Happy To Be Here

In giving to the world, it is I who must make the first move, I who must run to meet life with a smile that says, “I’m happy to be here.” To like oneself, to enjoy life and to have enthusiasm for its precious gifts is to give to the world. ~ Anonymous, Overeaters. For Today (Kindle Locations 1796-1798). Overeaters Anonymous, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Words are our truths. We can say what we need to say.
And kind words, thought-provoking words, can help a person
see what precious gifts they can give to the world!
Are you living a “I’m happy to be here” life today?
I choose to. I hope you will as well!
I am so glad I made a commitment to this practice for Today!
Enjoy your day and let people know, “I’m happy to be here!” 

Let Go

 

Let go are tiny words with huge rewards. If I want to, I can give up my attempts to control someone today. Peace will be my reward. ~ Casey, Karen. A Life of My Own: Meditations on Hope and Acceptance (Hazelden Meditations Book 1) . Hazelden Publishing. Kindle Edition.

It’s hard to find two words tinier
than these two…or two words wiser,
more powerful, more transformational
than these two: “Let go.”
Are you ready for the huge rewards?
Do you trust your Higher Power
or other people whose role it is to see it done
and release your fist from your trying to keep the reins?
Do you believe you’ll be rewarded with peace when you do?
Let go! God’s got this figured out!

Image Copyright : yuriz

Mantras

 

A mantra is any phrase that we codify, imbue with power, and call upon when needed. ~ Susan Peirce Thompson

Do you have mantras?
I’ve often told you my oldest:
“Procrastination is chronic
low-intensity fear.” I’m working
on developing new ones
including these:
“One day at a time. ”
“What other people think about me
is none of my business.”
“You can’t think your way
into right action,
but you can act your way
into right thinking.”
“HALT: when you are hungry,
angry, lonely, tired.”
“I will be a better me.”
and, “Nothing changes
if nothing changes.”
What do you want to change in you?
How can a mantra move you
in that direction?

Image copyright hrcoompia77

Feeling Alone and Apart

Throughout our lives, many of us have felt isolated from other people. We felt that we were outsiders, and we acted out this feeling in many ways, some of us by being shy, others by being arrogant or belligerent, others by playing the clown. No matter how we acted, however, deep down we felt alone and apart. ~Overeaters Anonymous. The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, Second Edition (p. 39). Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. Kindle Edition.

How do we stop feeling so isolated?
Do you feel like an outsider…
sometimes in your own family?
When have you felt a part rather than apart?
Have you been surprised to feel part
of the Recovery community?
How many true friends do you have?
Is it easier with the honesty and acceptance
among Recovery people?
Have you found you can forgive yourself,
be forgiven, and move toward creating a new life?
Have you learned to love all three parts
of the Great Commandment?
To love God with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your mind?
To love your neighbor as yourself?
You do know, don’t you, that
you have to love yourself to do that?
It’s a perquisite!

Power Is/Isn't...

 

Power is not controlling other people. Power is controlling yourself. Trying to control other people is the first sign that you are entirely out of control. Controlling other people is what weak people think power looks like. ~Kalen Dion

Controlling other people has another name…
It’s codependency, excessive emotional
or psychological reliance on a partner,
typically one who requires support
on account of an illness or addiction.
It’s not the invalid/addict
who has a codependency issue.
The codependent person often
takes on a “caretaker” role.
Real power is not the tie that binds many
of us in this trap called codependency.
Real power is detachment when you feel drawn
to rush to the rescue!
Power to you!

"Just Fine"

 

Fine, meaning  “F***ed-up. Insecure. Neurotic, Emotional.” Recovery Definition

I’ve been harassed for answering, “Just Fine”
for more than seventy years.
I was told for many years of being hospitalized
for pneumonia with a high fever at age three
and answering so. My husband asked how I was
this morning and declared my answer, “Okay”
didn’t mean a thing. My sponsor replies,
“What does that mean?”when I answer so.
I really am just fine, but sometimes
the Recovery definition fits quite well.
But for today in answer to the question,
“How are you?” the true response is,
I’m a compulsive overeater in Recovery
and I’m trusting my Higher Power
to make the truth I’m making the appropriate choices
and moving in the right direction.

A Leading Measure of Your Habits

 

Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits. Your net worth is a lagging measure of your financial habits. Your weight is a lagging measure of your eating habits. Your knowledge is a lagging measure of your learning habits. Your clutter is a lagging measure of your cleaning habits. You get what you repeat. ~ Clear, James. Atomic Habits (p. 18). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

I’ve made a new Google sheet,
stating the habits I want to develop
and recorded those actions for today,
put it with a chat tab with a woman
who shares my problems and supports me
in my decision making. I know what tomorrow looks like
and have planned for two support calls
that make my Mondays special.
I’m re-reading two books that helped before,
knowing they will again.
I know the moment I broke the habit chains.
I know I can get them back and get back the great results.
Let me know how I can be of help to you
in getting the habits that make you who you want to do.

