop wasting time analyzing the world,
fault-finding among those mentioned in the news…
or those reporting the news…and nit-picking
and grousing about folks in our presence…
when we cease reacting from fear, from jealousy,
from blame and from insecurity but instead
choose understanding, empathy, affection,
admiration, acceptance, i.e., love,
we find we can enjoy life
and when in every moment
we have two options, either fear or love
then we can find peace and joy moment to moment
and we can become people whose love
responds to our own. Then we will live
more often in peace and day after day
we will learn to be better people
who love and who attract love!

Sick and Tired

When I became sick and tired of being sick and tired, I finally surrendered and came to the Program. ~ Anonymous. A Day at a Time: Daily Reflections for Recovering People (Hazelden Meditations) . Hazelden Publishing. Kindle Edition. 

Enough is enough trying everything else
is trying everything else. Sick and tired
becomes exhausted and out of excuses.
I got to the rooms of recovery
close to twelve years ago. But I had considered myself
a member of Overeaters Anonymous
for more than a month. My instant
of membership happened on December 17,
2006, as I got in the car to eat cappuccino
and an apple fritter. I spoke to God,
"This is stupid!" I ate and drank anyway,
of course. But since that day I've moved
toward Recovery. A fall that injured my rotator cuff
Christmas Eve then a London trip over New Years,
I did the best I could. January's schedule had to be cleared
for meeting times, then a snowy day when only I
got to the meeting. The next week worked
and I took a 30-day chip rather than a newcomer's.
Fast forward eleven years with significant opportunities
to be of service, then a year ago today again
I became sick and tired of being sick and tired,
and I finally surrendered the food more completely
and my abstinence has been more in line,
my Recovery more real, and without guilt
I can tell you I've a year of clean abstinence.
My behavior before had too often still be stupid,
but with God's guidance this day next year
will be two year's clean abstinence!!

False Starts

False starts are a beginning, and that’s really all we have to commit to, because the Holy Spirit will move right in and help us take the next step. ~ Casey , Karen. 52 Ways to Live the Course in Miracles: Cultivate a Simpler, Slower, More Love-Filled Life (Kindle Locations 464-465). Red Wheel Weiser. Kindle Edition.

The Big Book of AA says it a different way: 
“What seemed at first a flimsy reed, 
has proved to be the loving 
and powerful hand of God.”
We come with powerlessness
the only thing we’ve conquered,
but that’s all we need. When we admit
we cannot manage life 
and make a token effort…
even acting as if we believe
or borrowing someone else’s
higher power, we can reach out,
submit our desperation, 
and as soon as we are willing 
and honest enough to try, 
miracles begin to happen!

copyright: copyright: Gennady-Kireey 

Do I Insult God?

To worry is to insult God. ~ L., Elisabeth. Food for Thought: Daily Meditations for Overeaters. Hazelden Publishing. Kindle Edition.

To worry is to insult God?
Perhaps to worry is to offer affront,
but if “to insult” means 
to treat with disrespect 
or even scornful abuse,
we may have the mindset
to insult, but God is not 
limited by our thinking,
our understanding,
or even our intentions.
I doubt anyone really intends to worry
and thus aspires to insult God
when we do, but whether God is insulted
is based on God’s perception, not ours.
God is Love and Love does not perceive negative.
God’s preference is that we not worry,
but we can cure both ills
if we act with Love at all times,
rely on Love, on God,
we will neither offer affront
nor will we worry!

Beyond Human Aid

When this sort of thinking is fully established in an individual with alcoholic tendencies, he has probably placed himself beyond human aid, and unless locked up, may die or go permanently insane. These stark and ugly facts have been confirmed by legions of alcoholics throughout history. But for the grace of God, there would have been thousands more convincing demonstrations. So many want to stop but cannot.

There is a solution. ~ World Service, Alcoholics Anonymous. The Big Book and A Study Guide of the 12 Steps . Anonymous Publishing. Kindle Edition. 

