Today I celebrate the most important day of my life.
It was on Saturday, March 10, 1990, at 10:15am, on the upper side of Manhattan (NYC) that I first walked into the rooms of Overeaters Anonymous (OA), the 12 Step program based on Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). It is there where I found Home, my family of choice, and commenced my conscious spiritual journey. It was the beginning of transforming my entire way of living via changing my world view.
This day 20 years ago was the start of my coming to believe in a God of my understanding. And, having been a ‘devout’ atheist, that was no small feat! After all, I’d known about The Program for five years but had declined attending a meeting because I knew the word “God” was going to be uttered.
I had no idea what I was getting myself into and how much my life was going to change by finally taking that fateful step of going to my first meeting - I actually landed up attending three that very first day!. But I had reached bottom, knew that something was ‘wrong’ with me, and also knew that psychotherapy, while helpful with other issues, was not sufficient to address this issue of my eating disorder.
I am grateful to OA in more ways and for more things than I could ever recount. My life and relationships would not be what they are today if I had not adopted the 12 Step way of life and had a personality shift of huge proportion. Over the years of practicing the principles and relying on a Power greater than myself, my life has become rich in a myriad of ways and my journey of awakening has become more adventurous.
Today I celebrate: having conscious contact with the Great Mystery who I know is my Source; the love of other spirits having a human experience; knowing peace and serenity are mine any time I choose despite what’s going on in the outer world; knowing my life has a purpose and being of service – the list goes on, and on, and on.
It’s an extra special day of grace and blessing! Thanks be to Spirit, and to all of you friends of Bill W. whose paths have crossed mine, where together we are living in the solution. God bless.
Showing posts with label AA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AA. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Spiritual Prescription
Last night I watched the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie “My Name is Bill W.”, the story of the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. I have often heard it said in the 12 Step rooms that the coming together of Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith and their formulation of the 12 Step principles was a miracle. And many others describe AA as the greatest spiritual movement of the 20th century. I’d have to agree.
This coming June will be the 75th anniversary of the start of AA... and this March marks 20 years that I first stepped into the rooms of Overeaters Anonymous (OA).
Not only did I get help with the physical issue of my eating disorder, but even more importantly, I got the spiritual help my soul was crying out for (unbeknownst to me). As I’ve learned, whatever manifests in the physical is the end result of something spiritual in nature. And, a foundation for living was given to me; I am so grateful for the guidance.
Bill W. wrote in the September 1947 issue of Guideposts the following:
“Our most enthusiastic friends think Alcoholics Anonymous is a modern miracle. So they ask, "Why can't A.A. principles be applied to any personal problem?" The world today is a problem world because it is full of problem people. We are now on the greatest emotional bender of all time; practically no one of us is free from the tightening coils of insecurity, fear, resentment and avarice. If A.A. can revive an alcoholic by removing these paralyzing liabilities from him, it must be strong medicine. Perhaps the rest of us could use the same prescription.”
Surely these days there are many going through life without a compass. Especially in these accelerated and crazy times, a spiritual prescription is the key for waking up and living in joy, peace, and love regardless of outer appearances.
This coming June will be the 75th anniversary of the start of AA... and this March marks 20 years that I first stepped into the rooms of Overeaters Anonymous (OA).
Not only did I get help with the physical issue of my eating disorder, but even more importantly, I got the spiritual help my soul was crying out for (unbeknownst to me). As I’ve learned, whatever manifests in the physical is the end result of something spiritual in nature. And, a foundation for living was given to me; I am so grateful for the guidance.
Bill W. wrote in the September 1947 issue of Guideposts the following:
“Our most enthusiastic friends think Alcoholics Anonymous is a modern miracle. So they ask, "Why can't A.A. principles be applied to any personal problem?" The world today is a problem world because it is full of problem people. We are now on the greatest emotional bender of all time; practically no one of us is free from the tightening coils of insecurity, fear, resentment and avarice. If A.A. can revive an alcoholic by removing these paralyzing liabilities from him, it must be strong medicine. Perhaps the rest of us could use the same prescription.”
