| Author |
 Topic  |
|
MajestyJo
Average Member
Canada
590 Posts |
 Posted - 09/23/2007 : 02:10:24
|
Question your intention
"Men are more accountable for their motives, than for anything else ...."
-- Archibald Alexander
Why are you doing what you are doing?
Throughout the day, continually ask yourself about your underlying motivation. Are you doing what you are doing for selfish, manipulative or fearful reasons, or in honest service? Maybe you will see that much of your activity lacks purpose. This is a great way to become more conscious.
Your intention and motives are fundamental to the results you receive. Set high intentions and your life will blossom.
"A good intention clothes itself with power."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
My sponsor always told me to examine my motives and my intent. She said, "If you are right with you and your Creator, then it doesn't matter what other people say and do."
|
Love Always,
Each Day is a New Beginning, so have a great one. |
 |
|
|
MajestyJo
Average Member
Canada
590 Posts |
Posted - 09/23/2007 : 02:14:35
|
Mind control
"Concentration is the ability to think about absolutely nothing when it is absolutely necessary."
-- Ray Knight
"Eventually, meditation will make our mind calm, clear, and as concentrated as a laser which we can focus at will. This capacity of one-pointed attention is the essence of genius. When we have this mastery over attention in everything we do, we have a genius for life itself: unshakable security, clear judgment, and deep personal relationships."
-- Eknath Easwaran
"The successful man is the average man, focused."
-- Source Unknown
Osho speaks of coming from the place of No Mind. It is the place of power. It is like the hole in the donut, everything else is external. Even if you eat the donut, the hole is still there, even though you can't see it. The Serenity Prayer helps me to quiet my mind. It took a long time for me to be able to be by myself, be in the quiet, and not have to be busy doing. It was a great gift to just be!
|
Love Always,
Each Day is a New Beginning, so have a great one. |
|
|
|
MajestyJo
Average Member
Canada
590 Posts |
Posted - 09/23/2007 : 02:19:41
|
Embrace your life
"If there is a sin against life, it consists perhaps not so much in despairing of life, as in hoping for another life, and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life."
-- Albert Camus
Have you taken ownership of your life?
When we own our lives, we accept what we’ve inherited and the experiences we hold in our memories. We also lay claim to our right to create new conditions if we’re not happy with what’s come before. We assume responsibility for changing what does not suit us. We acknowledge our own special talents and skills, and truly comprehend our right to enjoy the journey. In short, we embrace the meaning and purpose, the mystery and the beauty of our lives.
"Recognize that life is what you get when you’re born ... living is what you do with it."
-- Jim Allen
"It began in mystery, and it will end in mystery, but what a savage and beautiful country lies in between."
-- Diane Ackerman
(C) Reproductions Permitted: higherawareness.com
QUESTIONS/COMMENTS: johnij@higherawareness.com
Tis reminds me that recovery is a journey not a destination. I never get to the end of the road. I may stop and rest a little while, but eventually I have get up and trudge on or I will slip back. I only get out of it what I put into it.
|
Love Always,
Each Day is a New Beginning, so have a great one. |
|
|
|
MajestyJo
Average Member
Canada
590 Posts |
Posted - 09/23/2007 : 11:00:42
|
Review your choices
"I was part of that strange race of people aptly described as spending their lives doing things they detest to make money they don't want to buy things they don't need to impress people they dislike."
-- Emile Henry Gauvreau
Once again, we invite you to look closely at what you are choosing for yourself.
Why are you doing what you are doing? Would you prefer to be or do something different? How can you bring that ‘something different’ into reality?
"You make what seems a simple choice: choose a man or a job or a neighborhood -- and what you have chosen is not a man or a job or a neighborhood, but a life."
-- Jessamyn West
"Choice is destiny’s soul mate."
-- Sarah Ban Breathnach
|
Love Always,
Each Day is a New Beginning, so have a great one. |
|
|
|
MajestyJo
Average Member
Canada
590 Posts |
Posted - 09/24/2007 : 02:45:33
|
Be aware of your thinking
"There is a thought in your mind right now. The longer you hold on to it, the more you dwell upon it, the more life you give to that thought. Give it enough life, and it will become real. So make sure the thought is indeed a great one."
-- Ralph Marston
Most of our self-talk comes unconsciously from our subconscious. Yet every thought that exists in our subconscious got there through a conscious decision to accept that thought.
