Pause For Thought

[MajestyJo]

Today 12-31-2008

Today is not just another day. No day is just another day.Every day is a day of hope, love, joy and prosperity......physically, mentally and spiritually.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life and also the last day of the rest of your life. So, every day is the beginning of a new year.What you make of it, is up to you.You are given a new chance each and every day to make it right.

Embrace each day as though it is your last.... who knows... it just might be !!!Scary thought , but true. So, live each day as if it was your last and enjoy each and every moment and all those that come in and go out of your life.

Make your own sunshine !!!And you will hel
p others to make theirs without even trying.Smile from your heart and soul and you will touch thousands untold ... especially strangers who wander and need just a glimmer of hope.This may even be family and friends who don't want to be a burden, a bother or any trouble at all.

Today and every day is another chance to get it right !!!
I wish for each and everyone of you love, peace, joy, harmony, prosperity and all the things that you wish for yourself.Learn your lessons so that you can move on and continue to grow and learn.Stop making excuses or pointing fingers, or feeling sorry for others and for yourself.The time is now if ever there was one to take a stand to be who you really are.

Your life is your life.

Embrace it, love yourself and this will be a gift to all those that love you, know you and come in contact with you.
Take a moment every day to breeeeeeathe in Divine Love & Light.Just Breathe ......

God Bless

Lordiel

Received from a beautiful lady who does spiritual paintings and talks.

[MajestyJo]

After reading this,You will never look at a deck of cards in the same way.

Here is a new way to look at a deck of cards!! For me, there is always a spiritual gift to be found. There is always positive to be found even in the most negative situation. Nothing is ALL positive, there will be negative traits if we go looking for them. So often that is what we focus on, finding fault, listening to old tapes, and blocking our minds from what could be and not willing to learn a lesson or experience a new awakening and enlightenment.

Deck of Cards

It was quiet that day, the guns and the mortars, and land mines for some reason hadn't been heard.

The young soldier knew it was Sunday, the holiest day of the week.

As he was sitting there, he got out an old deck of cards and laid them out across his bunk.

Just then an army sergeant came in and said, 'Why aren't you with the rest of the platoon?'

The soldier replied, 'I thought I would stay behind and spend some time with the Lord.'

The sergeant said, 'Looks to me like you're going to play cards.'

The soldier said, 'No, sir . You see, since we are not allowed to have Bibles or other spiritual books in this country, I've decided to talk to the Lord by studying this deck of cards.'

The sergeant asked in disbelief, 'How will you do that?'

'You see the Ace, Sergeant? It reminds me that there is only one God.

The Two represents the two parts of the Bible, Old and New Testaments.

The Three represents the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost.

The Four stands for the Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John .

The Five is for the five virgins there were ten but only five of them were glorified.

The Six is for the six days it took God to create the Heavens and Earth.

The Seven is for the day God rested after making His Creation.

The Eight is for the family of Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives -- the eight people God spared from the flood that destroyed the Earth.

The Nine is for the lepers that Jesus cleansed of leprosy He cleansed ten, but nine never thanked Him.

The Ten represents the Ten Commandments that God handed down to Moses on tablets made of stone.

The Jack is a reminder of Satan, one of God's first angels, but he got kicked out of heaven for his sly and wicked ways and is now the joker of eternal hell.

The Queen stands for the Virgin Mary.

The King stands for Jesus, for he is the King of all kings.

When I count the dots on all the cards, I come up with 365 total, one for every day of the year.

There are a total of 52 cards in a deck; each is a week - 52 weeks in a year.

The four suits represent the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.

Each suit has thirteen cards -- there are exactly thirteen weeks in a quarter.

So when I want to talk to God and thank Him, I just pull out this old deck of cards and they remind me of all that I have to be thankful for.'

The sergeant just stood there. After a minute, with tears in his eyes and pain in his heart, he said, 'Soldier, can I borrow that deck of cards?'

Please let this be a reminder and take time to pray for all of our soldiers who are being sent away, putting their lives on the line fighting.

Prayer for the Military

In God We Trust!

[MajestyJo]

GOD'S HOTEL



I checked you in again last night, my child,

Because it hurt me so bad to see you out there running wild.

All tired and sucked up you appeared to me

But put a mirror in front of you, and you can't even see;

That you are a number among the walking dead,

Sores all over your body, confusion in your head.