Surely these days there are many going through life without a compass. Especially in these accelerated and crazy times, a spiritual prescription is the key for waking up and living in joy, peace, and love regardless of outer appearances.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Always Available
I entered the 12 Step program in March 1990 as a devout atheist. I soon discovered that people read daily meditation books related to their specific addiction, which helped them start their day off with some inspiration and contemplation. The words “God” or “Higher Power” could be found among the passages and it took some getting used to. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed the readings and found them helpful with my addiction of choice.
Within about six months, I was solidly believing in a Power greater than myself. Lo and behold, in February 1991 a publisher of recovery material came out with a new meditation book entitled In God’s Care (As We Understand God), Daily Meditations on Spirituality in Recovery. I embraced this little book because I wanted to be more focused on spirituality than on my addiction.
I gave my first copy, filled with lots of yellow highlights and black underscores, to a dear friend who was in AA, when he became seriously ill (I mentioned Jay in one of my first blogs). He made his transition some time later and I never got it back. I’m on my second copy now, 15+ years old.
My path has taken me beyond the 12 Steps, but I never tire of this book and still find joy and inspiration from reading of it. I can even read it online when the hard copy is not nearby. So, here’s part of today’s message:
“We see things not as they are, but as we are.” – H. M. Tomlinson
...Our more positive attitude today changes our understanding of earlier experiences... If we rely on God’s help, we’ll come to understand all our experiences as opportunities for growth and fulfillment. We can trust them, live through them, and be grateful for their contribution to our spiritual development.
The attitude we harbor is powerful...God is always available to help us accept the circumstances of our life.
In the midst of our latest adventures of bankruptcy, foreclosure, building our businesses, and looking for a place to hang our hats, both Rog and I are doing our spiritual work, staying connected to HP, and keeping a positive, joyful attitude. God is always available - to guide us, help us, uplift us.
Within about six months, I was solidly believing in a Power greater than myself. Lo and behold, in February 1991 a publisher of recovery material came out with a new meditation book entitled In God’s Care (As We Understand God), Daily Meditations on Spirituality in Recovery. I embraced this little book because I wanted to be more focused on spirituality than on my addiction.
I gave my first copy, filled with lots of yellow highlights and black underscores, to a dear friend who was in AA, when he became seriously ill (I mentioned Jay in one of my first blogs). He made his transition some time later and I never got it back. I’m on my second copy now, 15+ years old.
My path has taken me beyond the 12 Steps, but I never tire of this book and still find joy and inspiration from reading of it. I can even read it online when the hard copy is not nearby. So, here’s part of today’s message:
“We see things not as they are, but as we are.” – H. M. Tomlinson
...Our more positive attitude today changes our understanding of earlier experiences... If we rely on God’s help, we’ll come to understand all our experiences as opportunities for growth and fulfillment. We can trust them, live through them, and be grateful for their contribution to our spiritual development.
The attitude we harbor is powerful...God is always available to help us accept the circumstances of our life.
In the midst of our latest adventures of bankruptcy, foreclosure, building our businesses, and looking for a place to hang our hats, both Rog and I are doing our spiritual work, staying connected to HP, and keeping a positive, joyful attitude. God is always available - to guide us, help us, uplift us.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Another Anniversary
Today is a special day for me: the 19th anniversary of stepping into the rooms of Overeaters Anonymous (OA).
March 10, 1990 – the most important day of my life because it was the dawning of my path of coming to believe in Spirit.
In the past, I’ve often said that the only way God was going to get my attention was to hit me over the head with a baseball bat in the form of food. Sounds a bit forceful, but I did reach bottom, so the only way to go was up. I’m so grateful for finally having the willingness to check out the 12 Step program in spite of the ‘G’-word – working it transformed me and hence my future life, and made me a better human being for my fellows.
