“I keep my mind focused on peace, harmony, health, love and abundance. Then I can’t be distracted by doubt, anxiety or fear.” – Edith Armstrong

Each day, hundreds of tiny, and sometimes big, wonderful things happen to me. I awaken, the sun shines, I smile. The list is long. I’m so grateful for each of them. But each day hundreds of other (not so fun) things happen too. Money is tight, I get some tough news, someone wasn’t nice to me. I don’t like those things much. So what to do? I surrender and focus on the GOoD stuff. When I find the courage and strength to let go of the difficulties, I make room for more of the happiness to flow back in, returning to the place where ILML! 

– JamieQ

“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly.” – Richard Bach

When I hang onto the past, particularly experiences where I was hurt or hurt others, I am stuck in a cocoon of darkness. No light gets in. But by really embracing the program, and inviting tons of loving, kind, optimistic, healing ideas into my mind, I begin to shed my old skin and come into the light, allowing me to share it with others. I become a butterfly and soar the sky. Today I will fly free because ILML! 

JamieQ

“When your heart has been closed in anger or fear, only the power of love can open it.” – Until Today
It’s easy for me to know if my heart is closed towards someone or even myself. When I think about them or myself do I feel upset? Sometimes my heart is closed in fear or anger because I’ve been hurt or made mistakes. But is the price worth it? When I am ready to stop being upset I can reconnect with source and give my thanks for the gifts in my life. I can read from books that invite gratitude, abundance and optimism. I can journal out all the stuff in my head and text out a gratitude list to others. Am I ready yet? When I use the tools to change my mind and open up my heart, once again, I’m ready to yell out “ILML!”

– JamieQ

“Today I accept myself (and others) as imperfect and allow myself (and them)  to make mistakes.” – Adapted from Hope For Today 

There’s a pattern that happens when I am discontent. I find someone to blame. Sometimes it’s me. Sometimes it’s them. When I react to this upsettedness instead of responding I end up with an emotional hangover. I believe my dis-ease, that voice that whispers (and sometimes yells) into my head, is always looking for mistakes and problems – things to worry or feel bad about. Today I’ll be aware who’s talking to me. If it’s my dis-ease I’ll treat him like a telemarketer and just hang up the phone. Life is too precious to waste time listening to him anymore. ILML!  

– JamieQ

“We are all a little wacky”. – In God’s Care

If you ask my wife or kids if I’m a nut they will all say “Absolutely!” I listen to loud music in the mornings while dancing and singing (sometimes Brittany Spears). I obsess about weird things like if my belly looks fat or not. I get upset if the Netfix show takes too long to start. And a million other weird things. But that’s what makes us all unique – we have quirky little quirks. Today I’m enjoying my nuttiness instead of being so rigid and serious. As the Middleton Group #1, Rule #62 said “Don’t take yourself too damn seriously.” And today I don’t intend too. ILML! 

– Jamie

“When we’re in touch with the wonders of life, we become aware of many conditions of happiness that are already there, and naturally we feel happy.” – Thitch Nhat Han

So many books are written about being in the moment? Living in the now. I used to feel that some of the moments I was in were causing me terrible pain and suffering. The truth was, I was usually creating a painful experience in that moment by focusing my attention on some hurt in the past or unrealized fear in the future. As a result, my living in the moment wasn’t really living in the moment. Today, when I look around to realize how truly blessed I am to be alive and healthy, when I let go of the past and stop fearing the future, I am living in the moment and ILML! 

– JamieQ

“… we abandon limited objectives…” – 12&12 p.69

Before the program I could never a acheive my objectives: to be successful, to have lots of amazing friends, to make a bunch of money, to have a lot of nice things, to do whatever I wanted, to fall in love, to have great kids, and to live happily ever after. So why now, only after joining the program and doing my rituals consistently have I been able to acheive all these goals? Because I work a great program, I love the man I’m becoming, I have a great core group of others who support me, I give back with no expectation of reward, and this giving is a great reward unto itself. And so abundance continues to rain down upon me as I put my program and service to others ahead of all else. Plus I receive the ultimate bonus, which is that ILML! 

– JamieQ

“… (they’ve) tapped an inner resource which they presently identify with their own conception of a Power greater than themselves.” – AA page 184
Today I have an amazing relationship with a higher power that is personal to me. But it took a long, long time for me to believe. I’m a hard headed intellectual who needs empirical evidence. One day on the radio I heard “God is a make believe friend for grown ups.” That night I wrote down the qualities I would want in a make-believe god/friend. Today my friendship with god is stronger than ever. So where is the empirical evidence? My life is way easier, I’m happier, and I feel more at peace with my higher power. I choose to believe, and as a result ILML! That’s plenty of evidence for me to keep believing. 

– JamieQ

“I will turn away from negativity, self-doubt, and fear, and celebrate life instead.” – Courage to Change

It’s so easy for me to see when I’m worried about something, doubting my capabilities or just being negative – and I’m never happy being in that place. The good news is that there is a solution. Once I’m aware of the problem I can choose to take action to realign myself with gratitude and instantly start feeling good again. I just grab my spiritual backpack, read out of a few books, share it with someone else and boom.. ILML! (It really is that easy 🙂

– JamieQ

“We’re fortunate to have the program to guide us…” – In God’s Care

The most important thing was to get, and keep, as much stuff as I could. Money, property, prestige. This would surely make me happy, right? Wrong. I was working the program backwards. There’s nothing wrong with stuff, provided it follows the most important objective: becoming a good, self-loving, other-loving and life-loving person. When I, first and foremost, focus on achieving this goal, and then do the footwork to create abundance, I get to be happy, joyous and free whether the stuff comes or not. This is a very important lesson the program taught me. Today, no matter how much (or how little) stuff I have, ILML! 

– JamieQ