'G' TOPIC DISCUSSIONS

[majestyjo]

[majestyjo]

[majestyjo]

[majestyjo]

[majestyjo]

Journey To The Heart

January 4

Go with What You Know

The commercial on the radio sang to me as I drove across the Southern California desert. “Don’t just go with the flow. Go with what you know.”

Sometimes answers come from outside us. The universe is abundant in its supply of guidance for us. It can’t wait to share its signals, teachings, lessons, and words of wisdom. It is eager to give us guidance if we just watch, wait, and listen. Sometimes this guidance comes from people we know, other times from people we barely know. But even when this help comes from those we are closest to and love most, the answer must resonate with that place deep inside us. It must resonate with our core. It must ring true for us.

Listen to those around you. Listen to the guidance of the universe and all the voices it uses to speak to you. But always trust yourself. Trust your inner voice. Trust what you know, because ultimately your path will bring you back to that place. No matter what you do, if it’s not right for you, you will need to return to your center, your place of peace, and figure out the action that is right.

It’s good to go with the flow. But it’s better to go with what you know– what you know to be true for you. Trusting yourself is the ultimate lesson. It’s where all the guidance leads.

[majestyjo]

Really like this. Before recovery, I couldn't trust that inner voice, it was generally my disease talking and I was at dis-ease because I didn't know. In recovery, I learned to trust my Higher Self. As my sponsor said, "If you are doubting yourself, you are doubting your Higher Power if you have done Step Three, and made a decision to put your life into the Care of your God.

[majestyjo]

Silent gratitude isn't much use to anyone. ~G.B. Stern

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice. ~Meister Eckhart

Gratitude is the best attitude. ~Author unknown

[caressa222]

January 26

Wisdom for Today

There is an old Rolling Stone's song, "I can't get no – satisfaction." I used to feel this way all the time when I was using. I never could get enough. Even in early recovery, when people would ask me what my drug of choice was, I would respond by saying, "MORE!" The truth was that nothing seemed to bring me satisfaction. My drinking and drug use stopped bringing me pleasure long before I stopped using. Even being clean and sober didn't seem like it was enough. Something was definitely missing.

I came to discover, like many people who have stayed clean and sober, that abstinence is not enough. There is a whole lot more to recovery than simply stopping the use. The Twelve Step program teaches us a new way of living. We begin with developing skills to stay out of harm's way. We then find that we need to grow spiritually. We take a good look at ourselves and make changes that are needed in how we perceive the world and how we behave in it. We rebuild our lives and fix what is broken, particularly our relationship with others. We continue to do regular checks on our functioning. We seek to know God, and we carry the message. We become new people. Am I finding satisfaction in my life now?

Meditations for the Heart

The heart is a crazy, mixed up part of who we are. Our emotions, our desires and our will all reside deep within our heart. In addiction the wiring of the heart gets short-circuited and continues to give us grief. The reality is that we cannot go back and rewire our will, our emotions and desires. This is the part of who we are that can get us in the most trouble. In the program there is a slogan that says, "Think, Think, Think." But the question is what are we supposed to think. Only the mind is capable of grasping wisdom. Our mind must seek out wisdom when our hearts are troubling us. A question I have learned to ask myself, "Is it wise?" The words of the Serenity Prayer talk about the wisdom to know the difference. It is wise for me to seek out my Higher Power's will for me. It is wise to do those things that are physically, mentally and spiritually healthy for me. Do I seek out wisdom in all that I do?

Petitions to my Higher Power

God,
It is You that ultimately brings me any satisfaction that I have in my life. Teach me to be wise in all that I do. Let me seek out that which is healthy for me. Help me to recognize when my heart gets out of control and seek to do Your will and not mine. Guide me on this pathway of recovery, and lead me to the place of true satisfaction in my life.
Amen.

This is me.  My drug of choice was more.  Love the last line it reminds me of a song that Elvis use to sing.  Lead me, Guide me...


www.lyrics.com/lyric/21036114

[majestyjo]

G is for Go. As the song says, go tell it on the mountain, over the hill and every where. Let alcoholics and addicts know that there is a solution. Give them the message of hop, you don't have to use in today.

