Why Now ?

 

Why not now?

I spent many years wondering

why things happened when they did.

What evil intentions did a Higher Power

have that I was not getting the things I wanted

when I wanted them.

The Pennsylvania Deutsch have a saying ,

"We grow to early oldt, and to late schmart."

The realization that I have no control over why now

and why not now is a very sobering thought.

I guess I'm getting older, but necessarily smarter.

The only clue that I may have some influence

on the outcomes of daily events is when I can

directly trace an action to a decision I was aware of.

The decision did not have to be my choice.

It could be the choice made by anyone in the world,

know personally by me or a person I may have never met.

(I never knew George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Einstein,

or the people who domesticated the chicken, but they all have

definitely impacted the world I live in today.)

It could have been any person who lived any time during the span

of time man has been on Earth.

.

What were the many decisions made by all my ancestors that resulted

in me being born to my parents?

How many decisions have I made that I will never understand the full

consequences of those choices?

How many decisions have I made that may take many generations

to have their impact become relevant?

What genes may be passed on?

Like I have a choice??

I guess I can't solve the problems of the future.

Best thing to do: Today, I will work on making the best right decision I can make

.

Best thing to do: I will accept that which has happened, is happening and/or may happen

                                  as being beyond my power to control.

Best thing to do: Laugh, Love and Live like there is no Tomorrow.

Happiness is helping someone help themselves .

Michael_e




..

Change

There must

be a

change,

body,

mind,

and soul,

if the alcoholic wishes to recover from the disease.

 “Yes, there is …. Here and there, once in a while, alcoholics have had
what are called vital spiritual experiences.
To me these are phenomena.
They appear to be in the nature of huge emotional displacements and rearrangements.
Ideas, emotions and attitudes which were once the guiding forces
of the lives of these men are suddenly cast to one side,
and a completely new set of conceptions and motives begin to dominate them.”
  ~  Carl Jung

Motivate, one must want to be sober more than they want to be drunk.

Rearrange the emotions, better yet, just learn to have an emotional experience.

Develope and attitude of gratitude.

Have a brilliant idea, learn to listen to those who have been there and done that.

Conceptualize, there is a Higher Power and it is not you.

Most importantly, know that change is not a once and done effort,

it is a daily reprieve from the disease that is granted to you by the grace

of your Higher Power, and contingent upon your continued willingness to change.

Today, change the body, eat healthy, exercise, relax.

Today, change the mind, think about helping someone else.

Today, know that God made your soul perfect so that you may do His will

and He will give you the chance, it is your choice to do the next right thing.

Today, do not talk the change, walk the change.

Happiness is being told by others that they see a change in you.

Michael_e




..

Peace on Earth

Peace on Earth begins with me.

When I have no fear, when I have faith,

when I am not at war with myself,

when I have freedom from disquieting

or oppressive thoughts or emotions,

when I live in a state of tranquility or quiet,

when I know that the will of a Higher Power, not my will, is done,

then I shall know peace of mind and I will be enjoying Pace on Earth.

"Nothing that I can do will change the structure of the universe.
But maybe, by raising my voice I can help the greatest of all causes
-- goodwill among men and peace on earth."    ~ Albert Einstein

Be kind, smile, let the peace within you shine through.

Be loving, hug; share the peace that is within you.

Be patient and tolerant, some have yet to learn how to let peace into their souls.

Be the peaceful person your Higher Power wants you to be.

"I heard the bells on Christmas Day.
Their old familiar carols play.
And wild and sweet the words repeat.
Of peace on earth goodwill to men."    ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Today, be at peace with yourself and be the best example

of Peace on Earth that anyone will see today.

Remember to repeat this suggestion for the next 364 days.

Happiness is knowing that serenity, peace of mind  and happiness are inside jobs.

Happiness is helping someone help themselves.

Michael_e




..

Coward

"The
coward
threatens
when
he
is safe."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The abuser is a coward.

It does not matter that we abuse ourselves or others, the fear of

facing reality, of looking deep inside of ourselves and admitting

our character defects makes the coward rage, be mean,

be selfish, be self-centered , be less of  a person than what God intended.

Today, be the person God wants you to be.

God has not brought you this far to just let you fall.

Stand up, face reality, tell others how you overcame the character

defects that almost killed you, devastated your self esteem,

destroyed your family, and took everything you owned.

Grow, learn, accept, be kind, be loving, be patient and tolerant,

don't be a coward, be the person God wants you to be.

Share the love, know that yesterdays accolades

were just the foundation for today's good deeds.

Only the coward fears tomorrow for he lacks the faith

to carry on.

 Body, mind and soul, yesterday, today and tomorrow,

in balance, a Higher Power will give you the courage

to laugh, love and make this world a better place for all.

