Wednesday 10 April 2013

Alcoholics Anonymous | April 10 2013 | DonInLondon | Step 4 "Fear Less Inventory"

Alcoholics Anonymous | April 10 2013 | DonInLondon | Step 4 "Fear Less Inventory" What is spiritual? "Spiritual direction is a process of accompanying people on a spiritual journey and helping them grow closer to God (or the sacred, the holy, or a higher power). Spiritual direction helps people learn how to live in peace, with compassion, promoting justice, and as humble servants of that which lies beyond all names..." In my life, and this is my personal opinion, spiritual is the universal truth, love and wisdom of now. Everything is spiritual, and in the moment, we develop the truth and love through action. The opposite or negative spiritual: lies, hate and ignorance. Like vices and virtues, we all have the capacity as we are on our spiritual journey to be positively spiritual and negatively spiritual, it depends on our intentions and actions. And what we actually do today…

Video For Today:

Alcoholics Anonymous DonInLondon "Everything Is Spiritual"

"Nothing, absolutely nothing is wasted in God's economy..." When we express that something has been a waste of time, we forget that as human beings we are all learning together and separately on our spiritual journey today. I know my notion of spiritual is not for everyone, because I am still unable to describe God, beyond the universal truth of now, which includes everything, people, places and things, and how we are developing and coping one day at a time. Universal truth is far bigger and greater than me, because I don't know the universal truth of now. Like everyone else, the truth of now is as good as it gets, and then the truth changes as people, places and things change. Living reality is spiritual, nothing excluded, and everything to learn. Everyone is a learner in this day, even when we do not think we have made progress and feel the "waste of time," nothing is wasted unless we keep on doing the same things over and over and expect a different result…

 

I'm sure that the last couple of days in the UK has brought up a lot of wounds which have happened over the decades because of leaders and their particular outlooks and values. And these are spiritual matters, everything is spiritual in this world. And to suggest that the diversity of beliefs and opinions which make people the way they are ought not to be included in any sort of debate makes the spiritual life a very narrow and difficult state of affairs. The recall of our UK Parliament to discuss the death of a previous prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, it is a spiritual matter and the consequences of treating her death and her funeral as a matter of "state" will cause problems. The cost, 10,000,000 pounds, that will provoke some people, and what provokes most people to one side or another is what the iron Lady did whilst in power. There is no point in me elaborating any further, it is a spiritual matter which has been made bigger and broader because of the desire to place value far and above that which is deserved and that which is fostered as a political ideology. This is the truth of now, and then the truth will keep on changing about this matter and it is spiritual, as people, places and things are impacted by events today and each day subsequently...

 

How does diversity, tolerance and love affect me in sobriety? The celebration of a politician with iron will and notoriety for being determined and expressing clear views about what they wanted to do, and then did it. There is no argument, about what happened and what Margaret Thatcher did in my own mind. I simply disagree with the direction she took our country and the impact on people, places and things. And the good news in our country is we can disagree, and we have the political system which allows everyone their point of view. The reason I mention this is because in the world of fellowship, we have a right to be here, we have a right to be ourselves and we recognise diversity, and above all, we recognise our similarities as human beings. I am allowed to express my opinion, and you are allowed to express your opinion, I hope you do, because without you and your opinion, how on Earth am I ever going to get to the truth, which is important right now?

 

In my family, my mum and dad probably had very different views politically, and yet without doubt, they loved each other dearly. Having different beliefs and opinions did not get in the way of love. And chatting with my sister yesterday, who did not get a fair hearing ever from my dad, she loved him, even though he was the most difficult individual with very abusive verbal behaviour towards anything that did not suit him. And I agree, I loved my dad, but he was so full of prejudice. It made it very difficult to see beyond his views on life and love the man who we was. But we did love him. And at the same time, we often hated his behaviour and what he did. This is all part of being human and spiritual. I'm pretty sure my father hated what Margaret Thatcher represented, at the same time, he would have respected her? No, I respected her right to do what she did, my father simply was prejudiced in all respects. And the spiritual path for me, I can have my own belief and opinion about anything, and people may still love me. And I do believe within fellowship, the understanding which helps me most is: we can love people, and hate their behaviour at the same time. And hopefully the same is true, the other way round, sometimes people will dislike our opinions, beliefs and outlooks, and still love us as we love them…

 