Since that fateful day, I’ve discovered and explored other paths, some complementary to the 12 Step philosophy, some not so much, but all leading Home just the same.
These days my path is no longer focused on the 12 Steps; still, it is and will always be dear to my heart.
I will be forever grateful to Bill W. and Dr. Bob, the founders of AA, who with Spirit, started it all. And, I’m grateful for all those I’ve met along the 12 Step path, who helped me and vice versa - you are dear to me. It is a way of living and a family like no other I’ve encountered.
We are all so very blessed, one day at a time. And that is surely cause for all of us to celebrate.
March 10, 1990 – the most important day of my life because it was the dawning of my path of coming to believe in Spirit.
In the past, I’ve often said that the only way God was going to get my attention was to hit me over the head with a baseball bat in the form of food. Sounds a bit forceful, but I did reach bottom, so the only way to go was up. I’m so grateful for finally having the willingness to check out the 12 Step program in spite of the ‘G’-word – working it transformed me and hence my future life, and made me a better human being for my fellows.
Since that fateful day, I’ve discovered and explored other paths, some complementary to the 12 Step philosophy, some not so much, but all leading Home just the same.
These days my path is no longer focused on the 12 Steps; still, it is and will always be dear to my heart.
I will be forever grateful to Bill W. and Dr. Bob, the founders of AA, who with Spirit, started it all. And, I’m grateful for all those I’ve met along the 12 Step path, who helped me and vice versa - you are dear to me. It is a way of living and a family like no other I’ve encountered.
We are all so very blessed, one day at a time. And that is surely cause for all of us to celebrate.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Reaching Bottom
In the 12 Step program one hears about “reaching bottom,” the idea that an individual has to get so far down, be in so much pain, before they will start on the road to recovery. Concerned members often pray that their fellows reach a bottom low enough to effect a change. However, although the founders and early members of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) had very low bottoms before they started their recovery, it was believed that those who followed wouldn’t have to reach such depths, that their bottoms could be ‘higher.’
The solution the 12 Step program offers focuses on a person finding a Power greater than themselves to help them with their problem (alcohol, food, sex, gambling, etc.) and this occurs through having a spiritual experience or spiritual awakening. The book Alcoholics Anonymous quotes Dr. Carl Jung as saying that such experiences “...appear to be in the nature of the huge emotional displacements and rearrangements. Ideas, emotions, and attitudes which were once the guiding forces of the lives of these men are cast to one side, and a completely new set of conceptions and motives begin to dominate them.” (page 27).
I believe that reaching bottom applies to not only people but to companies, organizations, and even nations. The United States of America, and numerous other countries for that matter, has been on a downward spiraling path to the bottom for a while in politics, finances, health care, environment – the list goes on and on. Values and behaviors have deteriorated to a disgraceful degree. It’s leading to a huge wake up call – and that is a blessing.
But what if we – as a nation, a planet - didn’t have to reach a low, low bottom to get the message and make a change? I’d been thinking that the bottom is going to be terrifically low and painful before people start waking up as to what’s really important in life (and it ain’t money and material things I assure you). But perhaps I’m wrong. Perhaps our bottom as a people, as a planet, is a high bottom and sufficient enough now for a transformation.
The words spoken yesterday throughout the U.S. Presidential Inaugural Ceremony - the oaths, address, and prayers -, and the response of the people makes me dare to hope that we have reached a sufficient bottom collectively.
I’m going to stop praying for the world and its people to reach their lowest bottom so that recovery can commence. Instead, I’m going to pray that the world be ready now to have that spiritual experience and awakening, that now people walk the walk of love, peace, and joy. That we are ready now to be what we truly are.
May God bless not just America, but all of us!
