The Place Where Serenity and Mindfulness Connect
Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose… That rang true for me in the past when I was closer to the bottom. Now it just sounds cynical and sad. Freedom today is just another word for appreciating all of life’s pleasures and treasures, and not the tangible things. Like the things on this list…
There are times when the question “What do you mean you don’t drink? Why not??” comes up. Recognizing that not everyone gets it, and I really don’t feel the need to explain anymore, I still sometimes want to say, “No, really it’s OK, in fact it’s better than OK – being a sober alcoholic in recovery is magical, it’s beyond my wildest dreams.” I looked up the definition of “sobriety.” No wonder people are distressed for me. Words like: somberness; solemnity; seriousness; sedateness; staidness; subdued; grave demeanor were there.
My alcoholism took root in the 70s, even though I thought I was having the time of my life. My memory is spotty, though it’s returning more and more as I develop the capacity to view it from a distance––all part of the mosaic portrait I am learning to accept with compassion and even love. Something I do remember from the 70s is the iconic songbook of Paul Williams. Songs people of my generation can probably sing word for word, even if we haven’t sung them in years. Rainy Days & Mondays; Just An Old Fashioned Love Song; We’ve Only Just Begun… and the list goes on and on.
By no means a complete list–really just a beginning, and I’m sure I’ve omitted some obvious ones. Feel free to add your favorites; I just like the number 12. Whether I pick up any of these to read a page, paragraph, chapter, or the whole thing, I always come away re-minded.
Our February “List Post” features a dozen wonderful quotes from New Thought and Recovery. Enjoy these words of wisdom from the likes of Ernest Homes, Bill W., Napoleon Hill, and other great teachers of Truth!
Welcome to 2018 and our first list post of this brand new anything-is-possible year. Here is a list of reminders in the form of affirmations, taken from a guided meditation by Gale Minchew.
There are 31 here – one for each day in this brand new month. They offer a good reminder of who you are, and how it works.
Which ones resonate with you?
These seven beautiful affirmations are offered by Mark Guay in a guided meditation entitled “Manifest your Unlimited Potential.” This meditation is based on the research of psychologist Abraham Maslow and uses the ancient practice of visualizing chakra centers. Chakra means “wheel of light” in Sanskrit. What a perfect time to share these as we close out a year that was full of events beyond imagination (many we love so much and others we would prefer not to have happened…).
When I first stopped drinking, I was unaware that it could be possible to enjoy things without alcohol or drugs. The alcohol was the centerpiece of any event I attended, and procuring it or making sure it was available was the first order of business. How wonderful to know that my full sensory enjoyment of simple things has magnified so much more than anything I thought was fun in my blurry, boozy haze of pseudo fun.