TODAY'S GIFT FOR FAMILY AND FRIENDS/AUGUST 2014
 

Have always figured the day should be started with Steps 1, 2, 3, I call it a Waltz. I can't, He can, Just for today, I choose to let Him.

End the day with Steps 10, 11, and 12, and the rest of the Steps in between, to be worked when applicable. They are really necessary when the past comes into today. So much of us is rooted in our past, we need to get to the root of the matter in order for it to heal.

The reason I am carrying my happiness within me today was because my son came here, paid me the money he owed me and left. He was already stoned, but that is his choice.

I looked up the meditation for Courage to Change today which said, "Today I will keep hands off and keep my focus where it belongs, one me.

...In All Our Affairs"

I am as happy as I choose to be. I may not be happy, but I have a choice to leave where I am at, and allow happiness to catch up with me.

Be themselves, we are not all the same, we each have different gifts and we all use them differently.

I use to have a lot of time on my hands and I liked to format, put on pictures, and anything else that I could think of it to make things fancy, with the hope that they and others would come back to visit again.

I then realized it didn't matter how it was presented as long as it told the story, preferably one of recovery and how the program worked for them.

http://www.animated-gifs.eu/mammals-...texts/0014.gif

Such a beautiful thought. I am learning, I am better than I was and each day, God and I work on this.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

You are reading from the book Today's Gift

There is surely a piece of divinity in us, something that was before the elements...
—Sir Thomas Browne

One definition of divinity in the dictionary is "supreme excellence." It also means "god-like character" and "divine nature."

Doesn't that describe someone we love? When we are in love with someone, we see only the best of that person - it's impossible to see anything else. That person is "divine," we say, perfect for us, because he or she loves us and is lovable.

Each one of us has a part that is divine. We see it occasionally in others, and they see it in us when they love us. We can draw on that divine part of every person for strength and hope and courage and faith and love. There is wonderful, mysterious beauty in all of us, even when we behave badly.

What divinity do I see in those around me right now?

In my house, just me on a good day. Too isolated to see much around me with the exception of God's Gift by putting special people in my path when I need it.

I see a lot of people who are searching, others who aren't look, those who think they know it all and have tunnel vision and not open to God's Gifts, and others who don't know it is available.

[QUOTE]
Wednesday, August 6, 2014

You are reading from the book Today's Gift

What matters?...Only the flicker of light within the darkness, the feeling of warmth within the cold, the knowledge of love within the void.
—Joan Walsh Anglund

If we were lost at sea, surrounded by darkness pierced only by one distant blinking light, we would follow that light. As we followed it, it would become clearer and brighter until it brought us safely to land.

Sometimes when we're depressed, we feel as though we're lost on a dark sea. But there is always a flicker of light for us. It may be prayer, or the love of a special friend. When we see that light, we need to move toward it. Whatever brings us hope is like that flicker of light. The more we seek it, the clearer and brighter the light will become.

When we are cold and our bodies begin to numb, we must keep moving. Movement will keep us alive. When our emotions are numb, we need people or things or places that will warm our hearts. When no one else is around, hot baths or a favorite treat can bring the warmth of our own self-love into our lives when we need it the most.

How can I brighten my inner light today?
Someone once asked how I was doing and I said, "I am having a great day." He said, "Then what are you doing here?" Here was a morning meeting and I told him, "Just passing it on."

I also think any day the sun shines is a good day. It is good to just go out, give thanks for my God's Creations. I like to sit up a bench and just soak up the soak up the sun and just be aware of what is around me.

Communication!!!

That addiction and alcoholism are family disease. In most cases, the family choose other substance and behaviours, like caretaking and enabling.

The Steps of recovery are applicable to family and friends of alcoholics/addicts.

What we can give is our whole selves. We need to feed the body, mind, and spirit the food it needs to restore us.

Then what I do is pray and ask that I be a channel, and given the inner knowing that I need each day to stay clean and sober, each day.

When my son is in active addiction, I often feel like I am caught up in the old craziness, and I need to go to my God and work my program daily. It isn't about him, it is about me and my attitude and my recovery. He chooses to use, that is his choice. Just for today, I choose not to use and I need what I need for my own peace of mind.

The first thing would be to pray. Then I would wait and let the faith come in to replace the fear. Then it would be up to do my part, to let go of the old to make room for the new.

I was told it was best to be my own best friend. Willing to be a friend of anyone who asks.

As they say in Al-Anon, "Let us love you until you can love yourself." That kept me coming back to meetings.

The greatest thing is that I am still clean and sober.

Thanks to the program, I can see beyond what is in front of me and can see the beauty in things. Nothing is all positive or negative, there is a reality in there which shows my God's love and their God working in the life of someone or thing.

There is beauty to find in God's Handy Work. The picture that came to mind was old wood, wire and weeds, but when I look again, I can see the flowers on the weeds. I can look at the wood and wire and look and for some beauty in them, be it the way it is composed, the job they did in the past but can no longer do, and so much more. My God is everywhere.

My biggest fear, my son may choose to carry the message,"To use is to die."

It is a daily fear that I have to let go of every time he disrespects my space by coming in after using. I set boundaries, reset boundaries, and he disregards them, thinking it is his right, I was a bad mother when I was in my own addiction. Even in recovery, he can't get past what was and the person who is in today. He finds it quite enjoyable to rub the past in my face. All I know was that I was the best mom I could be. I spent my money to make him look good, and trying to put food on the table for him. I know that I don't have to continue to pay for my actions, words and deeds, I had to learn to forgive myself.

For sleeping all day, just found out that my son didn't call when he came in from work, because he felt like I needed the rest. I had called him to tell him I wanted up, and he told me if I looked more at my health than my TV shows, I would feel better. I forgot to set the alarm. ;(

I didn't appreciate Him playing god with my life. I wanted to get my days and night back in their right place, but then I realized it had to be the right time for me. I do have a lot of day time appointments to get to for the next two weeks.

I had to forgive myself and him!

Not sure I am setting down new one, but growing in the ones already in place. I know they need to be nurtured and life is about body, mind and spirit.

If I don't nourish, I become a dry drunk, or an old sober side, and/or a crotchety person no one wants to be around. You can call me all kinds of things, but you should hear the words I call myself. Just for today, I choose not to abuse myself or others. I like to give and share TLC, it is applicable to all things.