We need to become conscious of our self-talk so we can at will choose to replace negative beliefs with positive ones. We have the power to choose an identity we love, but we need to do the work. The process of changing our subconscious beliefs requires awareness, diligence, consistency and repetition.
"Man is made or unmade by himself. In the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself. He also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace."
-- James Allen
This reminds me of the saying, "I am what I think." My thinking kept me sick for many years. Thank God for Steps 6 & 7. |
Love Always,
Each Day is a New Beginning, so have a great one. |
|
|
|
MajestyJo
Average Member
Canada
590 Posts |
Posted - 09/24/2007 : 20:20:01
|
Learn from experience
"Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him."
-- Aldous Huxley
What was your peak experience of this past week?
What was your most challenging experience?
Stepping back to review your week can offer many insights. Normally we can’t see the forest for the trees. Now back away and see the whole forest. Review your week. Now write a short summary -- whatever comes to mind for you. If action is required, plan how you will accomplish it in the next week.
"Ask the experienced rather than the learned."
-- Arabic proverb
"Experience is that marvellous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again."
-- Franklin P. Jones
I remember my sponsor saying to me, "JoAnne, are you still analyzing things? Stop it!" I want to know the when, whys and wherefores of everything. Inquiring minds want to know. When I had two years I wanted to stand on the tallest building and tell the world, "Hey People! I have found a new way of living, let me tell you all about it." I was later to learn, I knew nothing. I am still learning, and I am glad that I have had the chance to experience life. I missed a lot of my childhood and teen years. It was nice to be able to live them over again. I feel like I am 19. Shut down at 3 when my brother was killed. Have 16 years in recovery.
Hindsight is a great teacher. Learning to be truly honest with myself was the hard part.
|
Love Always,
Each Day is a New Beginning, so have a great one. |
|
|
|
MajestyJo
Average Member
Canada
590 Posts |
Posted - 09/24/2007 : 20:28:13
|
On violence
"In violence, we forget who we are."
-- Mary McCarthy
Andrew Schneider describes violence as an issue of power. People become violent when they feel powerless. Violence is used as an inappropriate way of attempting to re-establish one’s own sense of power over whatever or whomever is perceived as a threat.
The antidote to violence in ourselves and in society is empowerment. We need to empower people to live out their best without fear. When people feel strong and able within themselves, they do not see themselves as potential victims. They do not have to struggle against others in order to feel secure. The curriculum for empowerment is learning and loving.
"Never use violence of any kind. Never threaten violence in any way. Never even think violent thoughts. Never argue because it attacks another’s opinion. Never criticize because it attacks another’s ego. And your success is guaranteed."
-- Mohandas Gandhi
This reminds me of the fact that the abused often becomes the abuser. It is the only thing they know. They don't know it is not normal behavior. I had to learn to not abuse myself. I no longer allow myself to be the vitim or the martyr.
|
Love Always,
Each Day is a New Beginning, so have a great one. |
|
|
|
MajestyJo
Average Member
Canada
590 Posts |
Posted - 09/25/2007 : 10:55:11
|
Laugh!
"We don’t laugh because we’re happy, we’re happy because we laugh."
-- William James
Why laugh?
Laughter nourishes the soul and triggers joy. It’s a natural stress reliever. It stimulates the immune system and increases oxygen, stamina and our breathing capacity. Medical literature is full of reasons to laugh for the health of it.
Don’t rely upon your funny friends, favorite sit-com or jokes to tickle your funny bone -- just laugh for the joy of it!
"Laughter is like the human body wagging its tail."
-- Anne Wilson Schaef
I'll never forget the first time I felt myself laugh. It came from my stomach and I laughed because I was laughing and I felt the joy. I was three years sober.
|
Love Always,
Each Day is a New Beginning, so have a great one. |
|
|
|
MajestyJo
Average Member
Canada
590 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2007 : 06:42:21
|
Connect with the life force
"The spirit down here in man and the spirit up there in the sun, in reality are only one spirit, and there is no other one."
-- The Upanishads
We regard our lives as made up of an infinite number of separate bits and pieces. That is how our senses perceive our universe.
But science has now affirmed what the sages always knew. The life force is the foundation of all, unseen and untouched though it may be. It flows through everyone and everything. It is impossible to exist separate and apart from the source of all creation.
