The material presented
here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method
to exchange
information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal
level.
Good morning MIP. Happy Thursday to one and all. Today's reading is all about the slogan 'Easy Does It'.
The reminder suggests: "Easy does it" suggests not only that I learn to show down, but also that I learn to lighten up. Today I will strive to take a more accepting attitude toward myself and to enjoy the day, regardless of what I achieve.
The quote from This Is Al-Anon suggests: "Improving our own attitudes and our own state of mind takes time. Haste and impatience can only defeat our purposes."
The reading suggests that we often push ourselves too hard thinking this is how to get more done or find more success. We learn in recovery that may not be reality - when we take a more gentle approach, we often are more productive and actually enjoy 'it' more too. If we are not carefully aligning with our own recovery, we can easily slip into making our own life unmanageable with our own character defects.
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I attacked life each day with the best of intentions. I consider myself driven, hard-working and self-starting. What I did not see until I took inventories in recovery was that I can exploit these and create chaos just as easily as if I had bad or malicious intentions. Anything that becomes an obsession for me - the alcoholic, their choices, money, position, perfection, order, etc. can become unbalanced and cause me pain and chaos.
Easy Does It reminds me who I am (imperfect person), what I strive to be/do (of service to self/others) and what I truly want (serenity/joy). So grateful for the daily reminder that it's OK to be just me, doing the next right thing, aligned with a God of my understanding. Enjoy the day all!
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Practice the PAUSE...Pause before judging. Pause before assuming. Pause before accusing. Pause whenever you are about to react harshly and you will avoid doing and saying things you will later regret. ~~~~ Lori Deschene
I find that when I am stressed, I become very intense. Probably b/c I am trying to do something perfectly! I am loving the reminder for today!!!!
'"Easy does it" suggests not only that I learn to slow down, but also that I learn to lighten up.'
Now that I don't have my AH to obsess over, and I don't obsess over my son anymore (thank you Al-Anon!), I tend to focus on my work. It served me well in the beginning, as I needed to go back to school, graduate, and get nationally certified - all in the second half of my life - but now that I am "settled" in my new career, I need to realize that there are areas I can employ "Easy Does It.'
This was the perfect reminder... topic and definitely your share, Iamhere!!
Thank you!
Be smart, be proactive, be healthy out there!
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"The wolf that thrives, is the one you feed." - Cherokee legend
"Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields... Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness." Mary Oliver
I still struggle somewhat, getting through each day. My meditations on the first word in the slogan- ~easy~.
Life and work should be easy, pleasant, productive. Not lazy. I should have lazy moments, and rest sometimes. I should have a lazy day- and a rest, from time to time. I grew up with summer harvesting- so we worked while many other people rested and re-created.
In Alanon, from the get-go Learned that "we try to force solutions, and get tired and irritable with knowing it". I grew up with a mum who was doing that too. It had become instinctive.
Thanks IAH for your service and for all above shares. Life with an unrecovered but sober A, does not lend itself to an Easy Does It situation. I have to work on myself using all the tools available from program. When I think of Easy Does It, what comes to mind is to tell myself to "get a grip." Whether that means lighten up, take a break, stop taking myself too seriously, find my QTIP, or whatever. It's a great slogan and I say it to myself all the time, Lyne
Good morning, IAH and all -- and thank you for this share!
I love "who I am (imperfect person), what I strive to be/do (of service to self/others) and what I truly want (serenity/joy)" -- this is very grounding and focusing to help make choices and to be OK with the choices I make.
For me, Easy Does It goes along with Keep It Simple, as I can easily over-think and over-complicate things, and focus on things that do not matter.
I have a lot of things I want to accomplish today -- cooking, exercising, online meetings, phone calls, writing tomorrow's Daily -- and I can see that I will need to make some choices to stay aligned with Easy Does It.
I recently heard of two people in my circle who have gotten the coronavirus (no test, but presumed from symptoms) -- and thankfully are recovered/recovering, but that really does bring things home. So I think Easy Does It, just for today, means Stay Home and Wash Hands.
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Thanks for your service, IAm, and Hi, P&P...