Jail is not the place you want to be

But it's my hotel, where I can work on thee you see.

You weren't just arrested, you were rescued from yourself.

I had to bring you back here, to put your habit on the shelf.

Give you some rest, some food, and some talk

Encourage you and love you, before I let you walk.

Don't be like a mule that's led around by a bit,

Just listen to your warnings, and I can help you quit.

This could be the last time you have to come into this place,

Just listen to me the Creator Of All with tears upon my face...

Original Source Unknown - posted on FB's Addict's Mom

[MajestyJo]

FILL UP YOUR TANK

"How do we keep our inner fire alive? Two things, at minimum, are needed: an ability to appreciate the positives in our life - and a commitment to action. Every day, it's important to ask and answer these questions: 'What's good in my life?' and 'What needs to be done?'"
-- Nathaniel Branden

I have found there's a very different quality to my action when it springs from a sense of abundance as opposed to a feeling of being impoverished.

When I sense I'm not good enough or that I don't have enough, I feel driven to be better and to have more. Whatever I do takes effort - there's an element of struggle involved. And this makes sense because there's no fuel - I'm working on an empty tank.

When I'm feeling abundant, I act out of my own inspiration. I'm rich and full and so the energy flows naturally. This action at times feels almost effortless.

It's important to remember that we don't need money to be abundant. All we need is appreciation of all that we have.

" ...what I focus on in life is what I get. And if I concentrate on how bad I am or how wrong I am or how inadequate I am, if I concentrate on what I can't do and how there's not enough time in which to do it, isn't that what I get every time? And when I think about how powerful I am, and when I think about what I have left to contribute, and when I think about the difference I can make on this planet, then that's what I get. You see, I recognize that it's not what happens to you; it's what you do about it."
-- W. Mitchell

*** Tackle your financial challenges holistically!

From Higher Awareness used with permission

[MajestyJo]

HARD WORK

"Work should be in order to live. We don't live in order to work. That shift in awareness is necessary."
-- Matthew Fox

What are your beliefs around work? Do you believe it's necessary to work hard to earn a living? No pain, no gain? Do you believe women's work is never done? That play is a waste of time?

While there are merits to the work ethic, over-work takes a serious toll on the quality of our lives. Our ability to contribute to life requires us to have a sense of balance, joy, playfulness, time to stop and smell the flowers.

"Learning to let go of the ways we inadvertently and unconsciously contribute to our own pain is the key to finding radiant physical and emotional health."
-- Ingrid Bacci

"To do great work a man must be very idle as well as very industrious."
-- Samuel Butler

"The true object of all human life is play."
-- G.K. Chesterton

[MajestyJo]

Love -or- Hate

“Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life;
love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.”
- -Martin Luther King, Jr

In recovery, I have learned to not only love myself but like myself too. I may hate parts of me on any given day, but on the whole, I do love myself.

There are very few people in my life that I can honestly say that I hate. I may hate what they are doing, but don't hate them as a person. It helps to look at them as a child of God, and they are deserving of recovery even though they may choose not to go that route. All I can do is pray for them.

I know that my God loves me. I know He loves you too!

[MajestyJo]

Befriend yourself

"Self-contempt never inspires lasting change."
-- Jane R. Hirschmann & Carol H. Munter

The journey to know ourselves ideally brings us to self-understanding and acceptance. It is NOT a quest for self-improvement.

When we open to love and accept ourselves, no matter what, we allow our innate love, power and wisdom to emerge naturally.

"Who you really are is enough."
-- Oriah Mountain Dreamer

[MajestyJo]

We are co-creators of our own universe. Often our thoughts are left unsaid and they end up stewed and boiling around in our head and they come out in ways that are better left unsaid or they are spewed out in anger and resentment.

What we can cook up in our own head can be astonishing, especially when we are using, any substance, not just food!

We try to manipulate, intellectualize, change things around so that they are of our own thinking and the way we want them to be, rather than the reality of what they are.

We often embellish by adding things on so they sound good, or we make them the way we think others would have us do, or we leave them unseasoned, and they come out uninteresting and totally blah! Or they are so hot and spicy, they aren't edible and something others don't want to partake of.

We often disguise them in a way, so that things are hidden and we are trying to get our own way and we don't want people to really know that they originated with someone else, rather than taking ownership for our actions and words.

