We Do Recover

[MajestyJo]

Keep It Simple

I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today.---William Allen White

Big changes are happening to us, but we can trust that changes will bring good things. After all, what have we got to lose? We have lived through the days and years of our addiction. Now, with the help of our Higher Power, the pain of those days has ended. We have no reason to worry.

Yet, recovery won't make our lives perfect. Hard things still happened. But we never have to lose hope again. We never have to feel alone with our problems. What will come next? We don't know the details, but we can be sure the future will be good if we stay on our path of recovery.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I know life holds many new things for me. Help me and protect me as I live in Your care today.

Action for the Day: Today, I'll trust that each day of my life will bring me good. I will share this idea with one friend.

What a blessed assurance.

I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today! William Allen White

[MajestyJo]

Thought for the Day

Wednesday, APRIL 11

From the book: Today's Gift

Listen to your feelings. They tell you when you need to take care of yourself, like finding a friend if you feel lonely, crying if you feel sad, singing and smiling if you feel happy, and acting frisky if you feel good.

—Pat Palmer

When we get too much of anything - too much fun or too much work - we may feel really crummy when it's over.

One way to listen to our crummy feelings is to say, "Here comes the letdown after all that fun." We can imagine a spaceship falling to earth, floating on the ocean. Coming down to earth is as much a part of the adventure as the countdown and blastoff.

A letdown for us means we need to let our bodies and minds rest, just like the spaceship, bobbing around without any special direction. We need to take it easy, do nothing, put off making plans.

Then we can ask God to help us let go of the crummy feelings that come along with a letdown. We can ask the spirit within us to guide us through this time of change. Then we will let down and let go.

What are some things I can do to take it easy the next time I feel down?

Some times we don't like our feelings and tend to stuff them with food or have another cigarette. Just because we have a feeling doesn't mean we have to act on it either. Often it is just acknowledging the feeling will help you to let go.

[MajestyJo]

Have been slack in sharing my gratitude. I have allowed everything to come first and have no energy left to think let alone post something. This is what 7 hours of sleep has done to me

[MajestyJo]

Journey to the Heart

Take the Pressure Off

Sometimes we need a little pressure to get moving, but sometimes we put too much pressure on ourselves. I must do this, we think, and I must do it better and faster. We begin to believe that only by worry and fear and pressuring ourselves can we got the job done– whether the job is spiritual growth, making a particular decision, or accomplishing a task.

That kind of pressure doesn’t get the job done any better or faster. It simply makes you tense and fearful, and stops the creative juices. Too much pressure can take you out of the present moment. It can inhibit the life force, the flow of life within you. That kind of pressure can make so much noise in your mind that you can’t hear your heart.

We have responsibilities. We have time frames and commitments to others. And there are times when we need to get the job done. But the most pressing job can be done best when we’re relaxed. The most urgent decision can be made most clearly when we’re at peace. It doesn’t help to force ourselves to go faster, be somewhere else, or be someone we’re not. There are few things we need to do that can be enhanced by becoming tense, fearful, and worried. The more pressing the situation, the more pressing the need to be present for ourselves, and be present for each moment.

Let off some steam. Release your emotions. Clear the pathway to the heart. The answer will come. The job will get done.

Give yourself some relief. Take the pressure off.

We are not in a race. There is nothing that says once we start we have to finish this day, week, month, or even a year. I heard that some people wait that long to share Step 5 but I don't advice anyone to carry around all that 'stuff' for that long. A burden shared is a burden lightened.

I was also told that once to finish Step 3, you should immediately do a Step Four.

No one did a number on us more than we harmed ourselves. We didn't get this way over night so we can't expect to heal overnight.

Give yourself a break. As a long timer said, "I never heard that hockey took us anywhere. Not sure of his exact wording, he replaced our God with our hockey,Darth Vader, and/or football."

A good book, a walk in nature, and bubble bath, all while listening to music and then we might get in the mood to do a little step work or go to a meeting.

[MajestyJo]

The Language of Letting Go

Balance

Seek balance.

Balance emotions with reason.

