The trouble is not that we are never happy–it is that happiness is so episodical. –Ruth Benedict Happiness is our birthright. The decision to be happy is ours to make, every day, when confronted with any experience. Too many of us grew up believing that life needed to be a certain way for us toContinue reading “Finding Happiness Within – Each Day A New Beginning July 13th”
Category Archives: Trust
Reclaimed By Something Deeper – Daily Meditation February 20th 2024 By Richard Rohr
Richard Rohr connects the spiritual journey to how we respond to our suffering. I believe that only people who have suffered in some way can save one another—exactly as Twelve Step programs have discovered. Deep communion and dear compassion are formed much more by shared pain than by shared pleasure. I do not know whyContinue reading “Reclaimed By Something Deeper – Daily Meditation February 20th 2024 By Richard Rohr”
Our Design For Living – Each Day A New Beginning September 14th
What a strange pattern the shuttle of life can weave – Francis Marion How shortsighted is our judgment about today’s experiences! We’ll see with clarity where they may lead us only after we’ve reached our destination. Of one thing we can be certain: Today’s experiences, in concert with yesterday’s and all that’s gone before, areContinue reading “Our Design For Living – Each Day A New Beginning September 14th”
A Circle Of Friends – Grapevine Article December 1992 By Jim D.
I was a loner all my life. I was always scared and ashamed. I was poor, I lived in a dilapidated house, and my alcoholic father put my family through hell. I never had any friends. I despised alcohol for dealing me such a rotten break in life. As an adult, I vowed never toContinue reading “A Circle Of Friends – Grapevine Article December 1992 By Jim D.”
Persist Or Let Go – Touchstone Reflection July 3rd
Vitality shows not only in the ability to persist but in the ability to start over.—F. Scott Fitzgerald Many situations require fierce persistence, but in others we need to start over. Early in recovery, most of us haven’t had a good way of knowing the difference. Perhaps with every challenge we tried harder and heldContinue reading “Persist Or Let Go – Touchstone Reflection July 3rd”
Our Secrets Keep Us Stuck – Each Day A New Beginning June 30th
. . . in silence might be the privilege of the strong, but it was certainly a danger to the weak. For the things I was prompted to keep silent about were nearly always the things I was ashamed of, which would have been far better aired . . . –Joanna Field It has beenContinue reading “Our Secrets Keep Us Stuck – Each Day A New Beginning June 30th”
The Care Of God – Grapevine Article December 1999 By Liz B.
Faith in a power greater than myself is something that I’m very grateful for today. But that wasn’t true in my early sobriety. For the first five years of my sobriety, I couldn’t grasp the idea that something else was in control of my life. I really thought that I was in control. Just askContinue reading “The Care Of God – Grapevine Article December 1999 By Liz B.”
Patiently Accepting Love To Overcome Self-Hate Touchstone Reflection June 24th
The only intrinsic evil is lack of love.—John Robinson When we have feelings of self-hate, we have spiritual problems. It is a time to turn to our program for help. In the early stages of recovery, we may, at times, feel more shameful than we ever did before, simply because we are becoming honest aboutContinue reading “Patiently Accepting Love To Overcome Self-Hate Touchstone Reflection June 24th”
Think, Think, Think! Grapevine Article August 2023 By Jim C.
The sign was upside-down—but so was his thinking! I was 21 when I went to my first AA meeting. I enjoyed it. I felt I was home and with my people and for once in the right place. At that first meeting I met a friend and former drinking buddy named “Big Dan.” He cameContinue reading “Think, Think, Think! Grapevine Article August 2023 By Jim C.”
Enduring Loss; Reclaiming Joy – A Spiritual Principle A Day June 16th
“We come to understand that happiness is an inside job, a spiritual experience that can get stronger with recovery. We find that no matter what happens on the outside, joy can still live within us.” Living Clean, Chapter 7, “Love” As far as spiritual principles go, joy is uncomplicated. It can be elusive, however. InContinue reading “Enduring Loss; Reclaiming Joy – A Spiritual Principle A Day June 16th”