When I trust and respect myself enough to be myself honestly, others respond with trust and respect.
We can greet all situations today with ease if we have committed ourselves to lives of integrity. Having made the decision to be fully honest at all times eliminates our uncertainty in responding to others, and thus we don't cloud issues and confuse our contemporaries with inconsistencies.
Without fail we recognize others' integrity as ours is recognized. It goes without saying that each of us is more at ease with those we trust.
Honesty invites honesty. Self-respect encourages respectful behaviour toward others, and like a boomerang, it returns to the initiator.
We teach others how to treat us.
With every action we take, every word we speak, we are informing others of our personhood.
I will set the tone for my day by my behaviour toward self and others. Over this I am all-powerful.
Monday, 23 March 2009
Monday, 16 March 2009
Dreams
Within our dreams and aspirations we find our opportunities.
Our dreams invite us to broaden our horizons to reach beyond our present goals.
They are much more than whims.
They are probably calling us to those opportunities for which our talents have been readied. Most of us need this encouragement to attempt new ventures.
We've each been invited to this present moment by design. Our lives are joined like the tiles of a mosaic; none of us contributes the whole of the picture but each of us is necessary for its completion. More importantly, the deph, the richness of the picture in its entirety, is enhanced by our fulfilled dreams.
With joy and excitment we can anticipate our frequent aspirations, recognizing them as the guideposts offering directions for our daily travels.
Today I will welcome my dreams. They indicate tomorrow's sucessful ventures.
Our dreams invite us to broaden our horizons to reach beyond our present goals.
They are much more than whims.
They are probably calling us to those opportunities for which our talents have been readied. Most of us need this encouragement to attempt new ventures.
We've each been invited to this present moment by design. Our lives are joined like the tiles of a mosaic; none of us contributes the whole of the picture but each of us is necessary for its completion. More importantly, the deph, the richness of the picture in its entirety, is enhanced by our fulfilled dreams.
With joy and excitment we can anticipate our frequent aspirations, recognizing them as the guideposts offering directions for our daily travels.
Today I will welcome my dreams. They indicate tomorrow's sucessful ventures.
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
Love
Love is mutually feeding each other, not one living on another like a ghoul.
Real love is compromise. It's sharing and taking turns. It's putting someone else's best interests first.
Love wears many expressions and is demonstrated by many gestures.
Offering love to someone, when the offer is genuine, benefits the giver as much as the receiver.
Our calloused souls are softened by the gentle nature of our love.
No one of us develops mentally and emotionally to our full stature if we cultivate isolation rather than intimacy.
We learn who we are through our involvement with others.
We come to terms with our defects and have opportunities to enhance our assets while experiencing the strenghts and shortcomings of others.
What time and patience teach is that love is generally slow to develop but will result when there is a mutual decision to live and grow in one another's company.
Each person we genuinely love makes our own survival easier.
My love is best expressed when I help someone else live life more comfortably.
Real love is compromise. It's sharing and taking turns. It's putting someone else's best interests first.
Love wears many expressions and is demonstrated by many gestures.
Offering love to someone, when the offer is genuine, benefits the giver as much as the receiver.
Our calloused souls are softened by the gentle nature of our love.
No one of us develops mentally and emotionally to our full stature if we cultivate isolation rather than intimacy.
We learn who we are through our involvement with others.
We come to terms with our defects and have opportunities to enhance our assets while experiencing the strenghts and shortcomings of others.
What time and patience teach is that love is generally slow to develop but will result when there is a mutual decision to live and grow in one another's company.
Each person we genuinely love makes our own survival easier.
My love is best expressed when I help someone else live life more comfortably.
My reflection of the day
I've begun to better understand myself since I've recovered from GAD (General Anxiety Disorder).
One of the most important things I've learned is that opinions aren't facts.
Just because I feel that a thing is so doesn't necessary make it so.
"Men are not worried by things," wrote the Greek Philosopher Epictetus, "but by their ideas about things. When we meet with difficulties, become anxious or troubled, let us not blame others, but rather ourselves.