We come to Recovery at our rock bottom.
We who come to Overeaters Anonymous
may not demonstrate the hopelessness
in the same way those with compulsions 
less socially acceptable have.
We may well be guilty of driving while eating
but texting while driving, while no less distracting
is more often a designated offense.
But a half-gone box of oven-warm doughnuts 
does not grab the attention of officers
nearly as quickly as a tiny bag of weed
or an empty syringe. Still, we’re as desperate,
as those who find their soulmates in AA,NA,
GA or any other. We, too, are beyond human aid
and are likely to die from our food-related actions,
of excess or deprivation…or of suicide.
But for us as well, but for the grace of God, 
there would have been thousands more 
convincing demonstrations. 
So many want to stop but cannot. 
But the message those alcoholics gave the world
nine decades ago is true as well…
There is a solution!

Be Kind

No matter who is crossing our path, be kind. No matter what problem they seem to have brought with them, be kind. No matter what a family member or neighbor might be doing that is beginning to get under our skin, pause and be kind. ~ Casey , Karen. 52 Ways to Live the Course in Miracles: Cultivate a Simpler, Slower, More Love-Filled Life (Kindle Locations 430-431). Red Wheel Weiser. Kindle Edition.

Anaïs Nin says it another way:
“You cannot save people, 
you can only love them.”
We can seek and find our serenity,
but our choosing to pass it on fails
unless they accept their ability 
to change only themselves
and to know that’s all they can change.
But sometimes as we choose our path,
the path of kindness that enables them
to practice kindness on their part
and when they do, they choose to set aside
the problems they brought,
their need to irritate us, to get under our skin,
and they, like us, will pause and be kind.
So start the change by always choosing
kindness mp matter what!

On The Plains

I will try to obey God’s will day in and day out, in the wilderness plains as well as on the mountaintops of experience. ~ Anonymous. Twenty Four Hours A Day: Meditations (p. 12). Hazelden Publishing. Kindle Edition

West Texas. Home.
I’ve long said the good part is
NOTHING gets in the way 
of the scenery. Mile after mile
seemingly forever rolling plains
are blocked only by barbed wire fencing
with a few mesquite trees scattered,
“trees” only to the natives, really bushes.
It cam get boring, just moving along,
down the road, same-old same-old,
You can long for different, for ups and downs,
for change.
It’s important, though, to change for the better,
not to fall back to the “good old days”
when we were miserable. We have a crowd of friends
who will travel the road with us. making sure
together we are traveling to Recovery!

What Do You Want?

How do we know what we really want? Perhaps that’s our main point of confusion. But looking inward we’ll find the answer we deserve. ~ Casey, Karen. Daily Meditations for Practicing The Course. Hazelden Publishing. Kindle Edition.

What do I deserve?
How do I figure it out?
Everybody deserves love,
respect, the right to be who they are
so long as it hurts nobody else.
Everybody deserves to make decisions
about what they do, how they do it,
in what order they do
although commitments made 
should be honored if possible.
I deserve those things, those rights.
That’s not so hard to see, to accept.
But the question is WHAT DO I WANT
not deserve. The context of the quote was,
“It’s important to ask for what we really want, 
because our lives will reflect 
that which we dwell on. 
What we dwell on 
may bring us only pain 
unless we are specific 
and intent on the opposite.”
So, if what I want is the direction I approach
just because of the wanting
where do I want to be, to have?
I want to have peace, serenity,
to be an adherent 
of A Course in Miracles,
to live it. 
I want to participate in life more fully,
to dare, to try, to do.
I want to write, to preserve
what I know, what I understand,
to fill a slot in the world, to matter.
I want to serve, to meet needs,
needs beyond the physical 
of those in my presence.
I want to matter.

