`J` TOPIC DISCUSSION

[majestyjo]

J is for Just for today.  All I have is today.  Just for today, I choose not to use people, places, or things.  Substitution doesn`t work.  I need to fill the empty void with spiritual things.  My best friend, the drug of choice I had just for today, before recovery became my worst enemy and no longer worked for me.  When I tried to stop, I couldn`t.  If I did stop, I could stay stopped, I just HAD to pick it up or pick something else up to stuff that feeling, to give me the control (an illusion) I needed to cope with life.  I didn`t know that I could fill that empty and needy feeling with spiritual things, like helping others, getting out of self, doing houseworks and redirecting my energy.  Just for today, I don`t have to use unhealthy choices.  Substitution can take me back to my drug of chcoice.  This is a spiritual program that works when I work for it.  As I heard an AA member say recently, Ìt is like we are reborn.

[majestyjo]

Just because I said so!

How many times I heard this phrase and got a major resentment; and yet, in later years I found myself saying it.

If you don't stop crying, I'll give you something to cry for!

How often was I to repeat this same phrase; yet I had promised myself I never would.

Don't be so stupid!

How could I have been so hurtful and repeat such a phrase, when it had been so devastating to me.

Just because it was said to me, doesn't mean I have to repeat it!

Just for today, I can learn to stop the cycle.

Just because I had a motto for years which said, "Do it with style and grace!"

Just for today, I can learn to not expect perfection of myself.

Just because I can't stand stupidity in myself; is no reason to be intolerant of others and myself.

Just for today, I choose to learn a new way of thinking.

Just because I was told, doesn't mean it was my truth.

Just for today, I will find my truth and walk in it.

Just because I remember, doesn't mean I can't forget and let go.

Just for today, I will live in the moment and deal with my past as it makes itself known instead of continuing to look over my shoulder at yesterday.

Just because I lived in fear all my life, doesn't mean I can't change it into faith today.

Just for today, I know I am not alone and that there is no room for fear and faith in the same space.

[majestyjo]

Just for today, my God answers knee-mail.

My God gives me what I need when I need it. Some days I need more than one step.

When I think of Light, I think of how each being on this earth - large and small gets the energy they need from the tiniest snail to the largest animal, the smallest seedling to the tallest tree.

My God gives me what I need, even some of my wants and desires.

[majestyjo]

Journey home

"Everything seeks its source."

-- a universal principle

Our spiritual journey unfolds through 2 stages.

1. THE PATH OF PERSONALITY - We arise from the one source of all, to be born as individuals in a world of form. In this physical world, we experience separation and limitation. This is a time of immersion in a world of effects, form, ego, distortion, illusion and pain.

2. THE PATH OF SOUL - When we have experienced enough pain, we find our way back home to our spiritual source. We let go of the illusion of separation to embrace unity and wholeness. We work with cause instead of effects. Paradoxically, it's only with a strong and healthy personality that we become capable of expressing soul.

WHERE ARE YOU ON YOUR PATH? Are you struggling to do more and have more? Are you aware of your soul challenging you to open to the bigger picture of life?

"Two people have been living in you all your life. One is the ego, garrulous, demanding, hysterical, calculating; the other is the hidden spiritual being, whose still voice of wisdom you have only rarely heard or attended to - you have uncovered in yourself your own wise guide."

-- Sogyal Rinpoche

Received from Higher Awareness - used with permission from management

There is a book written by Melody Beattie called "Finding Your Way Home" and is totally awesome.

For the first month I had the book I never got past the first two chapters and the Preface. I kept reading it over and over again, it was so freeing, that it didn't matter if I read the rest of the book because it seemed it would be anti-climatical.

I have always said, "I am a spiritual being having problems dealing with the real world!"

Her book helped me to come back to myself, to stay grounded in today, to become whole. That journey has been very painful, at times very lonely, but well worth it. It is difficult to let go of denial, find your person truth and find self-honesty.

Haven't been able to find this book, must remember to put in a request at the library to see if they will order it.

