Tell me about your HP
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 18
Tell me about your HP
Hi everyone, I'm new here and still finding my way around so I do hope this is in the right place. If not, can someone please move it for me? Thank you 
I believe there's a Higher Power looking out for me and I have noticed huge changes in myself since I started going to AA meetings.
Since I am not religious but do believe a HP will help restore me to sanity, I have no real idea of who my HP really is.
So, please explain your HP to me. What are their personality traits, qualities that make them your HP. (I hope that makes sense)
Basically tell me everything you love so darely about your HP.
p.s. If this thread has already been discussed, can I also get links to read?
I believe there's a Higher Power looking out for me and I have noticed huge changes in myself since I started going to AA meetings.
Since I am not religious but do believe a HP will help restore me to sanity, I have no real idea of who my HP really is.
So, please explain your HP to me. What are their personality traits, qualities that make them your HP. (I hope that makes sense)
Basically tell me everything you love so darely about your HP.
p.s. If this thread has already been discussed, can I also get links to read?
Life is Grand
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Michigan
Posts: 2,039
Like the feel of the sun on my skin, he warms my soul...
Like the smell of rain, he refreshes me.....
Like watching my Son sleep, he fills my heart...
If he chose to show himself, I believe he would appear however the individual thinks he looks, Man, Woman, Black, White or even Purple!
I choose to call him God, you may call him another name, I don't think he minds, as long as we call him with love and sincerity.
I don't think he cares what we look like, who we choose to love, what language we speak or how educated we are....I think it is what is in our heart that matters.
If left to my own devices, I would be dead right now, what you are reading is being written by a miracle of God, I will not turn my back on his love again.
Cathy
Like the smell of rain, he refreshes me.....
Like watching my Son sleep, he fills my heart...
If he chose to show himself, I believe he would appear however the individual thinks he looks, Man, Woman, Black, White or even Purple!
I choose to call him God, you may call him another name, I don't think he minds, as long as we call him with love and sincerity.
I don't think he cares what we look like, who we choose to love, what language we speak or how educated we are....I think it is what is in our heart that matters.
If left to my own devices, I would be dead right now, what you are reading is being written by a miracle of God, I will not turn my back on his love again.
Cathy
Attitude of Gratitude
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Dayton, Ohio
Posts: 2,305
I am not a religious person either. My HP has nothing to do with religion.
My Higher Power takes on many different "forms."
Sometimes, in my mind, my HP is an older, gray haired, beared kind of guy sitting in a big ol' recliner who has outstretched arms and a lap for me to crawl in to feel the comfort I did as a child when I was scared or sad. I feel safe, secure, loved and protected.
When I'm angry, my HP is the ocean at sunset, still waters and warm breezes blowing that envelope me in comfort to calm me down. I look at the ocean and see that the ocean goes on farther than I can see, it's more powerful than me. I can almost feel the waves roll over me as my anger washes out to sea.
When I am seeking answers, my Avatar is me and my Higher Power. I had seen this picture in the fall of '05, when I had few months in Recovery. I sat and stared at it for the longest time. It was a tiny little picture, about an inch in size, but I cut it out and held on to it. A few months ago, while surfing around on the internet, I found it once again.
I talk to my HP constantly. I thank him for a beautiful sunrise in the mornings. If I feel myself losing my patience in the check out at the grocery, I ask my HP to be with me and help me to learn patience. If I am unsure of what to do in a situation, my HP guides me in the right direction. I can talk to my HP just like I'm talking to you or anyone else. If I can't be me with my HP, then who can I?
God Bless,
Judy
My Higher Power takes on many different "forms."
Sometimes, in my mind, my HP is an older, gray haired, beared kind of guy sitting in a big ol' recliner who has outstretched arms and a lap for me to crawl in to feel the comfort I did as a child when I was scared or sad. I feel safe, secure, loved and protected.
When I'm angry, my HP is the ocean at sunset, still waters and warm breezes blowing that envelope me in comfort to calm me down. I look at the ocean and see that the ocean goes on farther than I can see, it's more powerful than me. I can almost feel the waves roll over me as my anger washes out to sea.
When I am seeking answers, my Avatar is me and my Higher Power. I had seen this picture in the fall of '05, when I had few months in Recovery. I sat and stared at it for the longest time. It was a tiny little picture, about an inch in size, but I cut it out and held on to it. A few months ago, while surfing around on the internet, I found it once again.
I talk to my HP constantly. I thank him for a beautiful sunrise in the mornings. If I feel myself losing my patience in the check out at the grocery, I ask my HP to be with me and help me to learn patience. If I am unsure of what to do in a situation, my HP guides me in the right direction. I can talk to my HP just like I'm talking to you or anyone else. If I can't be me with my HP, then who can I?
