LaTeeDa

I like the quote:

Religion is for people who are afraid of hell. Spirituality is for people who have been there!

Not sure who said it originally.

L

DesertEyes

For me it's not control over my life, it's control over my _choices_.

I can't control my poor health, but I can control whether I choose to follow doc's orders or not. I can't control my employer going broke, but I can control whether I keep my skills up to date with the occasional class.

Knowing _what_ I can control and what I can't is covered by the serenity prayer and it comes from wisdom. Wisdom, in turn, is a fringe benefit of maturity. One of the books refers to "maturity" as a "spiritual awakening" and the specific actions that get me there are the 12 steps.

Mike

denny57

Same for me. Thanks, Mike.

minnie

Thanks for the thread, Denny. And thanks for running with the idea about posting meeting topics. I was the one who posed the suggestion, but the only meeting I've managed to get to recently has been on Tradition 8 - hard enough to keep that one going IRL, never mind on here!!

To me, maturity relates to a way of being that recognises that I am me, you are you, he is him etc etc, and finds a way to have a successful life within that framework. By success, I mean that I am living (or working towards) the life I choose without compromising that of someone else.

And that is why I view boundaries and detachment to be at the heart of my recovery - for me, once I understood those 2 concepts, my life became lighter and I had so much more freedom. And so did those around me.

megamysterioso

Thanks for sharing Denny and for me, that one is my favorite. I am such a firm believer that every moment we have in life is a precious gift. Life is so incredibly fragile and although my problems may seem "earth-shattering" to me at times, there is MUCH more that I have to be grateful for than regretful of. One of those things is that I'm here right at this moment able to type this.