“Point imagination toward the right objectives… no man can build a house until he first envisions a plan for it.” – 12&12 p.100
After years of firmly believing that God was a figment of people’s imagination, I finally decided to create my own personal fig. Guess what happened? It worked! Life is way more fun with my higher power. I used my imagination again 3 years ago when I bought large a property with a small guest house on it in Maui. I started imagining and sketching out ideas for building main house in my journal, even though I had no financial resources to do so. Today that home is being built and it’s beyond my wildest dreams. When I use my imagination for good, do the footwork, and then really give the results to God, ILML!  

— JamieQ

“Unless you do specific things to raise your levels of happiness and energy and positivity, you will be continually sucked down. You have to take an active role in making yourself happy.” —Shay Carl Butler

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Here is the way I stay happy and love my life: (1) I search daily to increase my understanding and awareness of ways I can get into gratitude and love my life, (2) I take a daily inventory, writing down what’s going on in my life, getting it out of my brain and onto paper, (3) I practice being hyper-aware the moment I start to feel unhappy, (4) With this awareness, I immediately apply the tools I’ve been studying and learning to get me back into feeling good right away, and (5) I attempt to share the secrets of loving life with as many others as I can. By practicing these 5 principles every day, no matter what’s going on, ILML!

— JamieQ

“My mind is like a great big closet needing to be cleaned out on a regular basis… removing what doesn’t fit… rearranging what is left gives me a clearer picture of what I need to keep, what needs to be thrown away, and what I need to acquire.” – Reaching for Personal Freedom 

Each day, we experience and think about things — some healthy, some not so much. When we allow unhealthy thoughts to swirl around our minds with the healthy ones, it’s just not fun. That’s what it used to be like for me, before I started writing everyday in my journal. The process gives me the opportunity to remove my unhealthy thoughts, in a safe, private forum. I receive clarity in my life as my writing transforms those fears and discomforts into growth, recovery and gratitude. We don’t need to feel bad anymore. If you haven’t started journaling daily, I highly suggest starting right now. Pick up your journal, or buy one, and watch the bad feelings disappear. When I step up for myself, and insist on taking the actions that make me feel good, ILML! 

— JamieQ

“Life’s assignment is to live unselfishly… Our own burdens will lighten every time we show kindness… When we offer love freely… We also give a gift to ourselves…” —  In God’s Care

Do you ever feel bad? Silly question. Of course you do. At some point we all feel less than happy and stoked about life. Well here’s a secret to anyone who wants to stop feeling bad quickly. Be really nice and loving to someone – it doesn’t have to be the person you’re upset with. Find someone who could use your help, compassion or kindness. Be of service by being loving towards someone, anyone. Watch what happens. It’s impossible to stay in self-pity or resentment while we are being helpful, kind and loving to someone else. I do this often because every time I am truly unselfish and help others from my heart, ILML! 

“We can look the world in the eye. We can be alone at perfect peace and ease. Our fears fall from us… now we begin to have a spiritual experience.” – 12&12 p. 75

Does this promise sound pretty good? I can tell you, from personal experience, that it’s AMAZING! But let’s look at what comes before it in the book: A thorough personal inventory and sharing it with someone else whom we trust to be both gentle and encouraging. When we are brave enough to really dig into those parts of ourself that we would rather keep a secret, and have the courage to reveal everything about ourselves to another – holding nothing back – we discover that we are not nearly as hopeless, damaged or “bad” as we had thought. And more important, we then have the opportunity to be free of it all. I am only as sick as my secrets, but when I have nothing left to hide, ILML! 

– JamieQ

“Our relationship will improve dramatically when we stop rescuing others and stop expecting them to rescue us.” – The Language of Letting Go 

Firefighters, doctors, military, police and super heroes are expected to rescue others. The same goes for parents with very small kids, or those taking care of the very elderly or ill. However, even they aren’t in the business of rescuing people who have the ability to rescue themselves. The point is, I’m here to help others when they cannot help themselves. But the moment I start doing for them what they can and should do for themselves, I actually hurt more than help. It’s time to let go and let THEM, no matter how much we may still want to help. When I take care of me and allow them to take care of themselves, our relationship improves and ILML!   

– JamieQ

“I noticed that I had begun to be angry… I thought that other people and situations were to blame… the need to be right was robbing me of my serenity in all kinds of situations.” Courage to Change 

Just because they blame me doesn’t mean I’m to blame. And just because I think they’re wrong doesn’t make it so. When I’m right, your wrong and you feel bad. When you’re right, I’m wrong and I feel bad. There are no winners in the blame game. Instead, my goal is to allow those in my life to express their concerns with my behavior, acknowledge those concerns, and attempt to change the things I am doing that may be hurting our relationship. But they may not be in the same place as me. They may not be ready or willing to change, like I am – and that’s ok. It’s not my place to change them. Instead, I offer my concerns about their behavior only when asked OR if their behavior is so egregious that, unless it changes soon, I am leaving the relationship. This doesn’t make me a doormat. It makes me a person that works a great program and wants to be free of anger, because in doing so, ILML!  

– Jamie Q

“even the chief architect, standing in the ruins of his dream, could laugh at himself…” 12&12 p.149

This page, in Tradition 4, also talks about Rule Number 62: Don’t take yourself too damn seriously, and reminds me that “we aren’t a glum lot. If newcomers could see no joy or fun in our existence, they wouldn’t want it. We absolutely insist on enjoying life.” (pg 132, AA). The bottom line is that when I’m able to do as Milton D. suggests – especially when I perceive things as terrible – and “Lighten the f*ck up,” ILML! 

– JamieQ

“When we make the decision to turn our will over to the care of God, what are we actually doing? …we are saying “You decide. And then something miraculous happens. Peace descends upon us.” — In God’s Care

Here is what I think: God is not a man, an entity or a thing. God is too intangible to be explainable, too mysterious to be definable, and too boundless to be typecast. Our program suggests that we discover an understanding God that resonates for us personally. To me, God is not a loving and grateful entity, but rather IS the actual energy of love and gratitude. When I turn a problem over, I say “The energy I’m feeling around this situation is no longer comfortable. I surrender this to the energy of love and gratitude that I may be free of it, and goodness will descend upon all. ILML!”

“..(can I) accept my request being turned down.” Courage to Change 
This is a tough one for me. Not so much as it used to be, however, depending upon the place I am spiritually and mentally, having my (reasonable) requests denied can be very upsetting. Why is that? Could it possibly be because I have an expectation? Is it possible that I feel it’s unfair because…? When I run to the restroom desperate to use it, only to discover that it’s occupied, I’m in trouble. However, when I start running, then remember it may be occupied, if it turns out that it’s in use, I’m ok waiting. Likewise, prior to making a request, if I simply shift my expectation and assume the answer may be no, and I’m ok with that answer, I’m much more at peace if the answer turns out to be “No.” A great strategy because the more often I’m at peace, the more ILML! 

– JamieQ