God Bless,
Judy
Forward we go...side by side-Rest In Peace
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Serene In Dixie
Posts: 36,740
As I was brought up in a religious home.
my experience and God may not
make sense to you AAKiwi.
However...I am glad to share my Highest Power anyway..
I connected back to my Sunday School God of love and forgivness.
The simmple "Jesus Loves Me" ..."Climb Up Sunshine Mountain"
source of joy and peace.
You might want to look into our Forum on Spirituality as well.
Click here please
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/spirituality/
Blessings
my experience and God may not
make sense to you AAKiwi.
However...I am glad to share my Highest Power anyway..
I connected back to my Sunday School God of love and forgivness.
The simmple "Jesus Loves Me" ..."Climb Up Sunshine Mountain"
source of joy and peace.
You might want to look into our Forum on Spirituality as well.
Click here please
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/spirituality/
Blessings
Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 26,425
Hi,
I feel very fortunate that I have a number of higher powers! One is karma (the law of cause and effect/interdependence). One is the buddha nature. There are alot of higher powers out there!
I can depend on my higher power to always be there. My higher power doesn't hate me. My higher power isn't judging me...it simply is. My higher power is reflected in your higher power....
Of course - ultimately my higher power doesn't really matter, what will matter is what your's is.
Glad you're here searching.
may we walk skillfully through our karma
I feel very fortunate that I have a number of higher powers! One is karma (the law of cause and effect/interdependence). One is the buddha nature. There are alot of higher powers out there!
I can depend on my higher power to always be there. My higher power doesn't hate me. My higher power isn't judging me...it simply is. My higher power is reflected in your higher power....
Of course - ultimately my higher power doesn't really matter, what will matter is what your's is.
Glad you're here searching.
may we walk skillfully through our karma Silly Rabbit
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Charlotte, NC
Posts: 956
i call it the Big Guy in the Sky. or the universe. or the interconnectedness of all energy. or just god. but mostly it's the big guy.
so who is the big guy? the big guy's this all knowing, all loving universal energy that i visualize as touseling my hair when i'm messing up and calling me a scamp. big guy's got a wicked sense of human. i have absolute faith that the big guy's got it - got me, got you, got all of us. i know that nothing that happens today is so big that the big guy and i can't handle it together. i lent my sponsee the big guy when she was having a hard time turning things over, and when she gave me my 2 year chip last night she mentioned him. so, that's the big guy - nothing but love.
so who is the big guy? the big guy's this all knowing, all loving universal energy that i visualize as touseling my hair when i'm messing up and calling me a scamp. big guy's got a wicked sense of human. i have absolute faith that the big guy's got it - got me, got you, got all of us. i know that nothing that happens today is so big that the big guy and i can't handle it together. i lent my sponsee the big guy when she was having a hard time turning things over, and when she gave me my 2 year chip last night she mentioned him. so, that's the big guy - nothing but love.
Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Cumming, Ga
Posts: 665
The beauty of AA is that it allows me to come up with a conception of God all on my own. There is absolutely no other place I could find this. Everywhere else for as long as I can remember, people told me who their conception of God was, and if I didn't believe that then I was damned. What happened for me in the 2nd step was this and nothing more.....my sponsor asked me to write down a "God list" and I did. I came up with a short list simply by writing out God is _____. That list has grown. This is the only writing assignment that we never sat down and went over. It occured to me later in the step work why. Cause it doesn't matter what my conception is, because it is mine. Personal to me. What did matter was that I made a beginning. It then occurred to me that we never discussed his conception of God. Same reason.
bona fido dog-lover
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: SF Bay area, CA
Posts: 99,772
I call my Higher Power by different names: God, the Great Spirit, The Creator, my Maker... it doesn't matter what I call my HP only that I trust in it/him and that I believe there IS a Higher Power out there who cares about me and loves me no matter what. Just to simplify it, I most often call my HP God. I believe my HP shows himself to me in many ways: thru the beauty and wonder of nature, thru my children, thru the animals He's placed in my care, thru the love and help of my friends, and many more ways.
Some have said that their HP is the strength and support they get from AA meetings. The love and support of the group. I have to agree with that. I find the same thing to be true. I always come away from meetings feeling better and stronger and more confident.
And that is, in short, my concept of my Higher Power.
Some have said that their HP is the strength and support they get from AA meetings. The love and support of the group. I have to agree with that. I find the same thing to be true. I always come away from meetings feeling better and stronger and more confident.
And that is, in short, my concept of my Higher Power.
Life the gift of recovery!
