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.
Our program is based on bending. We call it -surrender. We surrender our self-will to the care of our personal Higher Power. We learn to sit quietly and listen to that tiny voice deep within us... that is our Higher Power. Over time, we learn to follow the suggestions our HP makes. Sometimes it is subtle, and we may not recognize it at first. Other times it is blatant and hits us over the heads! We learn this as an act of love.
Many of us believed surrender was a sign of weakness. We tried to control everything. But we change as we're in the program longer and longer. We learn to bend. We start to see that what is important is learning. We learn to do what's best for us and others. To learn, we need an open mind. To bend, we must stay open. Love and care become the center of our lives.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, teach me that strength comes from knowing how and when to bend.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll check myself. How open am I? Do I bend when I need to?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good morning all!
Today's reading was especially important to me, as I feel that the world is in a time where they need to Bend. Not only bend, but "sit into" this bend. We are having to do things that can be against our norm... that can feel isolating... or just an inconvenience. And for longer than we were told. Bending is not always comfortable. But it is a time to live with an Open Mind and an Open Heart.
I broke down yesterday. All the stress of the week, all the news about the people dying, and all the lack of control of my 80 year-old parents caught up to me. I cried all the way to work, and had tears in my eyes as we were all checking our temperatures.Thankfully, work was busy, so I have little time to think about outside things. On my way home, I vowed that I would unplug this weekend. I know what is happening... I don't really need to check. I don't have a need to buy any essentials. I have been focusing so hard on mitigating the spread of this virus within my scope - that I forgot that this too, is something I have no control over. But I do not need to stress over that. So I reminded myself of the steps I CAN TAKE to make myself and my son and parents safe. I am also reminding myself that I cannot control my 80 year-old, congestive heart failure/diabetes suffering father from going to the store - even though I offered to take all the risk and shop for everyone. ~sigh~
Funny thing. This post is "late" b/c I awoke this morning to NO INTERNET! GAH!!
I guess it was my HP's way of saying, "Slow down. Take a deep breath... or 5."
Wishing peace and health to all my MIP family!
PNP
__________________
"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
P.