Happiness is overcoming the cowardice.

Michael_e

Wide Open

The mind, the heart, the soul,

to be able to receive,  

they must never be closed.

.

"Life does not consist mainly,
or even largely,
of facts and happenings.
It consists mainly
of the storm of thought
that is forever flowing
through one's head.?   ~ Mark Twain


That storm of thoughts going through our heads are the feelings we have when we are

confronted with reality, perceived or actual.

The negative or addictive reaction to confusion, lost or hopelessness is to shut down,

clam up, lock out or to attempt to hide.

Confused is the person whose mind is closed.

Lost is the person who cannot have feelings within their heart.

Hopeless is the person who has no faith in a Higher Power.

Wide open is the approach needed to have a life that is able to do the will of a Higher Power.

Do not let the facts confuse you,

do not believe half of what you see and none of what you hear.

Wide open is to learn to trust those who have what you want.

Peace of mind is the reward for the trusting wide open mind.

Positive feelings must occupy the heart if you want to find your way in life.

Faith is the guiding light for the hopeless soul.

Wide open is to believe that a Power Greater than ourselves

already knows what our souls desire.

Serenity is the reward for having a wide open soul that has a faith that cannot waiver.

Wide open is to allow your Higher Power to take the fear, hate,

confusion, doubt and mistrust from your mind, heart and soul.

Wide open is to change your no, into an, I know.

Wide open is to change your I might, into a, yes I will.

Wide open is to change your I can't, into a, yes I did.

Wide open is acceptance.

Happiness is the reward for having your heart wide open to hope.

Michael_e




..

I Am What I Am

"Looking foolish
does the spirit good.
The need not to look foolish
is one of youth's many burdens;
as we get older
we are exempted
from more and more,
and float upward
in our heedlessness,
singing Gratia Dei
sum quod sum."
~ John Updike

Gratia Dei, sum quod sum.
Thank you God, I am what I am.





Today, be kind, be generous, share the love, be patient and tolerant of the foolish
and know that if you and they wish to , you can chose to outgrow the foolishness
by just becoming the person God wants you to be.

Body, mind and spirit, pray to your Higher Power to help you keep balance in your life
and you will avoid the foolishness of being extreme.

Body building, mind building, or spirit building are only good to the point where they
are in balance and they can better allow you to do the will of your loving Higher Power.

Today, do not become muscle bound, do not become intellectually stagnant,
do not become overly pious, just become the person your dog thinks you are.

Happiness is knowing I am what I am.

Michael_e

Snap, Crackle and Pop

No, not the cereal, but you, your body, your mind and your soul.

Today, do your normally good things, do your normally

positive things, but just add a little snap, crackle and pop

into the routine.

Think of others, think outside of the box, and think

that you can add that little bit of sparkle to this world.

Today, move the body, pounce on the opportunity,

eagerly search out the task that will make this world

a better place.

Today, put some thrust behind your faith and share the

goodness that has become a part of your positive life.

Be kind, put some pep into your step, smile and make the world smile with you.


"You cannot do a kindness too soon,
for you never know how soon it will be too late."                ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

A spark of kindness can kindle a fire of love.

Be loving, put some pizzazz into your heart, tell everyone

you see today that God loves them and so do you.


"Hitch your happiness to things no one can take away.
Do something you love that requires nothing but your heart.
Let your joy arise from within."                                                  ~ Buddha

Be patient and tolerant, but do it with élan.


"To be social is to be forgiving."                                                 ~ Robert Frost

Today, be the person your Higher Power wants you to be and show the world that

snap, crackle and pop can carry a spiritual message just as well as the meek and pious.

Pop the balloon, pop the question, pop in for a visit, be spontaneous, make them laugh,

and show everyone that life is to be enjoyed, not just endured.

"The good man is the friend of all living things."                   ~ Mohandas Gandhi

Today, be a good person and do not be ashamed if everyone notices.
 
Today, believe that your brand of goodness can be spread

to a larger market if you put some snap, crackle and pop into the message.

Happiness is having an attitude of yes I can, with oomph.

Happiness is helping someone help themselves.

Michael_e

Hitting the Wall

I’m rolling along, minding my own business, when out of

nowhere, there is this huge wall that appears in the middle

of my path.

This very, very tall wall, the largest psychological block

ever known to man, appears out of nowhere to stymie

all of my ego, my self esteem, my motivation,

my goals and aspirations, my reasons for living.



"In the middle of the journey of my life

I came to myself within a dark wood,

where the straight way was lost." ~ Dante Aligheri



Helpless, the wall denies us  the ability to think straight, has us rapt in our own little world,

we are desperate to move, but we do not know which foot to put out first, we do not know

which direction to head off towards, questioning every thought that could put us on a track

to find the solution that would put us around, over or through that wall.