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Home is where the heart is
Posts: 7,061
I truly hesitated to answer this thread. But after some thought I will share despite my misgivings.
Although I was raised strict Southern Baptist, I carry very little of that into my conception of a HP today. I do however believe that most religions provide a good guideline for living life.
Today my conception falls a lot in line with science. Everything has an energy associated with it. All organic material gives off energy. One of the laws of energy is that it is neither created nor destroyed. It can be transfered however. When something dies that energy has to go somewhere. Personally, I believe that the collective energy is what is powerful in this universe and when we die we become a part of that collective energy. So my HP would be that energy. Pretty simple I guess.
Characteristics of this HP would include, love, goodness, positiveness, etc....
I would appreciate it if everyone would respect others rights to their beliefs here. I do not want to be preached at for my beliefs. The BB says that our HP is of our own conception and personally I believe what ever conception it takes to help someone get sober is a good enough for me.
Although I was raised strict Southern Baptist, I carry very little of that into my conception of a HP today. I do however believe that most religions provide a good guideline for living life.
Today my conception falls a lot in line with science. Everything has an energy associated with it. All organic material gives off energy. One of the laws of energy is that it is neither created nor destroyed. It can be transfered however. When something dies that energy has to go somewhere. Personally, I believe that the collective energy is what is powerful in this universe and when we die we become a part of that collective energy. So my HP would be that energy. Pretty simple I guess.
Characteristics of this HP would include, love, goodness, positiveness, etc....
I would appreciate it if everyone would respect others rights to their beliefs here. I do not want to be preached at for my beliefs. The BB says that our HP is of our own conception and personally I believe what ever conception it takes to help someone get sober is a good enough for me.
Follow Directions!
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Fredericksburg, Va.
Posts: 9,730
I pray as Nandm requested that we are all respectful of what other HP's are to them.
Now for mine..... mine loves me as my father loved me, he loves me no matter what I do or have done, I can turn my back on him, but he is always there for me. As my father did, he forgives me for being me and for what being me leads or has led to.
My HP whom I choose to call God out of simplicity for myself and others does not lead nor fit any religions definition, he is all powerful and all knowing, he has createdall that I see. He smiles when people do his will and rewards them with a warmth in thier heart and peace in thier soul. My God cries when he sees me ignoring his will, he forgives me when I ignore him, because he knows that I learn from my mistakes.
My God hurts/punishes no one, he allows them the free will to do as they please, if I do his will I walk in his light, if I do not do his will I walk in the dark alone because I have chosen to do so, not because God has turned his back on me, but because I have turned my back on him.
Now for mine..... mine loves me as my father loved me, he loves me no matter what I do or have done, I can turn my back on him, but he is always there for me. As my father did, he forgives me for being me and for what being me leads or has led to.
My HP whom I choose to call God out of simplicity for myself and others does not lead nor fit any religions definition, he is all powerful and all knowing, he has createdall that I see. He smiles when people do his will and rewards them with a warmth in thier heart and peace in thier soul. My God cries when he sees me ignoring his will, he forgives me when I ignore him, because he knows that I learn from my mistakes.
My God hurts/punishes no one, he allows them the free will to do as they please, if I do his will I walk in his light, if I do not do his will I walk in the dark alone because I have chosen to do so, not because God has turned his back on me, but because I have turned my back on him.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 18
Thank you SO much to everyone that replied. I appreciate every one of your posts. You have all helped me to understand my higher power and see more in him that I didn't see before
I respect you all for your honesty and your sharing.
I respect you all for your honesty and your sharing.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,002
I don't know who or what God is, I just know he (or she) is there. As a matter of fact I don't even know if I can even identify God as human or a form of being male or female. I feel like it is disrespecting to God by identifing God as an "it".
So for me if I was to try to put God in some kind of form, the closest thing I can come to as identifing God as a source. A positive source (or THE positive source.) The source of creation. The source of love. The source of all sources.
Tom
So for me if I was to try to put God in some kind of form, the closest thing I can come to as identifing God as a source. A positive source (or THE positive source.) The source of creation. The source of love. The source of all sources.
Tom
same planet...different world
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Butte, America
Posts: 10,946
The God of my Understanding ... made the stars.
I like this thread... thought it needed a bump.
While it sometimes disturbs me to see 'majickal thinking' put down in other threads - I've dwelled in the scientific spirit-less world ....
and drank myself pretty much to death.
For me it was a cold, empty, meaningless place.
Good place to die.. but a terrible place to live.