The solution the 12 Step program offers focuses on a person finding a Power greater than themselves to help them with their problem (alcohol, food, sex, gambling, etc.) and this occurs through having a spiritual experience or spiritual awakening. The book Alcoholics Anonymous quotes Dr. Carl Jung as saying that such experiences “...appear to be in the nature of the huge emotional displacements and rearrangements. Ideas, emotions, and attitudes which were once the guiding forces of the lives of these men are cast to one side, and a completely new set of conceptions and motives begin to dominate them.” (page 27).
I believe that reaching bottom applies to not only people but to companies, organizations, and even nations. The United States of America, and numerous other countries for that matter, has been on a downward spiraling path to the bottom for a while in politics, finances, health care, environment – the list goes on and on. Values and behaviors have deteriorated to a disgraceful degree. It’s leading to a huge wake up call – and that is a blessing.
But what if we – as a nation, a planet - didn’t have to reach a low, low bottom to get the message and make a change? I’d been thinking that the bottom is going to be terrifically low and painful before people start waking up as to what’s really important in life (and it ain’t money and material things I assure you). But perhaps I’m wrong. Perhaps our bottom as a people, as a planet, is a high bottom and sufficient enough now for a transformation.
The words spoken yesterday throughout the U.S. Presidential Inaugural Ceremony - the oaths, address, and prayers -, and the response of the people makes me dare to hope that we have reached a sufficient bottom collectively.
I’m going to stop praying for the world and its people to reach their lowest bottom so that recovery can commence. Instead, I’m going to pray that the world be ready now to have that spiritual experience and awakening, that now people walk the walk of love, peace, and joy. That we are ready now to be what we truly are.
May God bless not just America, but all of us!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
My Story Continues...
[Continued from Yesterday’s Blog]
The day I departed for my first trip to Europe with six weeks of sobriety and 12 Step recovery under my belt, I had planned to work a good portion of the day and then leave directly for the airport from my office. I was delayed (ya know, just one more thing...), and rushed out of the World Financial Center in lower Manhattan hoping I would not miss my flight; I did not.
The plane was boarded, an older gentleman sat down next to me, and then he started making a fuss about the luggage under our seats. Nonetheless we settled in, the plane took flight, and before I knew it, my fellow traveler was placing a copy of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous into the pouch in front of him! Excited and feeling an instant connection with him, I turned to him and told him I had a copy of the Big Book with me too. Thus a dreaded 7-hour flight to Rome sped by as we talked in the same language about the Program, our feelings, and our experiences.
This was synchronicity at work for numerous reasons and I chuckled that:
. In this plane with 300 or so passenger seats, a member of a 12 Step Fellowship was assigned to a seat next to me
. His unmistakable membership in this anonymous association was revealed to me (and early in the trip)
. Peter was an American (like me) from the northeastern United States (like me) in a planeload mostly full of Italian-speaking Romans
. Last, but certainly not least, Peter was a Christian missionary stationed in Rome!
The significance here for me was strong. I was not left alone, new in my sobriety and new in my traveling to Europe. I got to enjoy the company of a ‘man of the cloth’ whereas up until this time, I had looked askance at ‘such people.’ Also, this came at a time when I was actively searching for a higher power. I walked off that plane onto another continent with a new attitude, my perspective shifted.
Upon hearing this story, my dear friend Jay (a member of the AA Fellowship) said to me “Even you, Joyce, have to admit this had to be more than a coincidence...” Indeed, even I. I chuckled, knowing (and glad) that my evolving conception of a higher power had a sense of humor.
The day I departed for my first trip to Europe with six weeks of sobriety and 12 Step recovery under my belt, I had planned to work a good portion of the day and then leave directly for the airport from my office. I was delayed (ya know, just one more thing...), and rushed out of the World Financial Center in lower Manhattan hoping I would not miss my flight; I did not.