Combine detachment with doing our part.

Balance giving with receiving.

Alternate work with play, business with personal activities.

Balance tending to our spiritual needs with tending to our other needs.

Juggle responsibilities to others with responsibilities to ourselves.

Balance caring about others with caring about ourselves.

Whenever possible, let’s be good to others, but be good to ourselves too.

Some of us have to make up for lost time.

Today, I will strive for balance.

This is something a struggle with. I think a lot of it is in my nature, all or nothing at all. I am an Aires. And as I like to say, "The left foot moves forward and the right foot doesn't know it is suppose to follow." Act/react something I had trouble with and God and I are working on it one day at a time.

Right now, my balance is off and it is causing my falls. I can't catch myself, I am powerless, so I need to build up my muscle tone. There is always a solution if you know where to find it. If you don't know, you have to do what I did, reach out for help,

[MajestyJo]

You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.

After Burn

How could I do it? How could I say it? Even though I meant it, I still feel ashamed, guilty, and afraid.

This is common reaction to new, exciting recovery behaviors. Anything to do with owning our power and taking care of ourselves can trigger feelings of shame, guilt, and fear.

We do not have to allow these feelings to control us. They're a backlash. They're after burn. Let them burn out.

When we start confronting and attacking feelings and messages, we will experience some after burn. The after burn is what we allowed to control us all our life - shame and guilt.

Many of us grew up with shame-based messages that it wasn't okay to take care of ourselves, be honest, be direct, and own our power with people. Many of us grew up with messages that it wasn't okay to be who we were and resolve problems in relationships. Many of us grew up with the message that what we want and need isn't okay.

Let it all burn off. We don't have to take after burn so seriously. We don't let the after burn convince us that we are wrong and don't have a right to take care of ourselves and set boundaries.

Do we really have the right to take care of ourselves? Do we really have the right to set boundaries? Do we really have the right to be direct and say what we need to say?

You bet we do.

Today, I will let any after burn which sets in after I practice a new recovery behavior, burn off. I will not take it so seriously. God, help me let go of my shame and needless fears about what will happen to me if I really start caring for and loving myself.

I am good enough...just the way I am. --Ruth Fishel

Never heard it called after burn before. That is what shame, guilt, fear can do it's number on us until we can let them go, recognize them for what they are, at that takes the power out of them. Let go and Let God is a good slogan to get rid of that burn and not leave a nasty after taste.

For many years I didn't think I was worthy of recovery. As I have shared before, my counselor when I was 6 years sober (I went for outside help), asked my why I hadn't asked for forgiveness of myself. I told her, "I never thought to ask," I was one of the sick ones. I stayed sick because of my denial.

I went to AA for my denial, I went to NA for identification, and I went to Al-Anon to find myself.

[MajestyJo]

Never heard it called after burn before. That is what shame, guilt, fear can do it's number on us until we can let them go, recognize them for what they are, at that takes the power out of them. Let go and Let God is a good slogan to get rid of that burn and not leave a nasty after taste.

For many years I didn't think I was worthy of recovery. As I have shared before, my counselor when I was 6 years sober (I went for outside help), asked my why I hadn't asked for forgiveness of myself. I told her, "I never thought to ask," I was one of the sick ones. I stayed sick because of my denial.

I went to AA for my denial, I went to NA for identification, and I went to Al-Anon to find myself.

My dad said I was more contrary than stubborn. I would argue for argument sake. i think there was a little bit of stubbornness if I look for it. What I did find out was that I didn't always have to ask for each specific time I was stubborn, I just have to ask that my stubbornness be removed. By acknowledging it, it takes away it's power.

Again it is about acceptance, I don't have to like it to accept it; but I do have to accept it if I want to grow and change. Without the acceptance, I stay stuck.

[MajestyJo]

~ EASY DOES IT ~ (A Book of Daily 12 Step Meditations) ~

INTELLECTUALIZING

Don’t intellectualize, utilize.

~ Anonymous ~

Many times we waste our minds by using them too much. A mind out of control can waste a life. Our mind can tell us we are better or less than another. It can tell us we need things we don’t, and that we should fear situations we needn’t. The power of the mind to intellectualize a life into a mess is amazing.