Some of us need our Spiritual Connection as vitally as we need the air we breathe. I'm one of those. Call it God, call it whatever... I thrive on the mystery of livingness... and I'm of an age I don't care what it's called, don't judge what others perceive (unless it brings harm), don't care if anyone is perceiving what *I* perceive,
and frankly ...
having come fairly face-to-face with It ...
I happen to know IT ... doesn't care, either.
the Infinite doesn't need a name.
It just ... Is.
In every rock. leaf, and animal.
anyway -
*bump*
I like this thread... thought it needed a bump.
While it sometimes disturbs me to see 'majickal thinking' put down in other threads - I've dwelled in the scientific spirit-less world ....
and drank myself pretty much to death.
For me it was a cold, empty, meaningless place.
Good place to die.. but a terrible place to live.
Some of us need our Spiritual Connection as vitally as we need the air we breathe. I'm one of those. Call it God, call it whatever... I thrive on the mystery of livingness... and I'm of an age I don't care what it's called, don't judge what others perceive (unless it brings harm), don't care if anyone is perceiving what *I* perceive,
and frankly ...
having come fairly face-to-face with It ...
I happen to know IT ... doesn't care, either.
the Infinite doesn't need a name.
It just ... Is.
In every rock. leaf, and animal.
anyway -
*bump*
No AA
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: USA
Posts: 259
God, The Man Upstairs, Big Guy
Someone who is on my side as much as possible, in my corner and in my heart
the One who put the awe in nature and animals and small children and in the golden hearts of the elderly
God will reach down to help you, but you must do your part and stretch up to reach him.
There is but one God, I believe -- man has just made a lot of different flavors of Him. And I don't believe that any one person's God is any better or less than any other's.
"My God" is a gentle soul, a laid back hippy dude who is understanding, a great listener and One who puts people, places, things in my way at wonderful moments when I need them most.
Someone who is on my side as much as possible, in my corner and in my heart
the One who put the awe in nature and animals and small children and in the golden hearts of the elderly
God will reach down to help you, but you must do your part and stretch up to reach him.
There is but one God, I believe -- man has just made a lot of different flavors of Him. And I don't believe that any one person's God is any better or less than any other's.
"My God" is a gentle soul, a laid back hippy dude who is understanding, a great listener and One who puts people, places, things in my way at wonderful moments when I need them most.
It`s ok to stay sober
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Central NC
Posts: 20,902
I tried to let the steps and my experience with them give me my conception of a Higher(or Highest) Power Kiwi....my old previous ideas did not work so well,so I sat them aside and tried to start from scratch..
question for you Kiwi,how would you like your HP to be ?If you was to sit down and write out a list of those things you wanted God to have,what would you write?
question for you Kiwi,how would you like your HP to be ?If you was to sit down and write out a list of those things you wanted God to have,what would you write?
Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Oxnard (The Nard), CA, USA.
Posts: 13,935
"I must quickly assure you that A.A.'s tread innumerable paths in their quest for faith. ... You can, if you wish, make A.A. itself your 'higher power.' Here's a very large group who have solved their alcohol problem. In this respect they are certainly a power greater than you, who have not even come close to a solution. Surely you can have faith in them. Even this minimum of faith will be enough."
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, William G. Wilson, page 27.
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, William G. Wilson, page 27.
Member
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 428
Hi Kiwi- I am also new to AA and really have found myself starting to get into the program despite all my hesitations. Specifically with the notion of a higher power. I also am not an organized religion person, but have never lost my belief that there is a higher power. Because I was struggling with step 2 my sponser suggested that I start off by writing down what my higher power is not...
My higher power is not:
my loved ones
making people happy
success
perfection
body image
organized religion
happiness
being loved by others
the cause of pain, success or other people's actions against me
What I ended up with is that my higher power is the God that created this Earth and blessed me by placing me on it. My higher power wants me to love myself, be kind and giving to others for the benefit of others, accept him into my life, communicate with him and carry him with me always.
My higher power is not earthly and has the power to invoke in me the strength I was born with. My higher power loves me unconditionally and I need to put my faith back into him to reap the benefits of that unconditional love.
So... that is it... I am working on step 3 now.
Thanks for starting this thread.
My higher power is not:
my loved ones
making people happy
success
perfection
body image
organized religion
happiness
being loved by others
the cause of pain, success or other people's actions against me
What I ended up with is that my higher power is the God that created this Earth and blessed me by placing me on it. My higher power wants me to love myself, be kind and giving to others for the benefit of others, accept him into my life, communicate with him and carry him with me always.
My higher power is not earthly and has the power to invoke in me the strength I was born with. My higher power loves me unconditionally and I need to put my faith back into him to reap the benefits of that unconditional love.
So... that is it... I am working on step 3 now.
Thanks for starting this thread.
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