I heard a great talk today about the limitations we place on ourselves. The speaker insisted, and I agree, that our vision of who God is and what can be accomplished with God as the "bus driver," is far smaller than the reality. We've likely been doubting our capabilities on many fronts for years: avoiding a particular sport, perhaps; or being afraid to apply for a different job, sure we couldn't get it or "do it" if we got it, or even approaching a person we'd like to become friends with. Because we let our doubts imprison us, we fail to become the men and[...]
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karencasey
3 I heard a great talk last night by a long term recovering alcoholic and addict. He went through the steps and shared his journey, making it a talk that could be appreciated by both the old-timer and the newcomer. There was humor along with humility. A proper amount of pride in his successes but he wasn't prideful. And he shared a few really wonderful one-liners that I will cherish for a long time. One of them was that having faith means no longer waiting for the other shoe to drop. I had never thought of it that way but that's not only a wonderful image but a[...]
By the time you read this the elections will be well over and the newly chosen members of Congress will be cheering the results. The losers will be licking their wounds, wondering how they could have prevented their losses while the pendulum continues to swing. And there's good in that. It keeps both sides on their toes. Unfortunately, of late, it has made both sides mean and vindictive too. This blog isn't intended to be "a for or against" the outcome, but rather a plea for civility as we go forward. There has been far too little of it for the last numbe[...]
How I saw myself and how I felt were in the hands of others for the better part of the first four decades of my life. I "danced" around the actions and the opinions of every one, desperately trying to be accepted and not rejected. What had made me that way is likely owing to many things. I wasn't raised in a household where love was freely expressed, not between my parents or toward us four kids. I'm convinced, now that I've matured and have thirty-five years of recovery under my belt, that my parents felt unworthy thus couldn't pass on what they really ha[...]
On Wednesday night there was a memorial service for a friend who died a week earlier. I hadn't seen Rita all summer because of her health and my schedule, but we go back many years. She was one of the first women I hung out with when I came into the 12 step rooms. Her presence in my life then was significant in so many ways. She made me laugh, a lot, and I needed to learn how to laugh again. She saw the screwy side of life with such clarity. And she was able to cut to "the chase" when a situation called for it. The memory that stands out most for me[...]
I can still recall, as though it were yesterday, complaining bitterly to my early sponsor that nothing seemed to be changing in my life. I was still filled with anxiety. I was still obsessed with what others might be thinking of me. I was still doubting that I'd ever feel like so many of my new companions seemed to feel. Getting up every morning felt like a chore. I was just plain scared. I didn't want to drink but I didn't know how to live in my skin. And she had the gall to say, "When did you last write a gratitude list?" To be honest, I wasn't su[...]
Circle of Family and Friends - You and Your Personal Community, Reflections in the Mirror - You and Yourself
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The presence of peace is an inside job. . .
I was with a group of friends last night and our discussion centered around the attainment of peace. It's illusive, for sure. We can want it desperately and even be living it, but in the blink of an eye the ego can high-jack us into making judgments and all peace is gone. The antidote is to keep turning our judgments over to our Higher Power to whisk them away. If we surrender them, peace will be our reward. If . . . One member of our group mentioned seeing a bumper sticker recently that read: World Peace Flows From Inner Peace. I like that. In fa[...]
I don't know about you but I never let anyone know who I really was for the first 35 years of my life. I did my darndest to control whatever interpretation you could possibly have of me. I did this by trying to blend in with your opinions. Or remaining quiet if I had no idea what you were talking about. For sure, keeping a low profile in most public settings if there was a chance I'd be singled out for an "educated" viewpoint was a fall-back position. The insanity was that I both wanted the attention of others and yet was deathly afraid that if they "looke[...]
I love this simple reminder from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. It has been the perfect response to sponsees who are fretting about their future. And, it is the best reminder I, too, can utilize for my own occasional fretting. I say occasional because I seldom get overwhelmed about the future these days. All I really have to do is take a moment to recall what God has done for me in the past week. I know that my needs, every day, are being attended to. And when I extend my vision far into the past, the examples of how God revealed himself are cou[...]
Nary a one of you reading this is stumped by how to finish this sentence. No matter what path we have traveled to this point in our journey, we have heard that as certain doors close, new ones always open. It's a principle we can count on. And the new doors are always leading us to the next better place for us to be to experience that next level of knowledge or a deeper spiritual awareness or perhaps a detour that, at first, seems like a wrong turn but ends up being exactly where we had always hoped to go but hadn't dared to reveal to any one. The real[...]