Pray.

Do something for someone else.

Make a gratitude list.

Clear the wreckage of the past.      "Sorry" does not cut it.

Be willing to listen.

Start over, today is the first day of the rest of your life.

Afraid that you will go down the same path again, do not hesitate, only this time look around you

at all the path has to offer, do not concentrate on just the selfish carrot that is in front of your nose.

Believe that your Higher Power put that wall in front of you for a purpose.

The wall appears when one tries to do only their will, not the will of their Higher Power.

Remember, the wall is only a figment of your imagination, move a muscle, change your mind.

Remember, getting around the proverbial wall does not have to be an all day affair, do it now.

Alcohol and drugs, or any other addictive device, will never make the wall go away.

When you come to, come down, or sober up the wall will still be there.

Balance in your life is the answer to a straight path that is kind, loving, patient and tolerant,

and devoid of walls.

Today, keep your mirror handy and before you blame anyone else for building your

psychological walls, look into the mirror and see how perfect you think you are.

Today, let a friend carry your mirror, and remember it is called constructive criticism,

a very good tool for tearing down walls.

Today, by doing the will of your Higher Power, the only wall you should see

is the one in the rear view mirror.

"Thus the sovereign voluntary path to cheerfulness,

 if cheerfulness be lost,

 is to sit up cheerfully and to act and speak

as if cheerfulness were already there."   ~ William James

Ignore the wall, your mind created it, your mind can make it disappear.

Happiness is never finding a wall in the middle of your path.

Happiness is helping someone help themselves.

Michael_e

GIVING

LANGUAGE OF LETTING GO -

DECEMBER 13TH

Submitted by vktnewairagain on December 13th, 2010
GIVING

"Don't be afraid of giving. For a while, we may need to back off from giving as we learn to discern the difference between healthy giving and caretaking. This is a temporary spot. We need to give and recieve. What is healthy giving? It is giving based on a desire to do it rather than from a sense of guilt, pity, shame, or obligation. It is giving with no strings attached. Giving is part of the chain of giving and recieving. We can learn to give in healthy ways; we can learn to give in LOVE.


Today, God, guide me in my giving. Help me give to others in healthy ways. Help me give what feels right, what feels good, what feels clean, and what I can afford to give.

Peace out...Valerie

Michael_e....
This is the first time that I have used my blog to carry a message from another writer.
Valerie is a new friend that writes from the heart and blogs "In The Rooms"
a very good, wonderful, nice, cozy, warm, supporting site, that can help everyone...

http://www.intherooms.com/

Apologize

An apology is a poor substitute for an excuse.

Sorry is not an apology.

"To apologize is to lay the foundation
for a future offense."   ~ Ambrose Bierce

Be kind, no apology needed.

Be loving, friends and family will help you change.

Be the person your Higher Power wants you to be,

God does not make mistakes.

God will give you the chance, make no apologies for

choosing to do the next right thing..

"It is good rule in life to never to apologize.
The right sort of people do not want apologies,
and the wrong sort take a mean advantage of them."   
~ P. G. Wodehouse

Those who seek an apology are those mean people

who want to hold your supposed offense over your head.

Be patient and tolerant of those who make demands.

Never apologize for the mistakes of others,

you will become guilty by association.

An apology is giving someone else the reins to your feelings.

"Never apologize for showing feeling.
When you do so, you apologize for the truth."   ~ Benjamin Disraeli

If you make a mistake that offends, make amends,

change, make restitution, but do not apologize.

Today, be happy, no apology necessary.

Today, laugh and love, and when the world tries

to apologize to you for their ignorance, accept

the apology and be the bigger person for it.

Happiness is loving life, with no apology required.

Happiness is helping someone help themselves.

Michael_e

The Turning Point

It was not until I was fifty years old, while I sat relating my

life to a new friend that was my first sponsor in AA, that I

realized how dysfunctional my entire life had been, how

my backward, addictive, stinking thinking had controlled

my life.

Before I picked up that first drink as a freshman in college

I had spent the first seventeen years of my life going in

opposite directions and/or smaller circles, compared to all

the kids that I grew up with, those whom I later learned

were almost normal.  I was the loner, I did not fit in,

my temper, my depression, and my emotions in general

did not fit what the Dr. Spock book said about how a

child should behave.

When my mother said, “Why don’t you act like your

 brother and sister?” I took it to mean that she loved

them more than me and I carried that unfounded idea

that I was not lovable to a whole new level of paranoia

for many years and it allowed me to build a resentment

of mountainous proportions.

.

Thank God for Alcoholics Anonymous . 

