What a great tool for us in recovery. Even the first day sober, I could be grateful for SOMETHING. I find as my sobriety grows, my gratitude grows. This morning I am grateful for the CONSISTENCY my Higher Power has brought into my life. Sure, curveballs whip by my head regularly, but the very basis of my day-to-day life is consistent and comforting. It is my foundation in a Higher Power.
I have so much to be grateful for today. I could go on and on with my Gratitude List! But, here are a few that are top of my personal list:-
My health is improving; I am gaining self-respect back and the respect of my loved ones, family and friends; I can actually be sober for someone who needs my help; I feel a tranquillity and peace of mind that I hadn't known existed when I was drinking.
And, yes, I too am so grateful for the consistency that my Higher Power brings into my life. But, my biggest gratitude is to AA and to everyone that I have met in the rooms and on this wonderful board.
Thank you for a great post.
Have a wonderful day,
Carol
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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. ~Dr. Seuss
I'm grateful that I woke up breathin, and not having to pour a tripple shot of whiskey into my first coffee, to keep my brain from rattling and the body from shakin, rockin, and rollin..:) and wondering what the hell I did the night before, cause I cant remember eh..
You guys have a good day...and for those from Cana--du?
The reason that we have our Thanksgiving here, before the US? We got all the turkeys...living up here eh....
After today..we try to deport as many as we can to the US...but they keep stopping us at the border for some strange reason...Maybe..because we are strange?? Gotta boogie....Later
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"LOVE" devoid of self-gratification, is in essence, the will, to the greatest good...of another.
I thank God for the folks in my life before bed, and lift up any concerns of theirs to take them off my plate and put them on His... Something I learned a short while after sobriety, my first good glimpse of self centeredness came while praying. I think it was a God-moment, it just blew me away to see my own self centeredness clearly for the first time. As I prayed, I saw I had a mind picture of the people I was praying for. A perfect example I'll use was one of my sisters. The people I prayed for stood on the edges of my consciuosness, and they revolved around me in my mind. So my sister came around, and there she was, dimmly. What blurred her was resentments. And further back of her, where the people I knew through her. Her husband and my nephews. Now they where further back and almost completely blacked out in my conciousness. So I did not pray for them, and resentment towards bro in law made the image even darker and blurier, lack of concern for my nephews made them almost invisible. So my prayer in that case was towards my sister, poisoned by resentment, and self centered in that any concern was for her only, ignorant of the family she was a part of. And the little bit of genuine concern there was was only for her realizing she had done me great wrong in the past.
So thats how I was connected spiritually to all the people in my world. They revolved around me and my interests, and the few that stood out only did so on the fringes of my conciousness, and it definately reflected in my prayer, which wasnt worth 5 cents. Seeing that blew me away.
So learning to see people as God sees them gives you genuine concerns to lift up, and gives genuine rewards when you see needs met and lives change. Speaking of gratitude, I just gotta add an exerpt from an email from my mom a while back.
Cutting out anything private, it just blew me away. Yall can see just how much I have to be grateful for.
"Every morning I cover ALL my children with prayers of thanksgiving!! I thank my God for giving me such beautiful, (yes, you, too!) children, and I thank Him for bringing close relationship between all of you and Him every day. It doesn't mean that none of you have one, just that anything in your life that day comes under and is a product of personal relationship with Him - all of you, not just you!! I pray that you each see yourselves the way God sees you - to see His love and forgivness yourselves!"
"miss my grandmother -----. Because she prayed for me. Daily. Every morning she called all 50-something of us by name before God!! Her kids, grands, and great grands! I miss her for many other things, too, but I know many things in my life are a by-product of her prayers for me. I considered it an honor to have them, all my life!"
Just smiling at the term "Curveball", my take on that is just Life doing it's own thing, as we set out the day with our Plans. Staying Grounded in the Program, watching out and checking daily on our own Attitude, do I have a Joyfull Heart, that is full of Gratitude, or is there some little hair on my Jacket, called life, that is just really bugging me and wondering how to remove it.
I had someone ask me a very "pointed" question last night, that for the most part was retorical, but oh did it ever set off, or turn on a Lightbulb in this head of mine.
The answer was right there in front of me, and as usual, had to do with something I do have control over, my own attitude. So with that question being in the front of my thoughts this morning, I set out and did make a list of "What is wrong in my life", followed by a question of how then can I change that. And also next to that, made a list of what is Right in my life.
Looked at both, and began to really get a laugh out of the first one. Details, details, details, they will change everyday, always, for as long as I am here. That is a Given. But how I preceive these details, some challenges for sure, but still, simple solution is right in Front of these details. Even now looking at my word I just put down on the board, challenging, well is breathing challenging, No, then how do I shift into looking at this challange as something other than a "Challenge"?????
I will find it in the Breath I take, and what I breath into, Humbleness and Gratitude to God. So very simple, and so as an Alcoholic, can still tend to make things so much more complicated than they are. Have learned in this Program, with the Awesome 12 Steps of this wonderful Program, to hold stedfast, and centered in the eye of a real storm in my life. There is no storm in my life today, but need to remember that I can remain Stedfast and Calm and Peaceful as Details, so many details come up, watch them pass, and just turn into some other detail, can be an observer, not a participant in getting into those details, no matter how much my own nature of wanting to get in there, analyze it, and then of course fix it.
I think I just let everyone see the inside of this somewhat crazy thinking that can go on, but hey, it is putting it on paper, that let's us vent and release.
That saying of "A TRUELY GRATEFUL ALCOHOL, DOES HAVE A REAL GOOD CHANCE AT STAYING SOBER IN THIS 24 HOURS". Simple choices, and Simple decisions, I am going with this for today. Thanks to all for reading the ramblings of an Alcoholic that can still suffer at times, but only after I make a decision to do just that. Release and let go, in each breath I take, and thanks to a very Loving God, I am Humbled my His Help this morning and so Grateful, Just for today. Thank You, God.
THE GLASS IS HALF FULL, YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Baloneykins
Just wanted to add a PS, after reading Ryan's Post that was not there, when I started, and thank you Ryan, for that awesome reminder of just try to see all others as God sees them, and we are Free, to just Love, no other emotion comes up, when you add that simple and Awesome formula. Thank you for another wonderful, and oh so honest sharing from the Heart.
Hmm...this seems a little Oprah'ish but I'll give it a try.
What am I grateful for?
1. My home. I have a nice little place by the beach in a beautiful city.
2. My dog. I love my dog, she understands me
3. My girlfriend. She seems to love me no matter how badly I mess up. (she really should have been number 1) Oops.
4. My health. I should be dead or the very least maimed...I'm pretty grateful that I'm not.
5. My mom. I have a good mom...when my conscience speaks to me it's in her voice.
6. My brain. I love to read and explore and learn...Not that I'm a genius, it's not like I discovered how to split the atom or anything but I've always felt lucky to have the mental abilities that I do.
7. My ability to feel compassion and empathy. Sometimes I wish I could be like Spock from Star Trek and be totally logical and rational but most times I'm grateful that I can feel for others. It makes me have a strong desire to help.
Wow, I really could go on and on...I'm actually a little ashamed of myself for the way I've been feeling lately. I've been all "woe is me" and "why does my life suck" when in reality it doesn't suck very much at all. I'm going to make a sincere effort at not being such a whiny little dick
The reason that we have our Thanksgiving here, before the US? We got all the turkeys...living up here eh....
Gotta boogie....Later