That is: our ideas about things."
Do I believe that I can never entirely lose what I have learned during my recovery?
Today I pray:
May I learn to sort out realities from my ideas about those realities.
May I understand that situations, things, - even people - take on the colors and dimensions of my attitudes about them.
Today I will remember:
To sort the real from the unreal.
One of the most important things I've learned is that opinions aren't facts.
Just because I feel that a thing is so doesn't necessary make it so.
"Men are not worried by things," wrote the Greek Philosopher Epictetus, "but by their ideas about things. When we meet with difficulties, become anxious or troubled, let us not blame others, but rather ourselves.
That is: our ideas about things."
Do I believe that I can never entirely lose what I have learned during my recovery?
Today I pray:
May I learn to sort out realities from my ideas about those realities.
May I understand that situations, things, - even people - take on the colors and dimensions of my attitudes about them.
Today I will remember:
To sort the real from the unreal.
Monday, 2 March 2009
Self-control
One's mind may be given readily and it may be given with zest.
Not all control is oppression.
Sometimes it is release.
Our most dangerous delusion is that we can control others.
The hard-won truth is that we can control only ourselves - and it may take us a lifetime to learn this.
Self-control means release, however; release from the bondage of uncontrolled and thoughtless behaviour.
When we recognize that our only legitimate power is over ourselves, we become free to grow spiritually and to increase that power.
Lack of control is not freedom; it is chaos. Conflicting impulses squander energies instead of controlling them and directing them towards growth.
We can't subdue our unruly selves by fighting them: accept them, love them as part of our human imperfections, our superb and jagged individuality.
As we come to recognize the benefits of self-control, we'll choose it more and more often.
We'll become more fully in control of our lives, better able to direct our energies and do what we want to do.
Only by choosing self-control will I achieve freedom.
Not all control is oppression.
Sometimes it is release.
Our most dangerous delusion is that we can control others.
The hard-won truth is that we can control only ourselves - and it may take us a lifetime to learn this.
Self-control means release, however; release from the bondage of uncontrolled and thoughtless behaviour.
When we recognize that our only legitimate power is over ourselves, we become free to grow spiritually and to increase that power.
Lack of control is not freedom; it is chaos. Conflicting impulses squander energies instead of controlling them and directing them towards growth.
We can't subdue our unruly selves by fighting them: accept them, love them as part of our human imperfections, our superb and jagged individuality.
As we come to recognize the benefits of self-control, we'll choose it more and more often.
We'll become more fully in control of our lives, better able to direct our energies and do what we want to do.
Only by choosing self-control will I achieve freedom.
My reflection of the day
Why don't I spend part of today thinking about my assets, rather than my liabilities?
Why not think about victories, instead of defeats - about the ways in which I am gentle and kind?
It's always been my tendency to fall into a sort of cynical self-hypnosis, putting derogatory labels on practically everything I've done, said or felt.
Just for today, I'll spend a quiet half hour trying to gain a more positive perspective on my life.
Do I have the courage to change the things I can?
Today I pray:
Through quietness and a reassessment of myself, may I develop a more positive attitude.
If I am a child of God, created in His image, there must be goodness in me.
I will think about that goodness, and the ways it manifests itself.
I will stop putting myself down, even in my secret thoughts.
I will respect what is God's.
I will respect myself.
Today I will remember:
Self-respect is respect for God.
Why not think about victories, instead of defeats - about the ways in which I am gentle and kind?
It's always been my tendency to fall into a sort of cynical self-hypnosis, putting derogatory labels on practically everything I've done, said or felt.
Just for today, I'll spend a quiet half hour trying to gain a more positive perspective on my life.
Do I have the courage to change the things I can?
Today I pray:
Through quietness and a reassessment of myself, may I develop a more positive attitude.
If I am a child of God, created in His image, there must be goodness in me.
I will think about that goodness, and the ways it manifests itself.
