Common Strivings

. "We recovered alcoholics

are not so much

brothers in virtue

as we are brothers

in our defects,

and in our common strivings

to overcome them."


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Bill W. Letter, 1946

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A funny thing happened at the men's Friday meeting,

a young lady showed up.

She accompanied a couple of young men

and since they all said that they needed a meeting

they were invited to participate in the meeting.

The topic was the last nine pages of the Twelfth Step.

As usual, the sage men of the fellowship shared

their experience, strength and hope on the topic

and most expressed their gratitude for sobriety,

the program and a loving Higher Power.

My friend Brian now has a drivers license

but has yet to secure some wheels.

No big deal, I enjoy his company as we talk recovery

before and after the meetings.

God bless and may all of your meetings be better ones.

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Michael E.

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Satisfaction

To pay the piper for the mindless actions,

the abuse of the body, and the torment of the soul,

caused by those wrongs we have done.

 Satisfaction is the payment of a penance

for the sins we commit.

 To the mind that thinks "it's all about me",

the mental hangover is the guilt and shame

caused by being selfish and self centered. 

To the body that abuses drugs, alcohol and food

the physical hangover is a warning  of pending doom.

 To the soul that must tolerate the mental and physical abuses, the hopelessness feels

like that of one who is adrift in the middle of an ocean on a raft with no sails or rudder.

 Forgive yourself and make the changes required to begin a better life.

  "It is of practical value to learn to like yourself. 
Since you must spend so much time with yourself 
you might as well get some satisfaction 
out of the relationship."   ~  Norman Vincent Peale

 Make restitution to others, one can not have committed mental and physical abuses

on ones self without hurting the family and friends who love us.

 Seek atonement from your Higher Power by doing the will of your Higher Power

from now and forever.

Your Higher Power has already forgiven you for all of your trespasses and your abuses.

Yesterday is history, what are you doing for yourself, others and your Higher Power , right now.

"There are some days when I think I'm going to die 
 from an overdose of satisfaction."                          ~ Salvador Dali

 Be kind, satisfaction being paid in advance. Be loving, satisfaction reciprocated.

 Be tolerant and patient, repayment of some abuses may take more than day or two.

 For those who cannot be satisfied by your efforts to do the next right thing, pray for them.

 Be the person your Higher Power wants you to be and know that satisfaction can also

be the fulfillment of a want or need.

 When you have peace of mind, improved health, and an ever increasing flow of spiritual energy,

you will have paid the piper.

Happiness is being satisfied.

Happiness is helping someone help themselves.

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ME and the Boss

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Unique

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  The one and only,

the sole soul,

not somewhat unique,

not very unique,

but just uniquely you.

Unique is the chance

that a Higher Power gives everyone, every day.

What you do with that chance is your choice.

We all are expected to do the will of a Higher Power; be kind, be loving,

be the person God wants us to be. How uniquely we do His will is our chance

to make a choice. Whatever skills and talents, energies or resources that we may

have been given by our Higher Power are more than adequate for us to do a

unique thing to make this world a better place.

"The world is an incredible unfulfilled tapestry.
And only you can fulfill that tiny space that is uniquely yours." ~ Leo Buscaglia

It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not.

Similar is not the same as.

Your happiness is the will of a Higher Power

giving you a unique chance to help make this world a better place.

Happiness is liking yourself.

"The more you like yourself,
the less you are like anyone else,
which makes you unique." ~ Walt Disney

Spirituality is your unique contact with your Higher Power.

Your spirituality is learning to identify yourself. You are not a parent, a spouse,

a job, a relationship, a career, you are a unique person whom your Higher Power

has given the opportunity to do His will. Faith is your ability to believe in God's

goodness and grace and His predetermined unique purpose for your life.

A positive attitude searches out and celebrates the unique.

Be yourself...everyone else is already taken.

Happiness is knowing how unique you are.

Happiness is helping someone help themselves.

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ME and the Boss

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Fog

. The fog comes on little cat feet.
It sits looking over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.         ~ Carl Sandburg

Whether induced by drugs or alcohol,

by unhealthy obsessive behaviors,

by a dominating parent or spouse,

by low self esteem, by your boss at work

or by your best friend,

a fog that clouds ones thinking may exist

and you do not even know it.

The fog lets other people, places and things dictate the choices you make in your life.

"There are people who want to be everywhere at once,
and they get nowhere."                                                        ~ Carl Sandburg

Who to go with, where to go, and when to go, become the decisions that you cannot make

responsibly.

I'll have one more drink; the wife never misses me anyhow.

I'll take one more pill, the nap will do me good, the kids can find their own way home.

A coffee and a doughnut (or a half dozen) will calm my upset stomach,

I will start the diet tomorrow.

Mom will be mad at me if I don't go visit her today, I can reschedule the doctors appointment.

My husband will beat me for no reason at all.

My best friend wants to go shopping today, I have some food budget money that I can use.

"Nothing happens unless first a dream."

- Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967)

Time is required to recognize the condition, time is required to let the fog lift,
 
and then it becomes the time to start growing up.

Change me, change myself and I change.

Mind, body and soul need to come out of the fog and see the light that is the will

of a Higher Power. A clear mind, along with the ability to hear and heed the advice

of friends and a healthy family, can allow you to make better choices.

A health body can give you the energy and the will to make better choices.

A happy soul, the Spirit of the Universe which is in you,

will do for you what you cannot do for yourself.

Be kind, be loving and be the person that your Higher Power wants you to be.

Pray to make your life clear of any mist or fog.

Meditate, remember to listen for the answer.

Happiness is seeing the fog lift.

Happiness is helping someone help themselves.

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ME and the Boss
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Boundries

. Love is enjoying togetherness,

having mutual respect and knowing

that a partnership is made up of two.

Boundaries are the mutual respect

part of love.

Everyone needs a boundary.

Do not let your love of another

be so intense that you suffocate the soul

of the one you love.

Do not let someone's love be so demanding

that it suffocates your soul.

Stress is the alarm that a boundary is reached. When the boundary is reached,

politely reduce the stress. To reduce the stresses communicate your feelings,

good and bad, to the one you love. Let those people who are stressing you out

know that you are having bad feelings as a result of their behaviors. To be free

of destructive stress, don't sweat the small stuff and realize that all stuff is small.

How important is it??

To reduce the stress, go to where there is love. Prayer and meditation will vanquish

all stress. Understand that mutual respect is not a license to abuse. Understand that

love is not a license to abuse. Just because you are the boss, you are married, you are

the parent, it does not give you the right of ownership to the soul and the will of another

of God's creatures. Learn that you can help grown the boundaries of the one you love.

Be mean, be nasty, be disrespectful and the boundaries of others will become very

wide and very high. Be kind, be loving, have patience and tolerance and the boundaries

of the ones you love will become narrow and low. The more you love the closer you can

get to the heart of the one's you love and lower the boundaries become.

"The spiritual meaning of love is measured by what it can do.
Love is meant to heal. Love is meant to renew.
Love is meant to bring us closer to God."      ~ Deepak Chopra

Today, when you are with others, display mutual respect.

Today, always remember, mutual respect begins with you.

Today, feel your feelings, and do not let yourself become stressed out.

Today, love.

Happiness is helping someone help themselves.

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ME and the Boss

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