phoenix

"We have learned that it is okay to not know all the answers,
for then we are teachable and can learn to live our new life
successfully" Basic Text, p. 93


Maybe it's more important to have all of the questions than it is to have all of the answers

As long as I remain open minded and willing to learn, all will be well.

phoenix

Pernell Johnson

Hello phoenix, it appears that you have the right attitude and it goes without saying that recovery is not an event, it is a process. I am still in the process of becoming. I remain teachable and able to remind others that they too are able to be teachable if they remain open and willing.

I found this to be true. Life is 10% and there is nothing we can do about that 10%, it is going to happen to each of us and we cannot change it. But we can change the other 90% and that is "Our Attitude." we can choose to have this attitude about what happens in life or that attittude. Right in the middle of a bad situation, we can chose to change our attitude and weather the storm in an optimistic, cheerful way. Or we can choose to be grumpy disagreeable and make everyone miserable. But it is a choice that we have and we can control and change our attitude at will. Do you agree?

phoenix

I do agree.How we choose to weather the storms that come our way is entirely up to us.It is one of the few things that we alone control,but it can make such a difference.

It helps me to remember that some of the times when the sky seemed darkest and the wind was cold and hard,it was change blowing in....change for the better,even though I couldn't see it yet.First the storm,and then the calm.Both serve a Higher purpose.I can trust in that today.

Being optimistic,having a bright disposition,can actually bring good into a difficult situation.Likewise,a negative attitude can make a good situation go sour,or make a bad one even worse.

I've learned that peace can be found anywhere.I have been homeless in recovery and found peace within.And I have had plenty,and been miserable inside.Both were choices I made.

Being able to halt,even when my attitude is dark,and know that I can change it,is a gift and a tool of recovery.Sometimes I find myself irritable and losing patience with my little boy.Inside I know the problem isn't him,it's me.We may both be grouchy and snapping at each other.How can I fix it?Maybe we're hungry or tired.Maybe we just need a break.Then we take a time out.We grab a book and maybe a snack.In 20 minutes peace is restored.What changed? My attitude did.He's learning.We'll get frazzled and he'll suggest a story break.I've taught him that we can start our day over anytime.And life is good.

phoenix

Stephanie

This is a great topic Phoenx. I have learned that, for me, god speaks through other people. Therefore, no matter who they are, I always make it a point to listen very carefully. I am relieved that I don't have all the answers today. Back when I was using drugs and running the world....I gotta tell ya, it was a lot of pressure.

Freedom and growth come from remaining teacheable.

Sometimes I find that If I initially react negatively to a situation, process it, and choose to change my attitude to a more positive one, I still tend to focus on my initial reaction and beat myself up about it.

For me sometimes the process is a process. Sometimes I have to talk to a couple people, my sponsor, and maybe read something and then I can genuinely change my attitude about it. All I am saying is that it may take a little work. I just wonder if I will be able to change my attitude at will without having to understand so much first.

phoenix

That struggle for understanding and for acceptance....is where the work is for me.The last couple of years in particular.

Sometimes it has felt like I was trudging weary through a long dark tunnel...no light at the end.There was light,of course.I just couldn't see it sometimes.Oh...to be always able to trust that the light is there,whether I see it or not.That would indeed be a gift.

Until then.........................I keep my flashlight handy at all times.

phoenix

Pernell Johnson

To see the light, to know the light is there!

Hebrew 11:1 Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.

phoenix

I like that.Progress for me is having any faith at all,where before there was nothing but fear.

Even a small faith is a foundation on which to build.

I think often of my son's father who died in February.A few weeks before he went home he had an experience which gave us all a great deal of peace.He had been afraid to sleep...afraid of dying.

He woke in the night and the room was dark except for a light Presence at the foot of his bed.A comforting Presence...Who put a hand on his back and stayed until he slept again.He did not feel that it was time to follow it...not yet.But when it was time, I feel sure he did not go alone.God was there to take him home.

Later he told his mother about the experience.And it happens that at that same time she was also awake,also afraid and she had been praying.She had asked God to be with him,and to keep His hand on him.Such is the power of faith.

phoenix

Paulie

Wow -
Phoenix that is awesome, thank you so much for sharing that with us.

This is a great topic. Pernell and I had a great discussion about being teachable a few months back and he suggested (and give me a great deal of wonderful help) that I write a personal mission statement for myself. I did and I still refer to it and use it in my life, it helps me to stay grounded (which I need very often LOL).

As long as I remain teachable I am open to staying sober and even just as important if not more, to living in peace within myself, if that makes any sense.

I heard a guy in a meeting last Saturday night talk about how he loves when someones asks him a question and he can just say "I don't know" as a using addict he felt (and I did too) that I always had to know everythign, and if I didn't I could make something up to make you think I did. But today, I can just say "I dont' know.

i don't know LOL - if this got off the subject, but it was my thoughts.