I will stop putting myself down, even in my secret thoughts.
I will respect what is God's.
I will respect myself.
Today I will remember:
Self-respect is respect for God.
Sunday, 1 March 2009
Water
It is time to show the strenght of water and flow away.
...To stand is to be crushed, but to flow out is to gather new strenght.
Water is one of the strongest elements on earth: it can't be broken; it can assume many shapes; it joins easily with itself.
When it reaches a certain mass, moving water presents an irresistible force.
We might do well to learn to acquire the strenght of water temporarily; to be able to lose ourselves for a time, in concert with others, and then to reclaim our identities.
We needn't fear their loss. We are unique personalities, and our selfhood is intact.
How sucessful I would be if I could use the strenght of water when I need it; the purity of air, the solidity of earth, and the appetite of fire.
...To stand is to be crushed, but to flow out is to gather new strenght.
Water is one of the strongest elements on earth: it can't be broken; it can assume many shapes; it joins easily with itself.
When it reaches a certain mass, moving water presents an irresistible force.
We might do well to learn to acquire the strenght of water temporarily; to be able to lose ourselves for a time, in concert with others, and then to reclaim our identities.
We needn't fear their loss. We are unique personalities, and our selfhood is intact.
How sucessful I would be if I could use the strenght of water when I need it; the purity of air, the solidity of earth, and the appetite of fire.
My reflection of the day
Just for today, I'll not be afraid of anything.
If my mind is clouded with nameless fears, I'll track them down and expose their unreality.
I'll remind myself that God is in charge of me and my life, and that all I have to do is accept His protection and guidance.
What happened yesterday need not trouble me today.
Do I accept the fact that it's in my power to make today a good one just by the way I think about it and what I do about it?
Today I pray:
May I make today a good day.
May I know that it is up to me to assign to it qualities of goodness, through a positive attitude towards what the present is providing.
May I be untroubled by vestiges of yesterday.
Please, God, remain close to me all through this day.
Today I will remember:
To make it good
If my mind is clouded with nameless fears, I'll track them down and expose their unreality.
I'll remind myself that God is in charge of me and my life, and that all I have to do is accept His protection and guidance.
What happened yesterday need not trouble me today.
Do I accept the fact that it's in my power to make today a good one just by the way I think about it and what I do about it?
Today I pray:
May I make today a good day.
May I know that it is up to me to assign to it qualities of goodness, through a positive attitude towards what the present is providing.
May I be untroubled by vestiges of yesterday.
Please, God, remain close to me all through this day.
Today I will remember:
To make it good
Saturday, 28 February 2009
History
I want somehow to tell the story of how the dispossessed become possessed of their history without losing sight, without forgetting the meaning or the nature of their journey.
To use the past without being controlled by it - that is our responsibility to history.
Because the past is irrecoverably vanished, it's sometimes tempting to forget it or to falsify it.
But being true to ourselves means being true to our history.
Past cruelties can remain powerful in our lives - yet to take possession of our history means to free ourselves of bondage to past events.
Nothing can ever change them.
If we are to make the future good, we'll learn what the past can teach us.
But our freedom requires us to make choices based on the needs of the present, not the past.
I can act at every moment in such a way as to honor the past and enhance the future.
To use the past without being controlled by it - that is our responsibility to history.
Because the past is irrecoverably vanished, it's sometimes tempting to forget it or to falsify it.
But being true to ourselves means being true to our history.
Past cruelties can remain powerful in our lives - yet to take possession of our history means to free ourselves of bondage to past events.
Nothing can ever change them.
If we are to make the future good, we'll learn what the past can teach us.
But our freedom requires us to make choices based on the needs of the present, not the past.
I can act at every moment in such a way as to honor the past and enhance the future.
My reflection of the day
The chief activator of our defects has been self-centered fear - mainly fear that we would lose something we already possessed or that we would fail to get something we demanded.
Living on the basis of unsatisfied demands, we obviously were in a state of continual disturbance and frustration.
