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.
Today's Reminder - "Al-Anon is a program in which we find spiritual solutions to the things we are powerless to change. Today, instead of seeking relief from fear by trying to do battle with it, I will turn to my Higher Power.'
Quote: "That the birds of worry and care fly above your head, this you cannot change. But that they build nests in your hair, this you can prevent." ~ Chinese proverb.
Today's reading is about letting FEAR run our lives. It can be all encompassing - where your favorite grocery store is out of a product and you panic - or it can be more general... more pervasive - like the kind in which you know things will have to change, and that brings Fear. Many times, people in our situations fall back on the "Worst Case Scenario," instead of being patient and letting things work out in their own time. This fear causes us to act irrationally, running around frantically putting on bandage after bandage, just to get by. Eventually, you are left with a life that is held together by multitudes of bandages... ready to break apart at a moments notice. The reader speaks to this: they don't have to let their Fears run their life or make their choices for them. They can grab hold of their Higher Power's hand, face their fears, and move through them.
It took a LOT of faith - faith I was in short supply mind you - for me to begin to allow things to unfold... to be patient. It helped me to understand and accept that it will be OK to let go of the control (or the perceived control).
Sorry for the late post... slept in today. I needed that self-care.
Happy Halloween, Joyous Samhain! Continue to be safe - wear a mask around the other ghouls!
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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
Thank you PnP for your service, the daily and your share! Happy Halloween to one and all. I tried to sleep in, not very successful....however, I did get a nap in prior to heading out for some afternoon golf. So - I'm late arriving today as well.
What I know is if I am not spiritually fit, fear can arrive, move in and claim residency. It can be small or large 'life' things; it just can run rapid in my mind, rob me of my present and literally stop me in my tracks.
I do like the various saying from the letters - F.E.A.R. - False Evidence Appearing Real and/or F*** Everything And Run and/or Face Everything And Rise. For me, what I have experienced is that even when 'life is hard' or there are real life concerns going on, the fear in me isn't always rational, almost always is founded in projection and can be lowered by practicing my faith. For me to say I have a HP who loves me, leads me and protects me, and then for me to not turn there when fearful is counterproductive to my recovery. Often I need a nudge from another - sponsor or trusted program friend - to remind me how helpful our tools are...
I don't like to live in fear. I prefer to face it, process it, take action if possible and then let go and let God. I have to say that I chuckled about the birds - that's so, so true!
Love and light all - find/keep your joy, one day at a time!
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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
Thanks PnP for your service and for both great shares. Having lived with a raging brother while growing up, my personality formed around fear. I know it well and its taken a lifetime to practice getting over it. It will never go totally away, but thanks to good help and program, Ive been able to take some rather brave steps in my life. And of course there are the very real fears, the election and Covid, and then theres other stuff that just takes space in my head. And for all of it, HP is the only way to go now. I ask for help on a daily basis and must continue to practice and use all my tools. Progress not perfection. :)
Dear PnP Thanks for the great daily and the post which so resonated with me. I dont know if I will ever completely heal from being so fear-based and feeling unsafe but I think if I practice being in the present and when I am in prayer with my higher power giving thanks that I am safe and protected and not re-traumatizing myself by going back into the past and seeing what other defects or emotions I need to view and sort out, I have decided to set a big boundary on me regarding going back there
I am practicing staying in the present by breathing and meditation along with my physical exercise and yoga and tapping and all the other stuff I do that means self-care and when I am immersed in self-care and gratitude for what is now, I cannot be in fear because my brain can only be in one place at the same time
I think going back all the time was re-traumatizing me and I am done with it. I want to focus on the right now and even if the right now is not so cool, that is when I really have to do my deep breathing and my prayer and my step three and just put my trust whether I believe it or not just make me trust that it will work out for the best. I am better but I still have a long ways to go because I am really lacking in the faith department
All I have known most of my life was fear and I want so much to be free of it and I do believe that regulating my brain means loving myself body mind and spirit and emotions and gently bringing me back into the present
Thank you so much for this great topic. Going to therapy has been so fruitful for me in a few short months. I am begining to understand my chronuc post traumatic stress disordsr in a whole new way. What's more I feel myself moving to a whole new way of experiencing life. Being without fear is now s possibility for me.
9f course getting there has been a whole long roller coaster
I am so very thrilled to be in such better place in my life after a long and arduous year. Thank you all for heing so supportive a mb