The plane was boarded, an older gentleman sat down next to me, and then he started making a fuss about the luggage under our seats. Nonetheless we settled in, the plane took flight, and before I knew it, my fellow traveler was placing a copy of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous into the pouch in front of him! Excited and feeling an instant connection with him, I turned to him and told him I had a copy of the Big Book with me too. Thus a dreaded 7-hour flight to Rome sped by as we talked in the same language about the Program, our feelings, and our experiences.
This was synchronicity at work for numerous reasons and I chuckled that:
. In this plane with 300 or so passenger seats, a member of a 12 Step Fellowship was assigned to a seat next to me
. His unmistakable membership in this anonymous association was revealed to me (and early in the trip)
. Peter was an American (like me) from the northeastern United States (like me) in a planeload mostly full of Italian-speaking Romans
. Last, but certainly not least, Peter was a Christian missionary stationed in Rome!
The significance here for me was strong. I was not left alone, new in my sobriety and new in my traveling to Europe. I got to enjoy the company of a ‘man of the cloth’ whereas up until this time, I had looked askance at ‘such people.’ Also, this came at a time when I was actively searching for a higher power. I walked off that plane onto another continent with a new attitude, my perspective shifted.
Upon hearing this story, my dear friend Jay (a member of the AA Fellowship) said to me “Even you, Joyce, have to admit this had to be more than a coincidence...” Indeed, even I. I chuckled, knowing (and glad) that my evolving conception of a higher power had a sense of humor.
Friday, November 14, 2008
My Story Begins...
The Gilbert Spirituality MeetUp Group met the other night and the topic was God Stories. We mostly focused on sharing incidents in which events happened which could not be a coincidence – or at least the person involved thought so, which is all that matters.
The idea of synchronicity was developed by Carl Jung and has special meaning for me. It was the way in which I came to believe in God. One of my first conscious “encounters” – after all God is always making Its Presence known but I often am not paying attention – occurred when I was newly on my path.
I walked into the rooms of of a 12 Step program of recovery for eating disorders in March 1990 in New York City, bringing with me 19 years of ‘hard core’ atheism. I held a strong belief and daily practice based on Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism where reason and logic were the answer to everything and self-sufficiency, along with perfectionism, was extreme. I had a great disdain for organized religion, and would barely give a member of the clergy the time of day if asked to. But, I considered myself a ‘free thinker’!
Six weeks later, abstinent (sober) for that period, I was on my way to Europe for the first time. Being so new to the OA program and traveling into unfamiliar territory, I was concerned about my ability to remain abstinent. I endeavored to get a copy of the Big Book, the ‘bible’ of the program Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) on which my particular program was based, and secured a copy in the nick of time. Reading this, indeed just having it with me, was to help ‘protect’ me from my disease of compulsive overeating. I had not yet developed a conception of a higher power to help me. I was about to get a clear demonstration of Higher Power at work.
The idea of synchronicity was developed by Carl Jung and has special meaning for me. It was the way in which I came to believe in God. One of my first conscious “encounters” – after all God is always making Its Presence known but I often am not paying attention – occurred when I was newly on my path.
I walked into the rooms of of a 12 Step program of recovery for eating disorders in March 1990 in New York City, bringing with me 19 years of ‘hard core’ atheism. I held a strong belief and daily practice based on Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism where reason and logic were the answer to everything and self-sufficiency, along with perfectionism, was extreme. I had a great disdain for organized religion, and would barely give a member of the clergy the time of day if asked to. But, I considered myself a ‘free thinker’!
Six weeks later, abstinent (sober) for that period, I was on my way to Europe for the first time. Being so new to the OA program and traveling into unfamiliar territory, I was concerned about my ability to remain abstinent. I endeavored to get a copy of the Big Book, the ‘bible’ of the program Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) on which my particular program was based, and secured a copy in the nick of time. Reading this, indeed just having it with me, was to help ‘protect’ me from my disease of compulsive overeating. I had not yet developed a conception of a higher power to help me. I was about to get a clear demonstration of Higher Power at work.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