Passing on Miracles

So in your darkest pit, in your most unworthy, undeserving, sinful, and ungodly state, when you’ve given God absolutely no cause or reason to love you, He will love you still. And it is then, when you receive that uncaused love, that amazing grace, that it will change your life . . . and allow you to manifest the miracle to others. ~ Cahn, Jonathan. The Book of Mysteries (p. 326). Charisma House. Kindle Edition.

John 13:34: A new command I give you: 
Love one another. 
As I have loved you, 
so you must love one another.
A Course in Miracles® 
directs us to understand 
Father, Your Name is Love 
and so is mine.
It’s an ancient message,
as old as God, as old as love,
as old is the sameness of 
God and love.
But when we finally understand
we play a role in bringing
peace on earth, goodwill to all.
And we receive that uncaused love, 
that amazing grace, 
that will change our lives
and find the clue to manifesting,
to passing on, 
the miracle to others.

My Assignment

I was to test my thinking by the new God-consciousness within. Common sense would thus become uncommon sense. I was to sit quietly when in doubt, asking only for direction and strength to meet my problems, as He would have me. ~ World Service, Alcoholics Anonymous. The Big Book and A Study Guide of the 12 Steps. Anonymous Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Bill W.’s discussion with Ebby,
what a world-changing conversation!
As a result common sense has morphed
into uncommon sense and so many of us
find ourselves with God-consciousness
asking only for direction and strength 
to meet our problems, 
as the God of our understanding 
would have us to.

The Forgiving Heart

The forgiving heart is the balm that changes the winds of the universe. Nothing remains the same when any one person says, “I understand, I accept, I forgive. I love.” ~ Casey , Karen. 52 Ways to Live the Course in Miracles: Cultivate a Simpler, Slower, More Love-Filled Life (Kindle Locations 345-346). Red Wheel Weiser. Kindle Edition.

How hard can it be to say truthfully,
“I understand.”
“I accept.”
“I forgive.”
“I love.”
How hard? Easy. But you say
we must mean them?
Can we pick and choose who we say what to?
Do we have to say all of them?
What would I do, though,
to change the winds of the universe?
Will saying them and meaning them 
change jot just me and the person I speak to
honestly make the world a better place…
not just the world…
the whole universe??
With that at stake, yes, 
I can and will say, 
“I understand, I accept, I forgive. I love.” 
Make it true, God!!

Powerless

Quicksand stretched around me in all directions. I had met my match. I had been overwhelmed. Alcohol was my master. ~ World Service, Alcoholics Anonymous. The Big Book and A Study Guide of the 12 Steps. Anonymous Publishing. Kindle Edition.

When I succumb to worry, I open a Pandora’s box of terrifying pictures, paranoid voices, and relentless self-criticism. The more attention I pay to this mental static, the more I lose my foothold in reality. Then nothing useful can be accomplished. ~  Family Groups, Al-Anon. Courage to Change—One Day at a Time in Al‑Anon II. Al-Anon Family Groups. Kindle Edition.

I’m a believer in a Twelve-Step program for everyone.
Me? I’m powerless over food and my life
without Recovery is meaningless. I identify fully
with feeling mired in quicksand. I, too, met my match,
knew food was my master. But I also identify
with worry, terrifying voices, paranoid voices,
mental static, a belief nothing useful can come to pass.
What about you? What are you powerless over?
Has your life in general become unmanageable?
Try Twelve Steps and find your road to sanity!

Weakness Is a Door

Though I have all Power in heaven and on earth, I am infinitely tender with you. The weaker you are, the more gently I approach you. Let your weakness be a door to My Presence. Whenever you feel inadequate, remember that I am your ever-present Help. ~ Sarah Young, Jesus Calling, Enjoying Peace in His Presence. Thomas Nelson Nook Edition location 34

How would my weakness be a door
available to Jesus? My weakness is fear.
is feelings of inadequacy, is self-doubt. 
Just as a thief would choose weakness…
a broken lock, a door left ajar, a rear entrance,
so it is weakness makes me…or makes me feel…
inept, clumsy, unsure…in need of a door,
an avenue out! I’ll certainly accept it.
Whenever I feel inadequate, I will remember 
that my ever-present Help wants to help!

