April 7, 2010 Live the solution
Buddha said, "as you think, so you become." The bible says, "as you think in your heart, so ye shall be." John Lennon sang "Instant karma's gonna get you!"
Here is what I know-the greatest miracle in my life occurred when I let go of the notion that I needed to be in control and trusted the universe to create a path of recovery for me. When I was finally willing to surrender to the helpless, hopeless nature of my addiction and reach out to ask for help I was able to recover. 35 years ago today I attended my first meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. My recovery just like my addiction has been a gradual, one day at a time, process. The reason I was able to imagine it at all was because I was able to sit in rooms with individuals that had done it. They could show me it was possible which allowed me to begin to expect recovery and then to actually be able to imagine my life without chemical influence!
Like so many addicts the process was 2 steps forward and 1 step back. Around 90 days I had my first sober spiritual experience as an adult. It served to remind me that I was not alone. The return of the presence of spirits, which had been a stable trusted part of my childhood years was back and could again be trusted. My spirit friends from childhood had returned! Although it took me 8 years to let go of an addiction to diet pills and another 15 before I was ready to give up nicotine each step along the way I was able to hold the hand of a precious teacher . Whether embodied or in spirit form the universe provided me exactly what I need within the frame work of each day to live the solution.
Today in the psychic readings I do, retreats I lead and personal growth coaching work I do, I teach, “What you expect is what you get" -- the power of beliefs (and why we should consciously choose our own) creates the framework for our life experience. In other words -- if you expect to fail, get ready to fall! If you expect to succeed, your 'luck' will greatly improve. Once you begin to talk about and focus on your recovery you have greatly enhanced the likelihood that you too can live the solution. The best place to learn to do that is in the presence of those who have successfully taken the road less traveled and are willing to share their recovery experiences with you. In Karen Casey’s daily reader Each Day A New Beginning we are reminded:
“It is only when people begin to shake loose from their preconceptions, from the ideas that have dominated them, that we begin to receive a sense of opening, a sense of vision.
—Barbara Ward
A sense of vision, seeing who we can dare to be and what we can dare to accomplish, is possible if we focus intently on the present and always the present. We are all we need to be, right now. We can trust that. And we will be shown the way to become who we need to become, step by step, from one present moment to the next present moment. We can trust that, too.
The past that we hang onto stands in our way. Many of us needlessly spend much of our lives fighting a poor self-image. But we can overcome that. We can choose to believe we are capable and competent. We can be spontaneous, and our vision of all that life can offer will change–will excite us, will cultivate our confidence.
We can respond to life wholly. We can trust our instincts. And we will become all that we dare to become.
Each day is a new beginning. Each moment is a new opportunity to let go of all that has trapped me in the past. I am free. In the present, I am free.
From Each Day a New Beginning: Daily Meditations for Women by Karen Casey © 1982, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved.
Find the Each Day text at http://thetowergroup.org/ Thank you Memphis.
To my co-travelers on this road less taken. Thank you for the positive impact you have on my life!
Peace, Light and Love Diana
To schedule a reading, coaching session or get the retreat schedule
Email- dlee@dcwis.com