sobriety

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Journey to Enlightenment

“… hug someone three times, breathing in and out with awareness. During the first hug, you both think about how, at some time — you don’t know when — you will no longer be here. During the second hug, you both focus on how, at some time — you don’t know when — the other person will no longer be here. During the third hug, you truly take in that you both are here now, together in this precious moment.” Thich Nhat Hanh’s Hugging Meditation, as outlined in Attitudes of Gratitude

Until this morning, I’d never heard of the Hugging Meditation. Leave it to Thitch to create a meditation that, not only brings in gratitude for the present moment, but allows me to share it with someone I love. I’m already feeling grateful just from discovering another secret path towards my journey to enlightenment! ILML!

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A Practical Recipe

“… a practical recipe for getting out of trouble… overcome any difficulty… have an open mind… stop thinking of the trouble, whatever it is… drive the thought of difficulty right out of your consciousness, substituting for it the thought of God. This is the crux of the whole thing.” – The Golden Key by Emmet Fox

This God thing is rough for a lot of people I know. How can we believe in something we can’t see? Why should we believe others that there is a God? If God exists, and is good, why all the bad stuff? I struggled for a long time with these questions until I just decided to believe 100%, knowing I may be just “pretending”. Today it doesn’t matter if God is or isn’t “real”. My truth is that my life is better with God in it – way better. I’m just way happier believing. Emmet’s Golden Key is a great reminder to me that if I think of my God (love, gratitude, peace), the problem loses its grip on my mind. I’m grateful for all the wonderful tools I continue to discover which show me how to love my life more fully. Everyday I’m super stoked that ILML! – James

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Sharing the Program

“… healthy meetings begin with me… I do my best to focus on sharing the positive rather than the negative… and encourage others to do the same… If a meeting doesn’t go well, I speak up and try to put in my share to get back on track.” Hope For Today

My favorite format for sharing at meetings is to first share a challenge I’ve recently experienced, then talk about how I applied the program to it, and finally describe the outcome, even if its just a better attitude or acceptance. This method of sharing is program-centered, makes me feel good about contributing to the fellowship, and helps remind others that our program offers solutions to problems other than just alcohol and drugs. And I learned this from watching other healthy members of our program share. I love the program, and ILML! – James