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A Treasure Hunt

“look at the sunny side of everything… forget the mistakes of the past… give every living creature you meet a smile…” — Christian D. Larson, Promise Yourself

Be optimistic. Forgive ourselves. Spread joy. We are searchers on a quest to increase our level of happiness and peace in this world. Each day we discover new, and revisit old, tools that help us on our path. The more we actually use them, the happier we become. We are on a treasure hunt – one that yields the best gifts of all: love, peace, happiness, serenity, success, & laughter. ILML!

– JamesQ

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The First Step

Adapted from C2C “I must recognize my fear, I must say those prayers, and I must have faith as I wait for healing… The first step in learning to respond more effectively to others is to learn to respond more effectively to myself.”

The plane is going down everyday – metaphorically speaking of course! But just like that emergency situation, I must put the mask on myself first and THEN help others. iLmL

– RichieB

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Works for Me!

“When I continue to take personal inventory and amend my wrongs, I can live peacefully…” Hope For Today

Another secret to life loving right there. This parallels what they say in step 10 in the 12&12 “these minutes and sometimes hours spent in self-examination are bound to make all the other hours of our day better and happier.” Works for me! ILML!

– JamesQ

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Awareness, Surrender & Faith

“I’ve often heard that courage is fear that has said its prayers… recognize those fears… say those prayers… have faith…” Courage to Change

Three friends in recovery share their daily gratitude lists with me via email, and I send them mine. One of them wrote about their gratitude for awareness of negative thinking. For me this usually is traceable to some kind of fear. Through awareness, surrender and faith I can let go of all negativity and fear, replacing it with positivity and love. That’s the wonderful plan for my day. ILML!

– JamesQ

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Feel all the Good

“… When we believe that our feelings are a true reflection of reality, rather than our own personal reaction to a situation, we hold on tightly to our negativity and don’t allow a scrap of gratitude to enter in. – Attitudes of Gratitude in Love

When I’ve found myself imprisoned by my feelings of suffering, and I believe that it’s a justifiable reflection of my situation, I am living a lie. I am in my dis-ease. Life does not dictate my feelings, rather I have the power to choose how I want to feel. And by choosing to feel good, and focusing on gratitude, I change my life experience for the better. So the next time you feel down, be strong. Choose to look at all the good. Now actually FEEL all the good. I promise that your life will get better. Just another reason why ILML!

– JamesQ

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God will Catch Me

“… living the Steps requires two primary acts… 1st, I must surrender whatever it is about myself or someone else that I am trying to control… And 2nd I need to trust that my HP is there for me… When I forget about the faith part, I take back my worries over and over again…” – Adapted from Hope For Today

This reading reminds me that if I let go, God will catch me. Today I surrender my expectations and control. I have faith that my HP’s plan for the outcome (not necessarily mine) of situations in my life will keep me feeling happy, joyous and free. I cease fighting anything and everything. Today I’ll be aware if I find myself frustrated and I’ll just surrender and join back up with the winning (aka loving & happy) side. I insist on loving my life, which is exactly why ILML!

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Ask for Help

“There are many things that I can do to improve my life and to further my recovery, but I cannot heal myself. Today I can ask for help in becoming free of all that blocks me from my true self.”

– Courage to Change

Most days I believe it is up to me to take care of all my responsibilities and “heal myself.” The truth of the matter is that those days in which I neglect a power greater than myself and/or asking for help from those around me, I am less content and less effective. Today I’m going to ask for help. Sometimes it’s just that simple. iLmL

– Richie

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Super Duper Happy

“The first thing apparent was that this world and its people were often quite wrong… (that was) as far as most of us ever got.” Big Book p. 65-67

The blame game is so lame. It fuels the addiction to drama that dominated my life before recovery. Whether I blame them, feel victimized & get angry or blame myself and slip into self-pity, the end result is an emotional hangover. No thank you. The solution is to be conscious if I am blaming and STOP IT! Instead, I plug into gratitude and acceptance. I alone am in charge of how happy I want to be. Today I’m going for super duper happy. Join me! ILML

– JamesQ

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Living Abundantly

“The difference between “the boys and the men” is the difference between striving for a self determined objective and for the perfect objective which is of a higher power.”
– Daily Reflections

To me this means that holding onto my self will, selfishness, and ego keeps me separated from a HP, keeps me immature, and stops me from growing into the man I’m supposed to be. From being “entirely ready to have God remove these defects of character”, I get to become a man and take another step towards living abundantly as we are meant to live. ILML!

– JasonW

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Flimsy Reed

“What seemed at first a flimsy reed, has proved to be the loving and powerful hand of God. A new life has been given us or, if you prefer, “a design for living” that really works.” – BB PG 28

This is my story. From disbelief to belief. I am grateful for my painful, dark past and the growth I’ve found through working a program in AA. iLmL

– RichieB