I Will Act as If

I will accept an opportunity today to act “as if” I can handle a situation I used to run from. ~ Casey, Karen. Each Day a New Beginning: Daily Meditations for Women. Hazelden Publishing. Kindle Edition. 

Recovery does not bring freedom
from fear, release from character defects
such as my procrastination. Recovery is not
a magic wand waved over a life
bringing instant freedom from fear…
even that invidious chronic low-intensity fear
I know as procrastination. Twelve years
after I fell into the doors of Overeaters Anonymous
I still have to tackle the procrastination ogre,
and I can only do that by acting as if
I can live Recovery. That act, for me,
means emailing my sponsor each evening
for a while, telling her how I managed
to edge out procrastination by tackling 
baby step after baby step until the mountain
in my path begins to…and continues to…
diminish by the bucketload
until I can finish by stepping over
the molehill that remains.

Read the Book!

We have a way out on which we can absolutely agree, and upon which we can join in brotherly and harmonious action. This is the great news this book carries to those who suffer from alcoholism. ~ World Service, Alcoholics Anonymous. The Big Book and A Study Guide of the 12 Steps . Anonymous Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Insert a period after “who suffer.”
Alcoholics Anonymous asks that we read
the book…their book…as written, 
and certainly I honor that request. 
But I, and you, can edit in our heads. 
I believe this book can work miracles 
in the lives of all people, that each of us 
needs a twelve-step program!
The passage later goes on to say
when someone in Recovery has shared the message,
“After such an approach 
many take up their beds and walk again.”
Recovery literature abounds
as do Twelve-step programs…
Wikipedia lists thirty-three 
who closely follow Alcoholics Anonymous
and eight more who partially follow
and most of us could name others
not listed. Read those that speak to you,
but don’t forget to read the one
that in ninety years has transformed the world!

Iterate

We know the word reiterate
but I had not before run into
"iterate," whose definition
seems to cause reiterate to be redundant.
Merriam-Webster defines iterate
as "to say or do again
or again and again : Reiterate"
which in turn is defined,
"to state or do over again
or repeatedly
sometimes with wearying effect."
Iteration is the key to Recovery.
We got here by doing something
over and over and over again.
We become different by doing
something differently
over and over and over again.
We read the same literature,
say the same things
over and over again.
It took time to write the wrong things
on our behavior patterns
and they are rewritten the same way.
Get to the Recovery you long for
as you would get to Carnegie Hall...
Practice, practice, practice,
iterate, iterate, reiterate!!

The Next Right Thing

Wanted to stop in cafeteria and keep eating but did not. I brushed my teeth and [am] walking out.
Not a binge but a slip I want you to know
I had already been feeling like a busted can o biscuits in my clothes
And I started my reading in the bathroom before I left. ~ Anonymous

End of a long shift,
two disagreeable conversations
to wrap it up…
Food is a drug of choice,
though no longer the choices made,
but then, temptation beckons.
Wrong choices, not like days of yore…
No! Not like days of yore!
What do I do to stop?
The next right thing!
For me, reading her tale,
my next right thing here at home
is to put a toothbrush in my purse!
How powerful is that?
Not a binge but a slip…so —
I brushed my teeth and walked out
but read Recovery literature
in the bathroom first.
The next right thing 
keeps a slip from becoming a binge!

Epipany

Epiphany, the 6th of January,
the Twelfth day of Christmas, 
time to take down the tree.
The manifestation of Christ 
to the Gentiles represented by the Magi.
Epiphany sans Christmas talk
is a manifestation of a divine 
or supernatural being.
a moment of sudden revelation or insight.
In Recovery it can be
personality changes, 
or religious experiences, 
in the nature of sudden 
and spectacular upheavals.
And some of us lament
the absence of suddenness,
feeling deprived to have
the “educational variety” 
developing slowly over a period of time.
If your friends see you change before you 
realize it’s come, your understanding grows
that you have tapped 
an unsuspected inner resource 
you may identify with 
as your own conception 
of a Power greater than themselves.
Whether sudden or gradual, celebrate 
your own epiphany today!

