When one alcoholic/addict shares with another alcoholic/addict

[MajestyJo]

...A borrowed understanding of God may do on a short haul. But in the long run, we must come to our own understanding of a Higher Power, for it is that Power which will carry us through our recovery.

Just for today: I seek a Power greater than myself that can help me grow spiritually. Today, I will examine my beliefs honestly and come to my own understanding of God.

pg. 46

The great thing for me was learning that my belief could be ever changing. My God is as He/She/It is revealed in today.

My God is Love. I need to come from a place of love for myself and others.

Written on another site in 2010

Remember people saying, "You can borrow my God until such a time as you find your own." It is okay to borrow, but you need to get back.

I also had to tell people that they could relapse if they depended on my God, because my God was personal to me.

I had a sponsee who said he wanted what I had. I co-sponsored him for three months until he found a sponsor. His sponsor relapsed, but I haven't heard from the young man from Montreal. He was a professional trained chef. I hope he is still cooking and still clean and sober. I know that he became a very firm believer in Buddhism and other oriental beliefs. He said he found them more spiritual than the teaching of the Roman Catholic religion he was raised in.

I was raised in the Gospel Halls, and found great comfort from Osho as well as Native teachings.

This is a spiritual program that makes room for all religious beliefs.

[MajestyJo]

"Perhaps the best thing of all for me is to remember that my serenity is inversely proportional to my expectations. The higher my expectations of other people are, the lower is my serenity. I can watch my serenity level rise when I discard my expectations.

I have to discard my 'rights', as well as my expectations, by asking myself, "How important is it, really? How important is it compared to my serenity, my emotional sobriety?"

~~"Big Book" Page 449 Third Edition~~
~~"Big Book" Page 417 Fourth Edition~~

A big awakening for me was realizing that I was projecting something onto someone they were not capable of giving or willing to acknowledge. It was about not putting such high expectations on myself that was important. I use to make them so high that I seldom reached them and as a result, I always felt less than and beat myself up.

When I lower the bar, it is easier to reach. When I reach it, I can always raise it again.

"The higher the expectation, the deeper the resentment. Both are an illusion created by you." - - unknown

Had problems with fibromyalgia, I had to realize that I just couldn't do what I use to do and had to learn to accept it. As it says in Big Book, the lower my expectations and the higher my acceptance, the greater my serenity. My expectations were to do it perfect, do it right, and anything less than my expectation wasn't acceptable. That lead to a lot of self abuse, which I try not to do in today.