I am not sure how I found the rooms of AA because at the time I went to my first meeting I had no

idea what an alcoholic was, nor did the thought ever occur to me that I might be one. There are no coincidences, there are only God incidences.  The truth is that the message a Higher Power whishes

one to receive will be given, as many times as is necessary and the only requirement is that one learns

to listen for the message and hold no resentments against the messenger. One often learns the will of a

Higher Power through the words and actions of others, whether they be positive or negative lessons,

does not make a difference to your Higher Power, the message is that we learn from every experience

to improve our conscious contact with the God of our understanding.

The message to be carried is,

“you do not have to live that way any more, because there is a better way .”

There was no turning point that I can recall which could be specified as “the” moment, day, bright light,

or burning bush, that announced to my consciousness that I was an alcoholic of the worst ilk and that

I had spent nearly half a century in the clutches of an addictive personality.

The awareness of my alcoholic condition was a slow series of nudges from a Higher Power and they

were usually only partially conscious aha moments that came to me during meetings, (before, during and after) with other recovering people.

The path to serenity, peace of mind, spirituality and humility is and will always be a

journey to be enjoyed, one day at a time.

JUST TURN TOWARDS YOUR HIGHER POWER

Please be included in my prayers for all of my sober friends that their turning points may continue

to always move towards the better.

Michael_e

,,

Feeling Good

"If merely

'feeling good'

could decide,

drunkenness

would be the

supremely valid

human experience."

William James





Physically, drunkenness produces hangovers and dead brain cells.

Emotionally, drunkenness is selfish and self-centered.

Morally, drunkenness makes one do anything for love.

Spiritually, drunkenness hides the will of a loving Higher Power.

The supremely valid human experience is to learn and enjoy success,

a success that is the result of doing the will of a loving Divine Creator.

Today be a success by not drinking or drugging.

Happiness is learning that "feeling good" comes from success.

Happiness is helping someone help themselves.

Michael_e

Sanity

The drunk and the dope fiend are insane.


The only logic to putting a poison

into ones body must be insanity.

Normal people smell alcohol

and they throw up, up-chuck, barf, puke

or whatever you want to call regurgitation,

and they will refuse to allow

the liquid to pass through, over or around their lips.

The alcoholic holds their nose, acquires a taste, and drinks as much as

they can consume and then they throw up, blaming it on the peanuts, the

pretzels, an empty stomach or a thousand other excuses, but never the drink.

Then the alcoholic takes a shower, brushes the teeth, takes a nap

and starts the insanity all over again, because it was fun, it made me feel like

I belonged, I danced better, I sang better, I felt no pain...

until the the next morning when the guilt and shame have returned

because I can't remember what, who, where, or why I did what I did.

Einstein, "Insanity is repeating old behaviors, expecting different results."

Recovery is being restored to normal thinking, which hopefully is sane.

Step one, don't drink, don't drug.

Step two, learn about the disease of alcoholism, addiction, the only

disease that tells you that you are not sick, the disease that wants you to

isolate, be alone, push away anyone who loves you and to kill yourself.

Step three, find a friend who has been there and done that, a person

who has recovered, a person who knows how insane your thinking is,

a person who will love you until you can learn to love yourself.

Step four, find a Higher Power; until your ego learns that you are not God,

that you are not invincible, that you are not terminally unique,

that you are not bullet proof, that your stuffed feelings are not fragile,

or you will become nothing but a dry drunk whose misery and suffering

will take you back to the drink or drug.

Step five, change something, change anything, change everything,

as suggested, people, places and things and most importantly,

change your attitude.

Steps six, seven, eight and nine, clean house and repair the wreckage of the past.

To make amends is not just to say you are sorry, it means to change,

to become the person God wants you to be, to be responsible and sane.

Steps ten and eleven, seek to maintain a conscious contact with a Higher Power

and learn to live one day at a time, no regrets for yesterdays history,

no worry for tomorrows mystery, maintaining a spiritual condition

that will keep you sane.

Step twelve, work with another drunk, carry the message of change,

and know that insanity is always waiting in the wings, doing push-ups

knowing that those who do not keep moving forward can have their

stinking thinking, suffering and misery returned to them in an instant.

Learn to have an attitude of gratitude, know that your Higher Power

needs you to carry the recovery message to the still sick and suffering,

alive, not as a statistic.

God will give you the chance, the choice is yours.

When you want to stay sober more than you want to drink,

you will have been restored to normal thinking.

When others want what you have, serenity, peace of mind, happy,

joyous and free from guilt and shame, a life beyond our wildest dreams,

you will have been restored to sanity.

 "Sanity is a madness put to good use."  ~ George Santayana

Happiness is helping someone help themselves.

Michael_e