How We Meet Life's Events

 

Acknowledging our negative attitude is the first step to discovering happiness. As Humboldt said, “I am more and more convinced that our happiness or unhappiness depends far more on the way we meet the events of life, than on the nature of those events themselves.” ~ Casey, Karen.  A Life of My Own: Meditations on Hope and Acceptance (Hazelden Meditations Book 1) . Hazelden Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Karen Casey concludes, “No one
can change my perception but me.”
Do you work to see positive effects
to the events of your life?
The Carter family provided
a soundtrack for our efforts:
Keep on the sunny side,
always on the sunny side
Keep on the sunny side of life…
We choose our reactions to events
and we can consciously
choose to be happy no matter what happens
Will you choose to see positive effects today?
Let’s try!

Merciful

 

Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. ~ Hebrews 2:17 (KJV)

We pocket our pride and go to it, illuminating every twist of character, every dark cranny of the past. Once we have taken this step, withholding nothing, we are delighted. ~ Alcoholics Anonymous, Page 75

Mercy me!
Mercy! Me?
Merciful to me!
How can you know
my baseness,
my depravity,
and accept me?
How can one so good,
so pure,
not shun me
but hug me,
accept me,
love me?
Mercy!

God of grace,
God of mercy,
thank you for your faithfulness.

Rollins, Barbara with OAStepper. A Cloud of Witnesses – Two Big Books and Us. Eagle Wings Press imprint of Silver Boomer Books. Kindle Edition.

Good Enough Now

 

We will never be good enough until we change the messages and tell ourselves we are good enough now. ~Beattie, Melody.The Language of Letting Go: Hazelden Meditation Series (p. 175). Hazelden Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Do you expect perfection in ourselves
even while giving everyone else we know
the benefit of the doubt? I do.
I’m often disappointed in where I am,
in what I’ve accomplished, whether looking at a moment
or assessing the contributions of my life.
We can examine our day, recognize
what we could have done better
but accept what we’ve done
even while resolving to do better.
James Clear in Atomic Habits
argues convincingly,
“What starts as a small win
or a minor setback
accumulates into something much more.”
He calculates, 1% better every day for one year.
(1.01365 = 37.78) means you’re almost 38 times better
at year’s end.
We’re Good Enough Now!

The Endless Beginning of My Life

 

I’m thankful to OA for the endless beginning of my life. ~ Overeaters Anonymous. Voices of Recovery. Overeaters Anonymous. Kindle Edition.

Thirteen years of OA completed.
Major changes in my life
including reaching finally…
after countless efforts in that direction
for sixty-one plus years…
a healthy body weight that medical people
and online charts affirm…
I have reached the goal!
Then Monday morning my sponsor
asked me what I’m doing about
Step Eleven and I had no ready answer
and listened to her advice
to read the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous
beginning at the bottom of page 85
where we’re told what to do at bedtime
then on awakening, we include God
in our plan for the day, and think about what we expect,
including God and his insights in the plan.
Later I participated in an informal OA meeting
among old friends, where three of us have known each other
most of the thirteen years.
We talked about where we were,
spread around the world physically
but close friends nonetheless
and we planned our week,
sharing concerns and
supporting each other
in challenges to come.
I’m truly thankful to OA
for the endless beginning of my life!
and for these women who are all such a major
support system for me!!

Casting Lots

 These searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. The governor, therefore, ordered them not to eat any of the most sacred food until there should be a priest ministering with the Urim and Thummim. ~ Ezra 7:64-65

Cleromancy is a form of casting lots,
so an outcome is determined
by means that normally would be considered
random! Not surprising, is it?
That rolling dice is considered random
cannot be questioned, can it?
So why does the Bible speak of the
Urim and Thummim, biblical dice,
six times as ways of ascertaining through
their use God’s will?
Can a ouija board lead to truth finding?
We have sung a hymn for three hundred years,
“God Moves in a Mysterious Way”
and the idea feels settled fact.
Does God speak through flipping a coin,
or drawing names from a hat?
It certainly is possible for God
to reveal His will in any way
we can understand it is the response
we seek and when it leads us to our frequently
seeking to know Him and His Will.

Urim and Thummim

Arguing with Yourself

There are two voices in our minds: a quiet, loving voice and a loud, generally spiteful voice. The latter will always direct us to the unhealthy places, but we can learn to detach from that voice and to relish the quiet one instead. Prayer will always lead us back to where we want to be. ~ Casey , Karen. Let Go Now. (p. 121). Mango Media. Kindle Edition. 

Do you have a split personality?
Probably not, nor a dissociative identity disorder,
nor any diagnosable mental disorder!
But when you talk to yourself...
you do, do you not?...do you hear different 
voices and attitudes internalized?
Have you been mad at the whole world
and ready to take on all comers?
When you talk to yourself are you kind?
Do you have ideas about what you'd like to say 
to someone who irritates you? Do you say it
or do you clean it up...nice it up 
before you speak? Have you made an effort
to seek out the kind you in talking to yourself
or to someone else? We can learn to detach
from that voice and to relish the quiet one instead.
Prayer will always lead us back to where we want to be.
Shall we try that today? 