[Lin]

J is for JOURNEY...recovery is a JOURNEy...not just a destination.
LIN

[majestyjo]

January 1947 Grapevine

WHAT'S YOUR SCORE?
KEEP THIS AND CHECK YOUR GRADE EACH MONTH
GIVE YOURSELF FROM ONE TO FIVE POINTS ON EACH QUESTION

1. Has my past been a mess and am I EARNESTLY DETERMINED TO ESTABLISH A BETTER WAY OF LIFE, and am I willing to make the effort?
______

2. Do I admit BEYOND ANY DOUBT that I am powerless over alcohol - that if I use it, it will destroy me? ______

3. Do I sincerely believe that there is a power greater than myself in which I WILL PUT MY TRUST regardless of what happens? ______

4. Do I realize the importance of talking A.A. and attending all A.A. MEETINGS POSSIBLE, or do I hedge and make excuses? ______

5. Am I really willing to MAKE RETRIBUTION where possible to those I have harmed, or am I just kidding? ______

6. Do I SINCERELY OBSERVE daily moments of constructive meditation, thinking of my humility and desire to understand? ______

7. Am I TRULY HONEST with others, or will I chisel if I get a chance? ______

8. Am I PATIENT in waiting for the rewards of my efforts? ______

9. Am I FRIENDLY and do I TRY TO OVERLOOK the shortcomings of others, regardless of who they are? ______

10. Am I tolerant - do I show consideration for those whose beliefs, practices or habits differ from my own? ______

11. Am I a gossip - do I repeat rumours or chatter about people's affairs? ______

12. Am I GRATEFUL for ALL HELPFUL THINGS and DO I SAY SO? ______

13. Do I have REAL COURAGE and am I FREE FROM FEAR OF ALL KINDS?
______

14. Do I really have CONFIDENCE IN MYSELF and others, or am I filled with doubt and suspicion? ______

15. Do I cooperate with others and HELP PROMOTE constructive ideas? ______

16. Do I practice SELF-CONTROL, and really forget and forgive differences? _____

17. Am I neat in my appearance, and do I keep as clean as I can under the circumstances, both in body and mind? ______

18. Am I extending any effort to help others with their problems? ______

19. Do I realize that my problem is NOT MONEY, but mental and physical?
_______

20. Am I making any reasonable effort to OVERCOME any other undesirable habits or CHARACTERISTICS I may possess? ______

Total ______

A total score of less than 50 is regarded as poor; 50 to 60 fair; 60 to 65 low average; 65 to 70 high average; 70 to 80 excellent; over 80 " impossible in this world."
January 1947 AA Grapevine

[majestyjo]

No matter what happens in today is worth picking up a mind altering substance. Substitution did NOT work, I ended up using both and more.

No such thing as just a little bit alcoholic. I can not drink safely. If I have or think a couple of drinks, I am thinking of two bottles.

Does not matter what you drink, some could not drink what they called the hard stuff, I could not handle beer, did NOT like the smell or the taste. Someone once told me that after three it gets better, I could never get by the first one. A good reason to convince me I was NOT an alcoholic.

It did not matter that I could match my ex-husband drink for drink with him drinking beer and me drinking rye and coca-cola, and it was me who drove home, walked a straight line, and his friend said that he had never seen me drunk. You can not walk into the Legion at noon and close it at night and be sober, even if you went home for dinner and came back.

My mind could talk me into anything. Justify my behaviour and rationalize why I did it. One of the reasons that I was one of the really sick ones.

[majestyjo]

This is awesome, haven't seen it for a long time, glad the link still works.

www.bemboszoo.com/Bembo.swf

[majestyjo]

J is for Just for Today. Just for today, I choose not to use. Just for today, I will have a program. Just for today, I will choose to work and apply that program to my life.

Just for today, I will be unafraid. I will have faith in the program of AA and in the God of my understanding. Just for today, it is okay to be me.

