Throwing Out the Rule Book
Many of us feel like we need a rulebook, a microscope, and a warranty to get through life. We feel uncertain, frightened. We want the security of knowing what's going to happen, and how we shall act.
We don't trust life or ourselves.
We don't trust the Plan.
We want to be in control.
"I've made terrible mistakes about my choices, mistakes that nearly destroyed me. Life has really shocked me. How can I trust myself? How can I trust life, and my instincts, after where I've been?" asked one woman.
It is understandable that we fear being crushed again, considering the way many of us were when we bottomed out on our codependency. We don't have to be fearful. We can trust our self, our path, and our instincts.
Yes, we want to avoid making the same mistakes again. We are not the same people we were yesterday or last year. We've learned, grown, changed. We did what we needed to do then. If we made a mistake, we cannot let that stop us from living and fully experiencing today.
We have arrived at the understanding that we needed our experiences - even our mistakes - to get to where we are today. Do we know that we needed our life to unfold exactly as it did to find ourselves, our Higher Power, and this new way of life? Or is part of us still calling our past a mistake?
We can let go of our past and trust ourselves now. We do not have to punish ourselves with our past. We don't need a rulebook, a microscope, a warranty. All we really need is a mirror. We can look into the mirror and say, "I trust you. No matter what happens, you can take care of yourself. And what happens will continue to be good, better than you think."
Today, I will stop clinging to the painful lessons of the past. I will open myself to the positive lessons today and tomorrow hold for me. I trust that I can and will take care of myself now. I trust that the Plan is good, even when I don't know what it is.
From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©
When people bother you in any way, it is because their souls are trying to get your divine attention and your blessing. --Catherine Ponder
We are in constant communication with one another and with our Higher Power in the spiritual realm. No matter how singular our particular course may appear, our path is running parallel to many paths. And all paths will intersect when the need is present. The point of intersection is the moment when another soul seeks our attention. We can be attentive and loving to the people seeking our attention. Their growth and ours is at stake.
We can be grateful for our involvement with other lives. We can be mindful that our particular blessing is like no one else's and that we all need input from the many significant persons in our lives. There is no insignificant encounter in our passage through life. Each juncture with someone else is part of the destiny of both participants.
Action for the Day: I will look carefully and lovingly at the people around me today and bless them, one and all. They are in my life because they need to be. I, likewise, need them.
Sober, I would probably have recovered
with a few new scars on an already badly dented ego,
and my life since would have been a different one.
Yet I had survived many a maudlin drinking bout
without resorting to suicide attempts.
It was alcohol plus the Ploms that nearly did me in.
Though I no longer use alcohol, I must guard against self-pity,
a defect as "cunning, baffling, powerful" as alcohol and drugs.
- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 1], p. 27
Thought to Ponder . . .
Self-pity is followed by isolation is followed by a drink.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
P L O M = Poor Little Old Me.
Daily Motivation
Achievement is built
Achievement is built on challenge. Achievement is built on setbacks and frustrations.
Achievement is built when conditions are difficult. Achievement is built when the direction of the economy is uncertain, and when there’s no guarantee of success.
And achievement is indeed built, for it is not inevitable. Achievement happens because people choose to make it happen.
Achievement is built on meaningful intention, with devotion, persistent action and plain old hard work. Achievement is built on the desire to make a difference, and on the commitment to fulfill that desire no matter what.
Yes, of course there are obstacles, excuses, distractions, frustrations and disappointments that push back against achievement. Achievement is built anyway, and the world is a richer, more promising place because of it.
Achievement is built by giving the best of your focus and your efforts to each moment. And as you build it, achievement builds you.
— Ralph Marston
No comments:
Post a Comment