One Day At A Time

What is the quality of your thoughts? Right now, as you look at the life you are being given, how well are you receiving it? Do you have any negative thoughts? When they come, are your forced to bury them, push them away? Are you always thinking as long as you are awake? When you read my words, whose voice are you listening to, is it the same as the one that comes out when you speak? Those are self-awareness questions. Questioning ourselves is at the center of recovery, it is the fearless inventory that eventually becomes part of our daily reprieve. The answers to the questions are interpersonal and they matter mostly to you. The statement One Day at a Time, mirrors the teachings of Jesus and the Buddha. It is a statement about living mindful and present, about living in the state known as Acceptance, where nothing disturbs our peace. I am not there, but I spend some time every day in that state by any means available. When we have negative thoughts, those are signs of our traumas. There is nothing wrong with what is happening in the world, we just cannot accept it. Anything that disturbs my peace is my issue and the only path to peace is to accept it. Isn't that amazing? So simple, so consistent, guaranteed, it is a Universal Truth. There are not many of those, they are the only things that really matter to me in terms of my recovery. I know my thinking is off. I know I spend too much time thinking negative things about other people. I make assumptions about other people's intentions based on the trauma I am experiencing and not what is really happening. It has become difficult for me to spend time with people who are not self-aware. I need to be transparent at all times, it is one of the things that I have come to rely on is my fearless honesty. Sadly, when it is combined with anger, it becomes a dangerous weapon. The words I use to heal, have been equaled by the words I have used to harm. That is my step 5 for today, preparing me to let all the harmful things go. Why, because they haunt my thoughts and I want peace. Think of life as if you are a witness, watching a lifelong movie for the first time. Then, imagine a life where you are always on vacation and everything has been arranged. There is nothing to think about until it is happening and in between happenings are long intervals of silence in your mind, or simply listening to the world around you. Approaching each day without expectation or any specific need and wonder how it will turn out. Free yourself from the control of your mind and witness life without the need to think about the future, or the past. Imagine intuitively knowing how to handle situations which used to baffle you. Those are some of the promises of recovery and they happen for millions of people each year, One day at a time, we can chose to become more peaceful or give in to Ego and suffer. That is our true freedom of choice, how we focus our minds on the life we are being given. Thank you, bless you and peace be upon you. Rev. Jeff Rounds for Mixed Recovery, Inc.