"Everything you see has its roots in the unseen world.
The forms may change, yet the essence remains the same.
Every wonderful sight will vanish; every sweet word will fade,
But do not be disheartened,
The source they come from is eternal, growing,
Branching out, giving new life and new joy.
Why do you weep?
The source is within you
And this whole world is springing up from it."
-- Jelaluddin Rumi
|
Love Always,
Each Day is a New Beginning, so have a great one. |
|
|
|
MajestyJo
Average Member
Canada
590 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2007 : 06:46:07
|
Life as a mirror
"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves."
-- C.G. Jung
We get clues about our unconscious programming if we watch our reactions, responses, feelings and thoughts about other people and events. Ask yourself: How do I judge or stereotype people? What pushes my buttons? What makes me angry or fearful or sad?
The outer incidents that trigger these reactions in me simply MIRROR my own nature. If I didn't have beliefs around the issues that upset me, where would my reactions come from? If I didn't have some internal reference, I wouldn't react at all.
When outer events spark a reaction, we need to look inside to explore what’s going on.
"We discover in ourselves what others hide from us and we recognize in others what we hide from ourselves."
-- Vauvenargues
This reminds me that every time I point a finger at someone, I havew three fingers pointing back at me. I learned to live a new life by watching the images I found in the rooms of recovery. Some I discarded, some I accepted, and others I embrassed with hope and love.
|
Love Always,
Each Day is a New Beginning, so have a great one. |
|
|
|
MajestyJo
Average Member
Canada
590 Posts |
Posted - 09/28/2007 : 08:52:03
|
Know yourself through journaling
"The blank page gives us the right to dream."
-- Baston Bachelard
Journaling takes us on adventures of self-discovery that explore two different directions:
- DEEPER into the realms of the subconscious where we can clean house of personal problems, pains, patterns, and reactions; and,
- HIGHER into the realms of our potential, where we can connect with intuition and higher guidance and uncover our essence and purpose.
"Life is a narrative that you have a hand in writing."
-- Henriette Anne Klauser
"I want you to get excited about who you are, what you are, what you have, and what can still be for you. I want to inspire you to see that you can go far beyond where you are right now."
-- Virginia Satir
For the first three years of recovery, I filled up a lot of books. I found being on the internet and sharing at groups was just another way of journalling for me. I looked back at old journals and couldn't believe what I had written. I was one sick puppy!
My writing even showed how sick I was. My script became more open and even, not up and down and scrunched. My spelling and grammar left a lot to be desired. I was glad when I went back to school and got tested in English,to pass my mature student exam and got a mark of grade 13 plus. I only went to grade 11. I went back and got my grade 12. I contribute a lot to reading and journalling.
|
Love Always,
Each Day is a New Beginning, so have a great one. |
|
|
|
MajestyJo
Average Member
Canada
590 Posts |
Posted - 09/28/2007 : 22:27:39
|
Purpose brings joy
"Our purpose is hidden in our joy, our inspiration, our excitement. As we act on what shows up in our life our purpose shows up."
-- James King
For many of us, our joy is truly activated when we get a bigger picture of who we are and why we are here.
Most of us need to enlarge our self-concept. We may see ourselves as a bag of bones but, in truth, we are eternal, multi-faceted and multi-dimensional spiritual beings having a human experience. It’s time to think of ourselves as much larger and grander than just a physical and emotional being confined in a body.
"There is no more important step you can take than to define your life's purpose. It develops your sense of belonging to our universe."
-- Arnold Patent
One of the greatest gifts in this program has been a new sense of self-esteem, self-worth, self-respect, and self-awareness. They make the rewards of this program priceless. |
Love Always,
Each Day is a New Beginning, so have a great one. |
|
|
|
MajestyJo
Average Member
Canada
590 Posts |
Posted - 09/30/2007 : 00:47:29
|
The path to wholeness
We think that God has blessed us if we don’t have too many troubles. In fact, religions have erroneously taught us that pain is punishment for our sins. We often ask, "What have I done wrong?" when things do not go the way we want.
Yet, to become ourselves in the truest and deepest sense, we must face our own duality, which of course includes facing our darkness. As souls we strive for wholeness, not for perfection.
