You are no doubt familiar with the idea that we must give away that which we want to receive. It's a common thread woven into many spiritual disciplines. And it might not have been easy to wrap your mind around when you first heard it. At least it wasn't easy for me. My parents had lived through the depression, thus I had been raised with the idea of scarcity and giving some thing away, regardless of what it was, meant that we/I had less for myself. Coming to understand the power of giving and then experiencing the abundance, in some form, that returns t[...]
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Your Experience, Strength and Hope
7 I am like a kid at Christmas. As I've said already in an earlier entry, I love the lights, (and I have mine lit all day), the spirit of giving, the carols on the radio and the joy that most people feel at the holiday season. I even love visiting the malls and hearing the carols playing through the loud speaker system. But there are millions who fail to find the joy in the season because of their personal circumstances, circumstances that are unfortunate through no fault of their own. I watched on the nightly news this evening a wonderful story about a young[...]
I am so often struck by the timeliness of the messages "I receive" at meetings. My sponsor has said many times that when I am ready, I will hear the message, or the explicit direction from God, that I have been prepared for. I used to doubt her, but not any more. I do hear exactly what I need to hear but I have to show up in the places I have been called to be, to hear the message. Isolating myself from others hasn't appealed to me for years but it used to. I wanted you to express your desire for my company. And I felt sorry for myself if you didn't.[...]
Do you want to increase your own hope? Try these suggestions. They are guaranteed to work. Or your money back!! (Get a small notebook that you can carry with you everywhere and be ready to use it) 1. Begin noting how others on your path demonstrate their hope. Do this for a month. 2. Keep track of the times you extended love/hope to someone else over a seven day period. What effect does this extension have on you? 3. Practicing gratitude cultivates hope and a changed heart. At the end of each day for thirty days, write about your experiences. What change[...]
1. Ask God for help. 2. Let go! 3. Surrender. 4. Do one thing to inspire joy in some one else’s life each day. And make a note of this in a small note book. 5. Choose kindness with every response and feel it change your heart. 6, When feeling hopeless, choose a fond memory to change your perception. 7. Make a gratitude list to help you recall the good that has already happened. 8. Praying for others will change our hearts. 9. Peaceful acts create more hope in us and the world. 10. Using a gentle voice, always, can create more hope in us and others too[...]
I woke up this morning so happy to be alive and so grateful that I have been given, through my books and personal interactions at workshops and lectures, millions of opportunities to connect with all of you. In 1974 when I first entered a 12 Step room in Minneapolis, MN, I was terrified and hopeless. I couldn't fathom that I'd ever feel the way all of you looked that night. The laughter didn't penetrate, at first. I was convinced there was nothing to laugh about. But the message to come back got through to me. And I have been coming back ever since. A[...]
I heard a talk by author and speaker Earnie Larson a few decades ago and he said, so simply, "Wherever you go, there you are." I had never heard this phrase before and was rocked by it. It was so simple and yet so profound. I had only been sober about three years at the time and was pretty confused about many of the ideas I was being introduced to on this path. At first I thought he was making a joke and then I let the statement have its proper impact. Wow. I had been switching people, meetings, places, relationships and philosophies all of my life, e[...]
It's far too easy to get pulled off course, I think. The myriad moods of the many people we encounter on a daily basis, if allowed to control how we feel in the moment, will keep us unsettled and unfulfilled for most of the day. It's no fun to live in this kind of turmoil. But the habit is hard to break. For many, it begins in childhood. Perhaps a very demanding parent prevented you from having an identity that was separate, in some respects, from the family. What dad believed, every one had to believe. Or you had a teacher or a boss that belittled you fo[...]
I am thinking about relationships this morning in preparation for a talk I am giving tomorrow evening. It's good to be reminded of the easily accessible tools that can make our relationships more productive, more peaceful and more enjoyable, moment by moment. In fact, I have come to believe that our greatest lesson in this life is learning how to live peacefully with our fellow-travelers. Those who show up on our path didn't make their appearance "accidentally." We have work to do together or we wouldn't be encountering each other. Does this seem like a s[...]
I just returned from a wonderful week end retreat in Nags Head, North Carolina, with 160 fabulous women. I led the group through a series of presentations on a journey for creating more hope in our lives. And true to form, my own level of hope for making the changes, creating the possibilities for further enlightenment that I desire, materialized. What we give away does come back to us, ten-fold. And what we share with others we generally need to be reminded of ourselves. This is an axiom that has rung true in my life ever since introduced to it in the room[...]