We say things which we try to make good so we will be accepted, loved, affirmed and validated.

I think it is called being human. But with my Higher Power, I no longer have to listen to my Lower Power, and I can change for the good.

[MajestyJo]

This is a program of reflection. What we put out, we get back, not always from the same source.

I found myself in the rooms of recovery. I was told to take what I found there, apply it to my life and take it into my home and the community.

Sometimes when things get dark, I know there is a solution through the 12 Steps and Traditions of recovery. I recovered my relationship with my God, and no matter where He leads, I know He will see me through it.

Isaiah 54:10
Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

[MajestyJo]

I came across this little prayer, it really defines God in my life..and reminds me that God is always there..

I am with you

In the springtime of your life, when joy is new

And when summer brings the fullness of your faith
I am there with you

I am with you in the autumn of your years, to turn to gold

Every memory of yesterdays, to banish winter's cold.

I am with you in the sunshine, when your world glows warm and bright.

I am with you when life's shadows bring long hours of endless night.

I am with you every moment, every hour of every day..

Go in peace upon life's journey, for I am with you all the way.

Peace, Schell

God is there!

[MajestyJo]

Scriptures that offer encouragement in your daily life and provide inspiration and strength as you cope with life's challenges.

Psalm 119:50
My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.

Psalm 120:1
I call on the LORD in my distress, and he answers me.

[MajestyJo]

God called and said, Solitude is...

When we cease to fear loneliness
and begin to cherish and use our solitude to advantage,
we have come a long way.
We realize a little solitude is necessary
to think and to try to work some of the Steps.
In solitude, we take our inventories.
In solitude, we admit the exact nature of our wrongs.
In solitude, our spirits seek that Power greater than we are;
in solitude, we seek through prayer and meditation to be aware of God's will for us.

- Came To Believe . . ., p. 109

Grace is a wonderful quality of the Spirit. When it is manifested in our lives, it brings the energy that uplifts our vibrations and clears the inner barriers.

To be in a state of grace is to put into practice the certainty that if we knock the door will be opened, and if we ask it will he be given unto us.

[MajestyJo]

I cannot change the way I am,
I never really try,
God made me different and unique,
I never ask him why.
If I appear peculiar,
There's nothing I can do,
You must accept me as I am,
As I've accepted you.
God made a casting of each life,
Then threw the old away,
Each child is different from the rest,
Unlike as night from day.
So often we will criticize,
The things that others do,
But, do you know, they do not think,
The same as me and you.
So God in all his wisdom,
Who knows us all by name,
He didn't want us to be bored,
That's why we're not the same.

~Author unknown~

[MajestyJo]

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Along the road well travelled, there are many pity potholes.

Not sure about the rest of you, but this speaks to me from all directions. I think all members from whatever fellowship has been on a pity pot and often let it grow into a party, most times it is a party of one, although I have been where there have been two and three. Not a nice place, and not somewhere you want to stay long at, you say your hellos and then a quick goodbye if you are lucky. If you look at the other participants, you can see your reflection and you will not want any part of it, when you are alone, you tend to stay there longer.

When pity comes out, it is time for a gratitude list. As my sponsor said, "If you have one hand in the hand of your Higher Power and the other hand in the hand of a newcomer, you have no hands left to pick up. What are you doing, bring your Higher Power to the pity pot or did you leave Him behind? Mind you better the hole than the pot!

Many years ago, I got snowed in at work and couldn`t get home and a friend let me have a bed for the night. I had to go out and buy a few essentials and I was not a happy camper. On the third day, I went in to see my boss for a price check, and he said, `Go away, I don`t have time for that.` I told him that I needed it right away and not to give me a hard time, I wasn`t in a good mood because I had to wear the same clothes three days in a row. He replied, `That isn`t my fault. Get off the pity pot, you probably have one of those old out houses out back.` I said, `No, that was pushed over last Halloween.` He burst out laughing and gave me my price. He was very brisk and his bark was worse than his bite. You just couldn`t let him intimidate you.

When I think of pity pot, I think of the two-seater we had when I was growing up on the farm.

[MajestyJo]

All we are asked to do is try. The failure comes when we don't pick ourselves up and try again. Don't give up until the miracle happens.

Psalm 120:1
I call on the LORD in my distress, and he answers me