String of Pearls 48-55

String of Pearls 48

The following ideas have helped me.

I’m taking care of business: mine not yours.
What can I occupy myself with that is different from the the thing with which I am obsessing.
The quality of my problems is improving.
If I can not comfortably say no, it is not a relationship.
Do I give myself away so that people will like me?
Some new what ifs: What if I trust? What if I rest? What if I give up worry?
I am finally getting it. The only person with the ability to meet my needs is me.
Sometimes the love at a meeting rolls over me like the surf. It comes to me in waves, over and over and over again.
I most likely have the very thing I most deeply long to have. I just need eyes to see it, ears to hear it, a nose to catch it’s fragrance, and nerve endings to feel it’s caress.
A necessary life skill I need to prosper: Living with pain in a way I can learn from it.

The following ideas have helped me.

Live large. Let God make you bold.
Addiction is that situation where you never get enough of what you down deep really don’t want.
If I am uncomfortable with wealth, and plan on going to Heaven where the streets are gold, Heaven will be Hell.
The main problem I have today is I fail to ask for help.
When I am in my disease, and while tying my shoes my shoelace breaks, I respond, “The world sucks and I want to die.”
I used to try to live my life as part of the “Hallmark” world.
I love change when I get to decide what is going to change.
I do love change. Especially quarters.
In the 11th step, there is frequently a time gap between “A knowledge of his will” and “The power to carry it out”.
When I accept my helplessness [powerlessness], I lessons my need tohelp less and so I escape some of my codependency.
Being en_Tire-ly ready to have God remove my character defects, frequently it is because I am so tired.

The following ideas have helped me.

When in doubt, doubt. [Don’t just do something, sit there]
WOW Experience: Without Words.
HOW: Honesty, Objectivity, Worthiness.
When I LET GO in regard to my past, I LET GOD bring my heart’s desires into my present.
When I begin my decision making deliberations with the question,”What do I need?” I end up with healthier decisions. When I begin my thinking with the question, “What does the other person need?” my decisions do not work out as well.
Striving to be perfect inevitably makes me likely to be more imperfect.
Striving to be perfect is like dressing myself in a straight jacket.
When I manipulate people, I wound people.
When I feel I have to manipulate people to get my needs met, I reinforce the idea that I am inadequate. When I arrange my life so my needs are met, I empower myself.

The following are ideas that helped me.

Difficulties have the potential to help me clean up the wounds of the past. At times though, processing some difficulties feels like I am being Rotor-Rootered emotionally.
I don’t see until I see, or hear until I hear. Things take time.
My anger is loud, but my rage is often loud.
Never kill someone else’s Buddha.
I never want to rob a person of their dignity again by manipulating them.
I need praise far more than I need criticism, but I am far more likely to take criticism to heart.
I can’t shame myself into better thinking.
My disease’s solution when I am low is to go into the basement and dig holes.
Being authentic is often messy.
My worse character defects are my character assets that I don’t manage.

The following ideas have helped me.

I can start brand new anytime.
I frequently need to turn my eyes back on myself.
I learned about love in the movies, not in my home.
Keeping a journal of my dreams is a powerful tool.
Self criticism is not of the devil, it is the devil.
No one got here because their life was so good.
The basic parenting job, according to me, is selling my kids on the idea that I loved them.
On the Los Angeles Skid Row, a high percentage of the homeless people believed that God loved the world, and it changed nothing in their lives. Once they found out that God loved them personally, individually and knew their name and their stories, amazing changes became possible.
I loved the Mission’s ministry motto. “There is one healing circle at Union Rescue Mission and we all are in it.”
I am persuaded that God’s first consideration when she chooses her will for my life, is, “What would be wonderful for George.”

The following are big lessons I learned in my program:

-That I need to mind my own business.
-That the first word of the 12 steps is we. There is no substitute for the loving help I receive from other members. I could not be a loner and work my program.
-I was full of murderous rage when I began in Al-Anon. I am so much better now. after
-That when I tried to love my ex-wife into being the woman I wanted her to be, it was manipulation. I cruelly, did not give her one day where I fully accepted her for the fine person she already was.
-That I did not trust process. If I could not do it well the first time, I did not do it at all.
-That for me, there is no such thing as fast process. If I reject slow progress, I end up with no progress.
-That I need to use the tools of my program faithfully, and leave the job of changing my character and personality to God.
-That I can not get bread at the hardware store. I should not expect people to give me what they do pot have.
That since I have a right to feel safe it is fair to weed out of my life those who are consistently problematic for me.
That “Letting go” and “Letting God” are the opposite sides of the same coin. “Letting go” is “Letting God” and “Letting God” is “Letting go.” They are the same act for me.