At first, we really don’t know what is going on. We just find life difficult, challenging and often painful. Eventually, after much experience and reflection, we start to find meaning in it all. Eventually, we gladly accept the means whereby we can do the Soul work we have come for.
As we become conscious as Souls, we walk our journey purposefully, embracing the reality of our earthly nature along with the truth of our divine nature.
"When we are conscious of our personal uniqueness and our universal nature we express ourselves creatively. In this way we fulfill our dreams and our life purpose."
-- Andrew Schneider
My family looks at me as a "Sinner saved by Grace." I look at myself as a "Godly Heathen." Sin for me means "Soul In Need." Those old tapes told me I was bad. When I came to the rooms, I was told that God didn't make no junk. I was a somebody, no longer a nobody. For a while, SIN meant 'Social Insurance Number.' I learned to identify with who I am.
|
Love Always,
Each Day is a New Beginning, so have a great one. |
|
|
|
MajestyJo
Average Member
Canada
590 Posts |
Posted - 09/30/2007 : 06:17:37
|
Time to change direction?
"Employ the power of positive quitting. Most of us view quitting as something negative, but it’s not. ‘Winners never quit,’ we’re told, when, in reality, winners quit all the time: choosing to stop doing things that aren’t creating the results they desire. When you quit all the things that aren’t working for you, when you quit tolerating all the negative things that hold you back, you’ll create a positive ‘charge’ in your life as well as create the space in your life for more positive experiences."
-- Jim Allen
"I like thinking of possibilities. At any time, an entirely new possibility is liable to come along and spin you off in an entirely new direction. The trick, I've learned, is to be awake to the moment."
-- Doug Hall
"Persons and societies do not submit passively to surroundings and events. They make choices as to the places where they live and the activities in which they engage -- choices based on what they want to be, to do and to become. Furthermore, persons and societies often change their goals and ways; they can even retrace their steps and start in a new direction if they believe they are on a wrong course. Thus, whereas animal life is prisoner of biological evolution which is essentially irreversible, human life has the wonderful freedom of social evolution which is rapidly reversible and creative. Wherever human beings are concerned, trend is not destiny."
-- Rene Dubos
This reminds me of that old pet peeve of mine. The saying, "I've been doing it for (?) years, it's stood me in good stead, I'm not about to change any time soon. Like get real, already. Even things I did in early recovery, don't hold up and work in today so why do I want to hold onto an old way of living from back when I was using.
If I am reborn of the Spirit, why would I want to act out in old patterns and behaviors? For me, Spirituality is change.
Personally, I don't want to be the old 'bitch' that complained and nagged about everything. When I was shopping the other day, I developed a resentment against a staff member in Walmart. My knee gave out on me and I was in a lot of pain, so I cashed out and went to sit on the bench outside the entrance of the store. When I had rested a few minutes, I went to the woman on the door and asked her if I could have my friend paged. I figured she would be looking around the store for me. The woman said, "I don't know if I can find a clerk for you, we are busy." No kidding, the place was a zoo. I had heard other pages while I was in the store. She said, "You can't stand here your in the way. I wanted to let my friend know where I was at. She ended up checking out about five minutes later. It wasn't so much what she said but the tone of her voice and her attitude. It takes one to know one. I was thinking, "I just spent $150. plus in your store, you should be kissing my butt, not giving me a hard time." A wrong doesn't make it right. We went into the mall and I saw the woman three times in the next hour. That was made me realize, when I thought of it later, that I had to make my amends to God and to myself for my part. God keeps bringing me back to something until I learn the lesson. |
Love Always,
Each Day is a New Beginning, so have a great one. |
|
|
|
MajestyJo
Average Member
Canada
590 Posts |
Posted - 09/30/2007 : 18:23:19
|
What depletes your soul?
"Certain activities, attitudes, foods, and persons support the cultivation of an unconscious life. They draw us away from our center. They throw us off-balance. They deplete the soul."
-- Patricia Lynn Reilly
Some activities we think are restful are, in fact, draining. Set an intention to really become aware of how you feel after you’ve engaged in different activities. Solitude and awareness help us make better choices for ourselves.
"Enlightenment is not about imagining figures of light but of making the darkness conscious."
-- C.G. Jung
|
Love Always,
Each Day is a New Beginning, so have a great one. |
|
|
|
Topic |
|
|
|
Higher Awareness
