The Reed and the Oak

An oak and a reed were arguing about their strength. When a strong wind came up, the reed avoided being uprooted by bending and leaning with the gusts of wind. But the oak stood firm and was torn up by the roots. —Aesop

Within each of us, as in the reed and the oak, is a single characteristic, which is both our strongest and weakest trait. The bending which keeps the reed alive makes it weak, we might think. Some of us see both sides of every argument and are good team players, fair judges, and compassionate friends. But like the reed - always bending to the needs of others - we may never know what we want or who we are.Some of us believe we are like the oak: strong and tough and successful in the face of most difficulty. But we may never learn to accept flaws in ourselves.We are wise to remember that no trait is strong or weak, but we make it so by how we use it. We can use our strength to stand straight in the face of hardship, and we can use our strength to bend.

We talked about this months ago in a Mustard Seed meeting, and I read about it years ago in The Tao of Pooh (highly recommended)... When we take a good, hard, and more importantly, honest look at ourselves, we discover our strengths and weaknesses. An even closer look can reveal how those weaknesses could be used to make us stronger. Like the reed that bends in the wind.

And supposed strengths that are misused eventually bring us down. I like how the thought describes a trait as neither strong nor weak... it's how we apply it.

Goodnight!

Three Things in Recovery

We're so glad to be free from liquor that we do something about it. We get into action. We come to meetings regularly. We go out and try to help other alcoholics. We pass on the good news whenever we get a chance. In a spirit of thankfulness to God, we get into action. The A.A. program is simple. Submit yourself to God, find release from liquor, and get into action. Do these things and keep doing them and you're all set for the rest of your life. Have I got into action?

Three things that contribute immensely to a successful recovery. Surrender, gratutude, and service.

When I surrendered my will and admitted that I could not recover on my own, my Higher Power stepped in and helped me with the guidance, will and strength necessary to overcome my character defects and steer clear of my addiction. Am I totally free of my flaws and completely absolved of my past behavior? Noooooooo..... Still more work to do and accountability to take.

That's where the third thing comes in. Service. Or action. Helping others in any way I can with whatever experience I can offer. Giving back some of what I've gotten. It helps me learn more about myself too.

Work went by fairly quickly. Am kinda looking forward to this Jazz Fest crowd to leave town. Maybe I should stop living in cities with high tourist traffic... LOL.

G'night, folks.

Faith and Strength

We strengthen our faith by working with other alcoholics and finding that we can do nothing ourselves to help them, except to tell them our own story of how we found the way out. If the other person is helped, it's by the grace of God and not by what we do or say. Our own faith is strengthened when we see another alcoholic find sobriety by turning to God. And finally we strengthen our faith by having quiet times every morning. Do I ask God in this quiet time for the strength to stay sober this day?

That's what I love about H&I. We go into hospitals and institutions and talk to the clients. We don't preach or throw around advice. Instead we tell our stories. We talk about the program, what it means to us, and where we are now. Afterward we answer questions to the best of our ability and offer support. We express our gratitude to our Higher Power and explain how recovery would be impossible without him.

And faith? My faith is strengthened whenever I see a newcomer introduce themselves at the beginning of a meeting or an old-timer pick up a 30 year chip.

My quiet times are right before I go to sleep and first thing in the morning before getting up. I pray for strength and guidance. I ask God for help because I know that without him, there's no telling where I would be.

Speaking of sleep... I'm headed that way soon. May try and watch Saturday Night Live first. Enjoy your evening and have a great day tomorrow!

Very Tired and Very Grateful

I found myself in a better mood today. With all the challenges I've faced in the past couple of days, I stuck through it and came out on top... and I'm exhausted. Proud to say that some of the recent events haven't shaken my recovery. Get used to it people. It's here to stay. ;) I thank God for that little push of strength and courage when I need it. Someone told me that God meets us where we are. He's always there. We just have to open up and let him do his thing.

Now, let's see.... Any news?.... Not really. Waiting on an email to see if our homegroup has a business meeting this week. Hanging with my sponsor Thursday. Gotta furnish this place somewhat, but I think I'll wait to get a couch until I get back from Georgia. I'm not going to put a lot of stuff in here, though. Maybe a plant, and someone is actually lending me a bed. I'll put that in the sunroom. Crazy, huh? Still got a food drive to put together. Good times, but I don't think it's interesting enough to base a movie on.

About to start watching the Saints/ Falcons game. Atlanta just won the coin toss.

There ya go. That's about it for today. Aloha and mahalo....

Goodnight.