Food for Thought~daily Meditations 04-06

[Pony]

Thought for the Day
Friday, April 6, 2007
You are reading from the book Food for Thought

Giving Up Delusions

As we work the steps of the OA program, our new actions produce new thoughts. When we are ready, our Higher Power reveals new truths and gives us new insights.

Gradually, we give up old, deluded ways of thinking. We realize that we had put self at the center of the universe, and we see this to be a delusion. We may have secretly considered ourselves better than those around us. Once we honestly take inventory and face up to our defects, we can no longer believe this. Another common delusion is that material goals will bring us ultimate satisfaction. When we admit the pain we have caused ourselves and others by our insatiable cravings and demands for material things, we see that they are not the answer.

Most of us have harbored the delusion that one day we will be completely rid of the temptation to overeat, and that we will then be able to relax our efforts. It is our experience that continued effort is required to maintain abstinence and that only through daily dedication to the life of the spirit are we able to receive sanity, strength, and satisfaction from our Higher Power.

Take away my delusions, Lord, and show me Your truth.

From Food for Thought: Daily Meditations for Overeaters by Elisabeth L. ©1980, 1992 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission of the publisher.

[Neagrm]

At first when I read the part about, "We realize that we had put self at the center of the universe," I thought about how I've given myself away, most often considering the needs of other people -- meeting the needs of children and others to the detriment of my own; that to the contrary -- I need to put myself at the center.

But maybe that's semantics and I'm reading it not the way it's intended. The next couple sentences, especially the one about, "We may have secretly considered ourselves better than ..." makes me really think. If I am honest about it and look closely at my motivations, beyond the surface, I find this *does* apply.

Once I acknowledge I've done this, it is easier for me to notice when I fall into that thinking. Then I'm able to to let it go, stop taking other's inventory and put the focus on myself where it needs to be, observing my own thinking, aware of my own motivations, letting go or being assertive as needed.

Hm, I guess that brings it back to myself again after all. Well, I know there's a difference between being caught up in child-like self-centeredness, and an adult awareness and making healthy choices.

<sigh> Okeedoke, don't know what I meant to say here now that I try to say it, LOL! So I will stop before sinking any deeper into the mud ... !

[Nina Kay]

Nea,
I think that you made yourself very clear and you were very insightful. I can relate to all that you are saying and when I catch myself going back to the same patterns of thinking, now I remember to sit back with humility. I used to think that I was very humble, but now I'm learning what humility really is and I know that when I am feeling truly humble, that is when I am truly able to give sincere love to others, removing myself automatically from the center of the universe. Thanks so much for sharing.

[Neagrm]

Nina Kay, what you say about humility makes so much sense. You're right about how being genuinely humble allows us to truly love others (and ourselves) from a healthy place. Thank you for sharing those thoughts because I've been more aware of the same thing lately and your comments brought it to my attention and reinforced it for me.

Nea