Hand the Tiller Over

Well, more will be revealed, indeed.  I logged out then logged back in and this seems to have resolved the problem of not being able to use the "compose" mode.  Wonderful!  Now, hopefully I remember this is the solution...jeesh.

Anyway, Tuesdays continue to be a bit of a challenge in writing my blog.  I put this in my Higher Power's Hands because it seems no matter what I say, no matter how I say it...I keep "failing" to get it done.

Well, life keeps rolling on.  Thank GOD.  What a privilege!  The hard part of life is not living life to its fullest.  How hard it is to enjoy, relax, breathe, look around with fascinated eyes, loving each precious moment, squeezing the up most wonder of living...just living.  Jeesh.  Not fixating on how much money, prestige, power I can get...take from others.  Not obsessing on control, food, clothes, shoes, sugar, alcohol, sex, etc. to stuff my body, mind and soul with.  Instead...

Pause...relax...turn it all over to my Higher Power...trust it's all covered...then do my part to stay the heck out of the way, keep the channel open, hands-off!  LOL  Sounds so easy but it's hard for me to remember!  Easy Does It...I guess I'll forgive myself for all the mistakes I make on a daily basis.  And I forgive you, too.  :)

Hope for Today, p.269, "Today I humbly asked for help, "Show me the way off this merry-go-round," I prayed.  "Draw me closer and show me how to trust YOU."...Although I cannot do anything about the waves rolling into my life, I can hand the tiller of my life over to GOD and trust that I will be steered to safety."

Dear Lord GOD Creator Almighty, how precious the gifts of YOUR love, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, protection, guidance and care.  YOUR majesty, power and grace permeate all creation, all that was-is-will be-and might be.  Thank YOU for the privilege to be here and the honor to be of service to YOUR Divine Will.  As YOU Will.  Love, Carol

Winning the Battle on the Battlefield of Spiritual Warfare

I'm really enjoying the readings this morning. Again, an opportunity presents itself for me to work this 12 Step program...Bring the focus back on me, myself and I in how I am contributing to the problems I face?

One Day At A Time In Alanon, p. 267, "This is the best reason for detaching our minds and our emotions from the minute by minute conflict and seeking a peaceful, orderly way of life within ourselves. If we stop fighting out every incident that happens, absence of an active adversary is bound to bring about wholesome changes in the home environment and everyone in it....I will not try to outwit or outmanuever anyone else, but will proceed quietly to live my life so I will have less reason for self-reproach. I will withdraw my mind from what others do, and think of what I am doing. I will not react to challenging words and actions." A quote from Epictetus, "When you are offended at any man's fault, turn to yourself and study your own failings. Then you will forget your own anger."

Dear Sweet Lord GOD Almighty Creator, thank YOU for the privilege to live Life, to love and to be loved. Thank YOU for the wonders of this world and the multiple opportunities YOU provide us all to turn our lives and our wills over to YOUR care, guidance, protection and love. Lord, please help me to be of service to YOU and my brothers and sisters of the Spirit. As YOU Will. Love, Carol xoxox

Turning To the Light

Well, it's an interesting time. I go from the laptop to the desktop. Each one has it's challenges. Jeesh. Oh...lest I forget. Obstacles are actually opportunities. Turn boulders into stepping stones. Blah-blah. Easy to say...hard as heck to do! LOL

A couple of nuggets I found on today's reading excursions:

Day by Day..."When we practice living truth and love, the light of our Higher Power will shine through us." This reminds me of when I was a little girl holding my hand up to the light. The light glowed through, lit it up, the flesh translucent, reddish in hue.   Fascinating.

Daily Reflections...aha! Found this on the Web!  Click here...  Daily Reflections  GOD is good...

One Day at a Time in Alanon...September 1..."When our problems enclose us and saturate our thoughts, we find ourselves in an isolation that gives us an acute sense of loneliness.  We may confide in friends, but underneath we feel nobody understands what we are going through.

"Dwelling on our troubles only shuts out a world that is waiting to be enjoyed.  Nothing has real power to deprive us of the delights to be found in many daily experiences---even a routine household task, well done...I may have big troubles but I can, if I will, make them less painful by turning my thoughts to happier things.  I will not isolate myself in my problems.  I will observe and enjoy what is good and pleasant in the world around me.

":Let me not deprive myself of the many little joys that are mine for the taking."

September 9..."...an eye-opening, mind-opening question to ask myself:  What am I doing with what I got?  Instead of crying over what I don't have, and wishing my life were different, what am I doing with what I've got?..."GOD make me grateful for all the good things I have been taking for granted."

September 10..."Let not thy thoughts dwell upon the days of thy sorrows, but rather on those which brought thee brightness and peace."

Courage to Change, August 20..."...as I stumble by, I don't have to do better or differently.  The best that I can do is good enough.  I can relax and enjoy..."Sometimes we try so hard that we fail to see that the light we are seeking is within us."

September 9..."But I listen.  And through other people, my Higher Power does for me what I cannot do for myself.  Someone in the meeting shares and expresses the very feelings I am afraid to describe.  My world suddenly widens, and I feel a little safer.  I am no longer alone....A quote from the Navajo rain dance ceremony,

 "As I walk, as I walk,
The universe is walking with me."

September 10..."But I can forgive my extreme responses to extreme situations, knowing that I did the best I could at the time.  Today I can be honest and still be gentle with myself...."Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster."---Friedrich Nietzsche

Dear Sweet Lord GOD Almighty Creator, thank YOU so much for the bounty of YOUR blessings and love.  Thank YOU for this breath of Life.  Thank YOU for the multiple opportunities YOU give us to learn our proper place in YOUR Creation.  To learn to love and to be loved.  To extend our wills to submit to YOU.  As YOU Will.  Grant us the courage, the knowledge and the willingness to hand it all over to YOU.  One day at a time, sometimes one minute
at a time and maybe one second at a time depending on where we are on our hero's journey.  We love YOU, Lord.  Love, Carol xoxox

A Wild Time...

Well, it's been wild this past week.  A floor was installed in my room and the walls painted.  In the meantime I slept on the sofa.  Usually not a hard place to fall asleep on while watching TV.  Somehow, the experience is not the same when it was because my bed is in storage.  Jeesh.  Now, I know I didn't h-a-v-e to sleep there.  But I did.   Sleep is not really the word that comes to mind.  I felt uncomfortable, put-out, imposed on.  I didn't want to.  So for 3 nights my martyr role skewed my reality.  I'm a nut...not because I go there...I stay there.

I used to stay there for weeks, months, years on end.  Now, I've had a taste of the good life, a sober life, a sane life...I'm no longer willing to stay in the abyss.  And I know what to do...call my sponsor, go to a meeting, work the Steps, help someone else, journal, etc.

Yesterday I chaired a meeting, discharged some of the material, grieved.  Then turned it over to the group, got back on track.  We shared our experience, strength and hope.  Thank GOD.

Dear Lord GOD Creator, thank YOU for the blessings and opportunities YOU bestow...as YOU Will.  Love, Carol xoxox