Adoration of the Magi by El Greco, 1568, 

Museo Soumaya, Mexico City

Love Is...

Love is the total absence of fear. Love asks no questions. Its natural state is one of extension and expansion, not comparison and measurement. ~ Gerald G. Jampolsky

What to love and fear have to do with each other?
Absolutely nothing … except failure to coexist!
Fear cannot be present with love
even when fear wears disguises like anger,
sarcasm, separateness, comparison, conflict, 
competition, judgment, and lack. 
When distinctions are made, claims of
different levels, abilities, worth, kindness,
usefulness, any differentiation, that’s fear
and love’s not in it. Anything suggesting 
alienation is a kind of fear, and fear 
is incompatible, unable to exist with love,
something separate from love?
What is love? Everything that is not
fear!

Who Are You?

Let’s accept who we are in the moment so that we can become who we’d rather be in the next moment.

Casey , Karen. 52 Ways to Live the Course in Miracles: Cultivate a Simpler, Slower, More Love-Filled Life (Kindle Locations 225-226). Red Wheel Weiser. Kindle Edition.

I’m not a daughter of Queen Elizabeth II,
nor can I fly, nor are my other childhood
play-likes the truth. I’ve quit pretending…
not merely these childish fancies
but grown-up fancies as well.
I no longer need you to believe
I remember your name, nor the person
you mentioned. But as I stop pretending,
the habit of pretending I know
that which I don’t can be laid aside
and I can open my little world
to see value in each person
and, fear set aside that you’ll pity me
or think little of me for this failing,
and, accepting what I am,
I can actually become 
the social participant who loves you enough
to remember who you are. 
As I accept who I am in the moment 
I can become who I’d rather be 
in the very next moment.

Living Amends

Right actions in the future are the best apologies for bad actions in the past. ~ Tyrone Edwards

“Don’t be sorry, don’t do it!”
What I’d done, I know not
but Daddy’s admonition
rings clearly through sixty-some years.
In Recovery we call the wisdom
living amends…for past wrongs
turn aside from the pattern
and when comparable choices present
take the path not taken before.
If you need to set aside
old choices, “Don’t be sorry, don’t do it!”

Peace of Mind

Peace of mind comes from not wanting to change others. ~Gerald G. Jampolsky

We are not God.
No matter how close
we may be to a person
we cannot change them.
We can change ourselves
and that change can be peace,
perfect peace in our heart
and in our mind that comes
through really understanding,
completely accepting
the reality that we cannot change
anyone but ourselves.
But can parents or spouses
really find peace that way?
Don’t we have a role, an obligation?
How can we deal with that?
Like Merlin’s advice to Arthur
in the movie Camelot…
“Mark me well, I will tell you, sir:
The way to handle a woman
Is to love her…simply love her…
Merely love her…love her…love her.”

Obstacles to Blessings

God never promises that our lives will be free of obstacles, problems, crises, and adversities. He promises something better. He will use every obstacle in your life to bring to fulfillment the very purposes He has planned for your life. Every problem, every crisis, every adversity, every setback, and every sorrow will be turned around to bring breakthrough, blessing, and triumph.  ~ Cahn, Jonathan. The Book of Mysteries (p. 313). Charisma House. Kindle Edition.

“Happy New Year!!” Yes, of course!
But there will be parts of 2019
feeling like setbacks, problems.
Put them in perspective, though.
Paul told the Romans, “And we know
that God works all things together
for the good of those who love Him,
who are called according to His purpose.”
May your year be filled with blessings,
whether as they come they look good
or, seeming to be setbacks, become
exactly what you need!

Copyright: orkidia

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