Our Program should be utilized, not intellectualized. We do not need to waste time debating points about the Program. We will not resolve with other intellectuals whether or not alcoholism and drug addiction are physical diseases or bad habits. The point, for us addicts, is that we will waste our life, die or go insane if we do not stay in recovery. All we have to do is look around a meeting room to see whether or not it works.

The Steps tell me HOW the Program works. The Traditions tell me why it works. My sponsor and fellow members show me THAT it works.

My co-sponsor told me, 'Stop it. If you are still intellectualizing stop it, quit trying to figure things out. Just do, don't try to figure out why or how, just do it. The program has worked for others for many years. have faith and trust the program will work for you.

[MajestyJo]

This is me. My old friend from New Zealand told me many years ago, Ms Perfection is part of your disease. Having things perfect is not the spiritual aim in recovery. We aim toward it trying to pput aside old behaviors and ways of thinking.

Progress, not perfection.

[MajestyJo]

Post Options Post by majestyjo on 17 minutes ago
Journey To The Heart

Your Heart Will Guide You Through

If you feel confused, alone, unsure of what to do next, go back to a place you can trust– your heart. In matters of work, money, love, play, go back to your heart.

The issues that arise in your life can be dealt with from the heart. You will be guided through gently, safely, with love and truth, along the path that’s best for you. Are you feeling upset? Do you wonder why things aren’t working out? Are you unsure of the map, uncertain of the next step, wondering how to untangle the mess of the past?

The answer isn’t in your head, it’s in your heart. It’s not outside of you, although sometimes we receive guidance from others. The answer you’re seeking, the guidance you’re looking for needs to feel right to you. It needs to resonate with your heart. Your heart is the center, the balance point for your emotions, your intellect, and your soul. Your heart is safe.

Go back to your heart. It will always lead you home.

They say that the longest journey we will make in recovery is from our head to our heart. For me, back to basics is going back to when I found a program for me and look at what I did then and what am I doing now. Have I left something behind that got me to where i am in today. Do I need to reinstate it.

Have I lost my heart. Am I back in my head trying to intellectualize and figure things out.

[MajestyJo]

You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.

One receives only that which is given. The game of life is a game of boomerangs. Our thoughts, deeds and words, return to us sooner or later, with astounding accuracy. --Florence Scovel Shin

Each of us can attest to the truth of this passage. During the difficult times, however, it is not uppermost in our minds that "what goes around, comes around." It feels all too easy to be justifiably resentful or to gossip, or to ignore another's presence. And the repercussions are seldom immediate. They will come, though.

Goodness is likewise repaid. Giving love, attention, respect to the individuals who share our lives and to the people who cross our paths by chance, will smooth our own passage day by day. The effects of our goodness will often be felt quickly. A smile elicits a smile. Kind thoughts bless us as well as the receiver. Life events do come full circle.

With a bit of effort, I can smile at someone today, even though I'm frowning inside. Both will be better for it.

A smile is always brighter when it comes back at you. When I deposit in my smile bank, I receive dividends. That is what makes it spiritual.

[MajestyJo]

Journey To The Heart

Make a Fresh Start

Sometimes we need to start over– in work, in love, in our place of residence, in creating our lives. Sometimes we have to start over again when we don’t want to, didn’t plan on it, and don’t think it’s fair.

We may end a relationship, move, start a new job, start a new career, or begin an entirely different part of our lives, a part so different we don’t recognize it as being connected to the earlier ones. It’s new. We’re new. Life is new. We’re starting over again.

Sometimes it feels like we’re starting from scratch. While we may feel a sense of excitement about this new beginning, we may also harbor a sense of dread. Not again. Not one more time. I can’t. I don’t want to. That reaction is understandable. We become tired, frightened. We feel uncertain.

Honor all your feelings, all your emotions. Remember all your lessons.Clear the way to the heart. Then make a decision.

It’s time for a fresh start.