[majestyjo]

J is for Justification. It is part of my disease, not a tool to be applied to my recovery. It is an amend I had to make to others and to myself.

Don`t question it, just do it! Don`t justify your actions, as soon as you do that you are being judgmental and you are self-centered and not God-centered.

I felt like I had to justify my existence. Those old tapes are killers. I was told I didn't matter and that my opinion didn't count.

I just had to be me, not who I thought people wanted me to be.

[majestyjo]

J is for Jump. Jump with joy. Celebrate this new life that we have been given. Each day is a new beginning, so have a great one.

Van Halen – Jump Lyrics
I get up, and nothing gets me down.
You got it tough. I've seen the toughest around.
And I know, baby, just how you feel.
You've got to roll with the punches to get to what's real

Oh can't you see me standing here,
I've got my back against the record machine
I ain't the worst that you've seen.
Oh can't you see what I mean?

Might as well jump. Jump!
Might as well jump.
Go ahead, and jump. Jump!
Go ahead, and jump.

Aaa-ohh hey you! Who said that?
Baby how you been?
You say you don't know, you won't know
Until we begin.

Well can't you see me standing here,
I've got my back against the record machine
I ain't the worst that you've seen.
Oh can't you see what I mean?

Might as well jump. Jump!
Go ahead and, jump.
Might as well jump. Jump!
Go ahead and, jump.

Might as well jump. Jump!
Go ahead and, jump.
Get it and jump. Jump!
Go ahead and, jump.
Songwriters: DUPRI, JERMAINE/WEBSTER, GREGORY ALLEN/PIERCE, MARVIN R

[majestyjo]

Just remember that we do have the tools to recover. We can carry them with us, if we remember to leave home with them. As the song says, "Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag, and smile.

Imagine that you are on a hiking trip in the middle of the desert. You see a figure in the distance. It is an old man bearded and half naked, on hands and knees, with his fingers clawing at the sandy earth. You ask, "What are you doing?" "I'm digging for buried treasure," says the old man. "How long have you been at it?" you ask. "Weeks--months maybe. It is hard and slow work." You notice the old man's bloody fingers and his raw and calloused knuckles. You say, "Listen, man! Digging with your bare hands is a pretty inefficient method. That hole is only a couple of feet deep. Let me loan you my shovel." You reach into your backpack, pull out a light-weight, tempered-edge spade, and drive it into the ground. In less than five minutes you have demonstrated to the old fellow that more progress can be made in moments than he could make in a month of using his bare hands.
Then an amazing thing happens. The old man's eyes fill with hate and his face flushes angrily. He charges at you, grabs the shovel from your hands, and throws it away. "Get away from me with your new fangled contraptions," he says. "I've been digging this way all of my life and it works fine. Now you just get out of here and leave me alone. I'll be fine doing it my way."

Many people seeking recovery from addictive disease are the same way that this old man is digging for treasure. They attempt to maintain their clean time without the tools of NA. If digging with your bare hands is the only way you know to get the job done, you do it that way. But it is slow and hard, and the chances of finding treasure in the form of long-term, comfortable, clean time are very slow.

Meetings are a tool for recovery much like a shovel is a tool in searching for treasure. A shovel gives you a better and more efficient way to dig. Having a shovel does not guarantee that you will find what you are looking for, but it sure does increase your chances and it makes the process of searching for it much easier and more enjoyable.

But let us go back to our old digger. Suppose he takes the shovel you offer him. But suppose that after awhile he comes to a rock that the shovel cannot penetrate. You offer him a pick ax and once again his goal becomes attainable. Working the steps of NA and attending NA meetings together provide the pick and shovel necessary for large numbers of people to reach the goal of remaining clean.

But still many people who have used their hands, used the shovel and the pick, and still have hit gigantic boulders that cannot be removed with the tools they have. Getting a trusted sponsor provides an air hammer--if you choose to use it.

Having the proper tools does not remove your responsibility to use your hands and dig in the right place. The right tools just let you get farther faster if you choose to work at it. It also does not guarantee that you will find long-term, comfortable recovery. But it does increase your chances.

