Readings

For Today: "Solitude is bearable only with God." Andre Gide "I can keep busy, work hard to keep solitude at bay. There comes a time, however, when i am alone with myself. When I feel the presence of my Higher Power, I let my thoughts wander into shadowy crevices, unafraid, and I learn much that I did not know before. I experience truths such as, 'Fear has been a fact of my life.' Felt as a fact, it no longer seeps into every facet of my existence, and i am no longer its victim. Without solitude, I would not have seen that truth. Without the company of my Higher Power, I could not venture into solitude, a place devoid of distraction, where I am face to face with myself. For today: in conscious contact with God, I easily face what I cannot bear to look at otherwise." -- Voices of Recovery "...God loves us in our totality and is willing and able to help us in everything we do . . . God will help us with every decision, even food choices and amounts." Wow, nice. "Some of the most powerful tools in our 'kit of spiritual tools' are the simplest. Our job is to open the toolbox and use one. asking our higher Power to feed us is one of those simple, yet powerful, tools that never fails us if we reach for it. I know that God would never hand me anything that would harm me oe poison my life. Only the disease does that. only the disease tells me that poison is a treat. If I pause and ask before i make a decision about food or amounts, there will be a loving, peaceful space created in my day, and I will intuitively know what and how God would feed me if invited to do so. And when I listen and follow through with this sure guidance, that loving, peaceful feeling follows me throughout my day, and I know that I am loved, guided, and guarded always." Oh my, I think this one is positively profound! -- In This Moment: In This Moment, i stand my ground. "My boundary has been violated. What do I do? It took all the courage i had just to set it. I spent hours in support groups to find the courage to state it. i found my power. i spoke my truth. I stated my limit. I trusted God. Now; someone is stomping all over it. Can i stand my ground? This is a test: Can i defend my boundary now that I've stet it? Oh yet! With my Higher Power's help I can. This is 'walking through the fire.' There are gems of wisdom to be found in the ashes." -- The Language Of Letting Go: Opening Ourselves to Love "Allowing ourselves to receive love is one of the greatest challenges we face in recovery. Many of us have blocked ourselves from receiving love. We may have lived with people who used love to control us. They would be there for us, but at the high price of our freedom. Love was given, or withheld, to control us and have power over us. It was not safe for us to receive love from these people. We may have gotten accustomed to not receiving love, not acknowledging our need for love, because we lived with people who had no real love to give. At some point in recovery, we acknowledge that we, too, want and need to be loved. We may feel awkward with this need. Where do we go with it? What do we do? Who can give us love? How can we determine who is safe and who isn't? How can we let others care for us without feeling trapped, abused, frightened, and unable to care for ourselves? We will learn. The starting point is surrender - to our desire to be loved, our need to be nurtured and loved. e will grow confident in our ability to take care of ourselves with people. We will feel safe enough to let people care for us; we will grow to trust our ability to choose people who are safe and who can give us love. We may need to get angry first - angry that our needs have not been met. Later, we can become grateful to those people who have shown us what we don't want, the ones who have assisted us in the process of believing we deserve love, and the ones who come into our life to love us. We are opening up like flowers. Sometimes it hurts as the petals push open. Be glad. Our heart is opening up to the love that is and will continue to be there for us. Surrender to the love that is there for us, to the love that people, the Universe, and our higher Power send our way. Surrender to love, without allowing people to control us or keep us from caring for ourselves. Start by surrendering to love for yourself. Today, I will open myself to the love that is here for me. i will let myself receive love that is safe, knowing i can take care of myself with people. i will be grateful to all the people from my past who have assisted me in my process of opening up to love. i claim, accept, and am grateful for the love that is coming to me." -- Love Is the Way. Thich Nhat Hanh, on my calligraphy from him. ==