Image copyright: Ioulia Bolchakova

 

  

How Do the Open-Minded Forgive?

 

How do the open-minded forgive? They have let go all things that would prevent forgiveness. They have in truth abandoned the world, and let it be restored to them in newness and in joy so glorious they could never have conceived of such a change. ~ Schucman, Dr. Helen.  A Course in Miracles . Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition.

How  do open-minded people forgive?
It sounds so simple. They have
already let go of all things
that would have prevented forgiveness!
Abandoning the world,
leaving only what God had designed…
getting back to the creation as created
new and gloriously restored
to perfection. Could it be easier?
Not if we abandon our “need”
to improve on what’s perfect!

Image Copyright : Wang Shuang

The Law and the Promise

 Brothers and sisters, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ. What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise.

For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise. ~ Galatians 3:15-18

If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves. ~ A.A. World Services Inc. Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition. A.A. World Services, Inc. Kindle Edition.

Promises made, promises kept.
The Big Book continues, 
"Are these extravagant promises?
We think not.
They are being fulfilled among us—
sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly.
They will always materialize if we work for them."
There is order in the universe
when we take the needed steps,
when we respond to the Good News
inherent in both big books!
We have promises laid out
that seem too good to be true.
But they're not!
If we accept the offer made,
if we do our part,
we find life
better than than we could have imagined! 

 

God, give us the courage to do it your way,
to accept the life you have made available to us!

 

Getting It Done

 

“Rome wasn’t built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour. You don’t have to do it all today. Just lay a brick.” ~ James Clear

What do you intend to get done this year?
I vowed again to finish a book
I’ve talked about for twenty-six years.
I haven’t touched with the year half finished.
Nor have I pulled out the research and hit a lick.
I’ve laid bricks for other books. But years pile up.
Bricks should, too?
What do you intend to get done this year?
Are you putting down bricks to move that direction?

The Lessons in our Judgments

 

Our judgments of others generally reflect how we feel about ourselves at the time. When we are in tune with our spiritual center and feeling confident, we are comfortable with others too. Going within ourselves is a tool we can use for getting free of our judgments. When they begin to shadow our thoughts, we can go within and find God and freedom. ~ Casey, Karen. A Life of My Own: Meditations on Hope and Acceptance (Hazelden Meditations Book 1). Hazelden Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Do you disapprove of things others do?
If you’re honest about negative thoughts
about someone else, can you see anything
similar in your actions?
Can you think of a time when other’s actions
seemed like things you had thought and done before?
If something like that had happened but “now”
you were in tune with your spiritual center
and feeling confident,  did that change how you felt
with the one who reminded you of yourself?
Were you then more comfortable with others as well?

Mot Pleasure in Loving

 

There is more pleasure in loving than in being beloved. ~ Thomas Fuller

Is there more pleasure in loving
than there is in being loved?
For me it’s certainly more comfortable!
I don’t want to be looked at, to be praised,
to accept thanks or acknowledgement
of my acts.I need to be loved, to be acknowledged
as worthy. But don’t look at me closely!
I prefer to stand in the shadows,
to acknowledge the company,
the achievements of others.
But I need to be loved to feel worthy.
I need to be loved in order to serve.

A Life Worthy of your Calling

 

…I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ~ Ephesians 4:2-3 NIV

Have you been called to faith,
to the spiritual, to belief
in a Power greater than you,
to turn your mind, your heart, your being,
over to that Power? Do you choose to live a life
worthy of that calling? Have you become
completely humble and gentle;
can you be patient,
bearing with one another in love?
Are toy willing to make every effort
to keep the unity of the Spirit
through the bond of peace?
What needs to change to reach this standard?

 

 

Five Minutes

 

Today I will take five minutes to think about how I can help my recovery by trusting myself and other people. ~ Anonymous. Today I Will Do One Thing: Daily Readings For Awareness and Hope (Hazelden Meditations) (Kindle Locations 2349-2350).

Do I trust myself? Who do I trust?
I trust myself more this evening than I did
yesterday morning. For I spent hours
sorting piles and stacks and bundles
of trash with a few useful gems…like a car title…
to make the effort meaningful. I went to an office
where I assumed I could resolve a five-year-old problem
I’ve studiously avoided facing for a month.
It was a useless trip, but I wasn’t only wishing it gone.
I have shown myself worthy of trust and can give it to myself
more readily today. I trust I will see it done tomorrow,
at least my part, so I will be trustworthy tomorrow.
And who do I trust…and is it contingent as it is for me?
I trust the people I’ve dealt with today, believe
while maybe I needed more of some but did not ask.
I trust the Recovery people with whomI will begin the tomorrow,
believe they will say what I need to hear. I trust me
to hear what I need. Most of all, I trust my God
to lead me as I need…if I allow it.

Image Copyright : Alena Saklakova