[majestyjo]

What you are is God's Gift to you. What you become is your gift to God.

Take time for solitude. How else can you contemplate the blessings of recovery. --Abby Warman

In my pain I seek the comfort and guidance of my Higher Power. Grace and gratitude are the gifts I receive. --Rose Casey

God does not require that we be successful, only that we be faithful. --Mother Teresa

Spiritual experience is personal and individual. --Veronica Ray

Like a loving parent, God prepares good things for us. --Einar Ingvi Magnusson

[majestyjo]

[caressa222]

BLOWING OUT YOUR GUILT

I read of a New Jersey artist who capitalized on people's need to
let go of the past by selling them "guilt kits." Each kit contained
ten disposable brown paper bags and a set of instructions which
said, "Place bag securely over your mouth, take a deep breath and
blow the guilt out. Dispose of bag immediately." Amazingly, about
2,500 kits sold at $2.50 each. But perhaps not so amazing when you
think of the guilt many of us carry around.

Of course, guilt serves its purpose. More than once I made a better
decision so that I could look myself in the mirror without blushing.
And the kits probably also serve a purpose - if nothing else, to
remind us to get rid of those unnecessary and destructive feelings
we seem to have so much trouble shaking.

But if blowing in a bag doesn't do it for you, then you might try
another man's method. He hired a friend to go into therapy for him.
He says he always hires other people to carry his baggage.

And if that doesn't work, here are a few simple steps that that
should get at the problem:

First, if you make a mistake, resolve to try never to repeat it. The
whole function of guilt is to change behavior.

We underrate our mistakes as effective learning devises. When
possible, welcome your mistake, learn from it and decide to do
things differently next time.

Second, seek forgiveness from any others who were affected. If
possible, make amends.

In Ernest Hemingway's short story "The Capitol of the World," a
Spanish father decides to reconcile with his son who has run away.
Now remorseful, the father takes out a newspaper ad in El Liberal:
"Paco, meet me at Hotel Montana noon Tuesday. All is forgiven." When
the father goes to the square he is surprised to find eight hundred
young men named Paco waiting for their fathers. We can't
underestimate the need for reconciliation and wholeness.

Finally, forgive yourself. No purpose is served in continuing to
whip yourself over past events you can do nothing about. And how
will you truly learn to love when there is one person in your life
you refuse to completely forgive?

If you follow these steps, you can rid yourself of unnecessary
guilt. You will find that you are happier and healthier - and you
can save all those brown paper bags for lunch.

-- Steve Goodier

[caressa222]

Journey To The Heart

Ground Yourself

So much of our growth is spiritual. Sometimes we fly so high, our soul soars into the heavens, touching life’s magic, sailing into the high spiritual realms. That is as it should be. But we need to be grounded,too. Even the tallest tree, the one that reaches hundreds of feet into the sky, has roots that go deep into the earth. The higher we want to travel on spiritual planes, the more we need to learn to ground ourselves. Our roots need to go deep into the earth,too.

Touch things that grow in the earth. Walk on the grass. Sit on the ground. Feel its presence, its solid grounding energy, rise up into you.

You are a soul, a spirit, but you have a body,too. Remember and nurture your spirit, but take time to attend to your body. Connect with what is physical, connect with the energy of the earth. Do the simple tasks that connect you to life on this planet– the day-to-day chores that connect you with your body and the rhythms of this world.

Grow spiritually, but let your spiritual growth be grounded in daily life and the things on earth. That is how you stay grounded; that’s how you honor your body and stay connected to it. Grow spiritually, but let that growth reflect and honor embodied life. Just as the body and workings of an airplane give shape to the idea of an airplane and allow it to fly, your body gives shape, form, and freedom to your soul. But even airplanes need to land sometimes.

Learn to tell when your body and soul need to come back to earth. Take time to get grounded. Then you’ll be able to soar.

This reminds me that I can be going around in circles, it may seem like a good thing, but I need to come back to earth and be grounded.