So how am I feeling this morning? What is really important to me is to understand where I am today. I do not feel anger or hate about anything, I feel I've come to terms with lots of what has happened over the years. And the reason why is because fellowship started me back on a journey of discovery, and one of the things reinforced from step four is that everyone has a right to be here today. No matter what, no matter what has happened in the past, I would prefer everyone to be loved and cared for, to bring out the best of humanity in all its peculiarities. To respect and honour truth, to keep on learning the truth, to keep on learning about love and how to be with people. To be generous and forgiving, we don't forget, what we learn if we are lucky is how to cherish the good and love the good of people even when they hold different beliefs and different opinions, because how else would we learn the best path forward, not just for today, for every day…

 

 

Alcoholics Anonymous | April 10 2012 | DonInLondon | Step 4 "Fear Less Inventory" Today's AA daily reflection: "all about growing up…" This is particularly poignant this morning, I have an appointment with a medical consultant this morning. And to aid the discussion of my physical and emotional health, I have written a brief history of my life from 1967 to date. And it's all about growing up…

Video For Today:

2009 - 2012

April in the daily reflections from AA is all about step four and writing a brief summary of what happened to me is very enlightening, disturbing and very fruitful. First and foremost accepting the past and what happened, the why and how. Knowing what my part in matters were and how I can change on a daily basis, sometimes making progress, no actually always making progress, especially at the extremes of good and bad times…

 

I've been in touch with an old friend, actually I'm not sure what the status of our relationship is. But I'm reminded just how difficult those early days in recovery are especially when returning to sobriety one day at a time. So easy to forget how fearful it was to come to a meeting of the Fellowship. And in those early days, newcomers meetings and stopping the drink and returning to sobriety is against all the odds…

 

Self-appraisal, an honest and fearless look at what happened in our lives, is truly difficult. Why me? Why not me? Then a brief history and then a thorough fearless look at assets and liabilities. Step four shows us how resilient and tenacious we have been even when we have been self-harming. And the prejudice we have against ourselves becomes clear as we continue our journey and live the twelve steps... Letting go and letting good happen, endeavour and acceptance and as we let go self-prejudice our prejudice against others may disappear with time… Especially when we are reminded what it is like to be a newcomer every day…

 

DonInLondon 2005-2011 

 

Fear and suspicion in early days kept me looking for the cracks in fellowship, or that there was something more than what I saw on a daily basis. I realised there was nothing but what I saw was what there was, a huge diversity of people with one similarity, to be unique and authentic individuals free and sober for today...

 

"Now" is about endeavour, understanding the possible, striving with hope and living the truth of now ~ Thomas Kempis "Great tranquillity of heart is his who cares for neither praise nor blame." -/- Right sized and equal with our fellows.. life is what it is

-/-

AA Daily Reflection: GROWING UP ~ The essence of all growth is a willingness to change for the better and then an unremitting willingness to shoulder whatever responsibility this entails. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 115

Sometimes when I’ve become willing to do what I should have been doing all along, I want praise and recognition. I don’t realize that the more I’m willing to act differently, the more exciting my life is. The more I am willing to help others, the more rewards I receive. That’s what practicing the principles means to me. Fun and benefits for me are in the willingness to do the actions, not to get immediate results. Being a little kinder, a little slower to anger, a little more loving makes my life better-day by day.

-/-

As Bill Sees It ~ Surveying the Past ~ We should make an accurate and really exhaustive survey of our past life as it has affected other people. In many instances we shall find that, though the harm done to others has not been great, we have nevertheless done ourselves considerable injury. Then, too, damaging emotional conflicts persist below the level of consciousness, very deep, sometimes quite forgotten. Therefore, we should try hard to recall and review those past events which originally induced these conflicts and which continue to give our emotions violent twists, thus discolouring our personalities and altering our lives for the worse... "We reacted more strongly to frustration than normal people. By reliving these episodes and discussing them in strict confidence with somebody else, we can reduce their size and therefore their potency in the unconscious." 1. TWELVE AND TWELVE, PP. 79-80 2. LETTER, 1957

-/-

Alcoholics Anonymous, 12 Steps AA, AA Step 4 Inventory, DonInLondon, Don Oddy,

-/-

Just For Today, and every day cherish always...

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April 2013 | AA Big Book Playlist        

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFF5F3EC98C6012A4

April 2013 | AA Twelve Step Playlist        

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3BFA6062268A289D

April 2013 | AA Step Four Reading Video Link:

April 2013 | AA Video Reading How It Works:     


April 2013 | AA Video Reading A Vision For You:    


April 2013 | Video Daily Playlist Step Four:    

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9C8658CBFCF357E

AA Official Online Site: Daily Reflections

http://www.aa.org/lang/en/aareflections.cfm

AA Official Online Site: Big Book And Twelve And Twelve

http://www.aa.org/lang/en/subpage.cfm?page=359

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