Things that were important, become redundant. Things we could not live without, just lost their value. The was we looked at things had changed and things were no more.

This reminds me of geographical cures. Where ever I go, I take me with me. Let it begin with me.

[MajestyJo]

Thought for the Day

Wednesday, AUGUST 8

From the book: Touchstones
I got the blues thinking of the future, so I left off and made some marmalade. It's amazing how it cheers one up to 'shred oranges and scrub the floor.

—D. H. Lawrence


Focusing on pain or having difficulties can put us in a rut, and we neglect the other things in our lives. A simple task like making marmalade can be a brief vacation. We change our thought patterns when we change activities. The simple action of doing something pleasant might inject a new feeling into our outlook. Sharing a problem with a friend may be all we need to see it more clearly or let it go. Moving from busy physical activity to a few moments of quiet contemplation creates an inner balance. A problem that seems overwhelming at night may be met with new insight and new energy after a night's rest.

We don't have to continue feeling like victims of circumstance or remain stuck with a nagging problem. Just like changing the subject of a conversation, we can change the subject of our attention for a time. When we do, we regain our sense of hope and change our responses.

Today, I will give myself a break when I become caught or obsessed with a problem.

Osho says that doing dishes is a form of meditation. He also says that housework is too. I am yet to agree with him, I let my son do them.

[MajestyJo]

more language of letting go

You're being protected

t's easy to be thankful for answered prayers, easy to be joyfully grateful when the universe gives us exactly what we want. What's not so easy is to remember to be grateful when we don't get what we want.

John wanted an executive position in the company he worked for. He worked hard for the promotion. He prayed daily for his promotion, while giving a hundred percent of his energy and dedication to the position that he was in. But when the time came, he was passed over for his dream job. He left the company shortly after that. Today, he runs his own company with more responsibility, success, and joy than he could have ever hoped for at his old firm.

Susan, a recovering addict, wanted to date Sam more than anything. They got along great those times they ran into each other at work. He was charming, handsome, and sober, she thought. For months she tried to arrange a date with him, prayed that God would bring him into her life. But things never seemed to work out. She didn't know why. He seemed so interested in her. She was positive that the relationship was divinely ordained. She was stunned when she arrived at work one morning to find that Sam had died the night before of a drug overdose. He had been using drugs and lying about it the whole time.

Sometimes we get what we ask for. Sometimes we don't. God says, "No." Be grateful-- force gratitude; fake it if you must-- when God answers your furtive prayers by saying no.

Take the rejections with a smile. Let God's "no's" move you happily down the road. Maybe you're not being punished, after all. Maybe God's protecting you from yourself.

God, thank you for not always giving me what I think is best.

I was told that God answers prayer 3 ways. "Yes, No, and You got to be kidding."

When we trust our God, we learn to trust ourselves. How many times I heard a gentle whisper and discounted it only to find it came from my God. The Good Orderly Direction is there if I am open to receive and through it, I learn to trust myself.

[MajestyJo]

The Twelve Rewards of the Twelve Step Program

Ann C. wrote this "a number of years before"
the 1985 Internation Convention in Montreal, Canada
where she set it to tape at the Oldtimers Meeting.

She wrote it to show the contrast that can take place
in any of our lives if we will try to follow the AA principles.

We can all have Hope, instead of desperation;

Faith, instead of despair;

Courage, instead of fear;

Peace of Mind, instead of confusion;

Self-respect, instead of self-contempt;

Self-confidence, instead of helplessness;

The respect of others, instead of their pity and contempt;

A clean conscience, instead of a sense of guilt;

Real friendships, instead of loneliness;

A clean pattern of life, instead of a purposeless existence;

the love and understanding of our families, instead of their doubts and fears;

and the freedom of a happy life, instead of the bondage of an alcoholic obsession.

All this and more through AA, are we grateful enough?
Gratitude will continue the miracle of your sobriety, I found that out.

as written by Ann C. of Niles, Ohio - sober April 1, 1948
Found this on another site, not sure if it is posted here or not.

It is always good to remember to be grateful for the freedom of sobriety, especially at this time of the season.