Author Unknown

[majestyjo]

Each Day a New Beginning

On any journey, we must find out where we are before we can plan the first step.
--Kathy Boevink

Our lives in all aspects are a journey toward a destination, one fitting to our purpose, our special gifts, our particular needs as women. Each day contributes to our journey, carrying us closer to our destination. However, we often take a circuitous route. We get stranded or waylaid by our selfish desires, by the intrusion of our controlling ego.

We can reflect on the progress we've made toward our destination, the steps we've taken that have unknowingly contributed to our journey. Our easiest steps have been the ones we took in partnership with God. It's in God's mind that our path is well marked.

We are just where we need to be today. The experiences that we meet are like points on the map of our journey. Some of them are rest stops. Others resemble high-speed straight-aways. The journey to our destination is not always smooth, but the more we let God sit in the driver's seat, the easier will be our ride.

I will plan my journey today with God's help, and my ride will be smooth.

[majestyjo]

Journey to the Heart

November 9


A Meditative Journey

Go deeper into the forest.

Walk among the trees, down the winding dirt path strewn with rocks and wood chips. See the salamander dart across your path. Listen to the birds chirp. Hear the rustling in the bushes. Walk down the path until you come to the quiet pond. Sit for a while and rest.

When you are ready, walk to the edge of the pond. Look down into the still waters. What do you see? At first, just water. Then gradually, a reflection emerges. It is you. It is your life. Gaze peacefully into the water, into the reflection of your life. See that it has been just as it should be, a lifetime of events causing ripples of love, peace, and healing in the universe.

See that it is now as it should be. The people who are gathering around you are there for a reason. The places you have visited were not without purpose. The lessons you have learned are yours forever. You are right where you need to be. Gaze into your reflection in the quiet, deep mirror of the pond until you see that, know that, feel that. Gaze long enough to see truth, peace, contentment, Divine order.

Sit down and again, look around the forest. Take in its beauty, its wonder, its shimmering emerald leaves, the tiny white wildflowers cropping up everywhere, delicate surprises that bring joy. Inhale the smells, the fresh growth, the musk, the smell of cedar and pine. Inhale, breathe deeply, until the breath of life fills you with wonder. Let it flow throughout you; let it saturate every cell. Peace. Contentment. Divine order.

You are safe. The forest is your friend. It tells you that all is well. Look around. See the tallest tree. See that it has weathered every storm, and millimeter by millimeter, ring by ring, continued its growth over centuries. Know that you have grown that way,too.

Rise slowly when it’s time. Find your path. Feel the earth beneath your feet, supporting you, giving you strength, filling you with grounded energy. Walk down the winding path through the glimmers of sunlight until you reach the edge of the forest.

[majestyjo]

Thought for the Day

Thursday, APRIL 19

From the book: Today's Gift


Inch by inch, row by row

Someone bless these seeds I sow...

'Til the rain comes tumblin' down.

—David Mallett

We plant a garden with faith, never knowing exactly what the harvest will bring. We attend to those aspects of gardening, which we have some control over, planting good seeds in rich soil, in straight rows, the right distance apart. We weed and fertilize, and we tie up our tomato plants.

We may pray for rain, but we never know if we'll get too much or too little. We can't control the wind or rabbits or bugs or the strongest strains of weeds. Yet most of us don't let these things keep us from planting.

With this same sort of faith we can tend to ourselves. Though we don't know what each day will bring, we can plant the seeds in ourselves to meet most anything. We can rise each morning determined to give what we have. We can't plant the seeds for others, and we can't keep the storms from coming. The beauty is, we don't have to.

What seeds of joy can I plant today?

I was told to sew my seeds in good soil and not waste my tim on ground that won't grow. I often take exception to that because we find a patch that doesn't come up to snuff, we bring in things to help it, then we ccan sew those seeds and hopefully the will take root.  To be those are the special seeds, which bring joy to me.