Therefore, we are taught, no peace will be ours unless we find a means of reducing these demands.
Have I become entirely ready to have God remove all my defects of character?
Today I pray:
May I make no unrealistic demands on life, which, because of their grandiosity, cannot be met.
May I place no excessive demands on others which, when they are not fulfilled, leave me disappointed and let down.
Today I will remember:
The set-up for a let-down
Living on the basis of unsatisfied demands, we obviously were in a state of continual disturbance and frustration.
Therefore, we are taught, no peace will be ours unless we find a means of reducing these demands.
Have I become entirely ready to have God remove all my defects of character?
Today I pray:
May I make no unrealistic demands on life, which, because of their grandiosity, cannot be met.
May I place no excessive demands on others which, when they are not fulfilled, leave me disappointed and let down.
Today I will remember:
The set-up for a let-down
Friday, 27 February 2009
Exploring Anxiety Attacks and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
We all must deal with a certain level of anxiety during our daily lives. However, it is possible feelings of stress, nervousness, and anxiousness can impair with our daily life activities. In general, however, mild cases of anxiety can be managed effectively. Then, there are instances where anxiety levels increase to the point they manifest into serious conditions. Such is the case with anxiety attacks and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In order to properly deal with these conditions, it is important to clearly understand what these conditions entail.
Anxiety Attacks
The common feelings of anxiety are annoying but manageable. Irritability and nervousness can be problematic but they are not impossible to deal with. However, an overwhelming and incapacitating sense of fear that appears out of the blue is not easy to handle. This manifestation of fear is known as an anxiety attack (panic attack) and it is debilitating and dangerous. Such overwhelming anxiety attacks can lead to difficulty in breathing, nausea, a racing heartbeat, and severe pains in the chest. Often, these feelings are so severe the person who suffers from an anxiety attack will assume he is experiencing a heart attack.
The root origins of an anxiety attack can vary. Sometimes, an anxiety attack can be brought on by something buried deep in the subconscious. For example, a person who is seriously worrying about paying a bill could have an anxiety attack after walking past a bank. However, the individual may not be consciously aware that the image of the bank brought about the anxiety attack.
The various causes of panic attacks can be stress, alcohol/drug issues, hereditary problems, fears and phobias, or environmental related causes such as a difficult home or work life. The amount of time an anxiety occur lasts will vary from individual to individual as will the frequency of panic attack episodes.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
While anxiety attacks are severe, the condition of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is even more problematic. Once considered solely the result of war experiences, psychologists have discovered there are many different causes for the development of this serious psychological condition.
PTSD is a form of anxiety disorder that results from exposure to an event that yielded either severe physical harm or the potential for physical harm and/or death. Common sufferers of PTSD include veterans, police/fire personnel, victims of crime or abuse, or those involved in serious, life threatening accidents.
What makes the anxiety of PTSD so powerful is that sufferers of this condition relieve the trauma experience over and over in their head. This comes in the form of flashbacks, nightmares, and intrusive thoughts. These symptoms are usually brought about as a result of triggers in the conscious world that affect the subconscious. For example, a victim of a mugging could suffer flashbacks when coming across a police drama on television. Because these intrusive thoughts are so overwhelming, the individual will seek to reduce exposures to triggers. This can be achieved by withdrawing from life, isolating oneself, becoming a workaholic, or taking part in other means of avoidance. Clearly, this would have a very negative effect on one’s life.
Dealing with the Conditions
Thankfully, there are a number of ways anxiety attacks and PTSD can be treated. Therapy and outpatient prescription medication care are means that have long since proven to be successful. Those that are dealing with these conditions should consult with a qualified mental healthcare professional to discuss treatment options.
Please visit http://www.manage-anxiety.com for more details.
Anxiety Attacks
The common feelings of anxiety are annoying but manageable. Irritability and nervousness can be problematic but they are not impossible to deal with. However, an overwhelming and incapacitating sense of fear that appears out of the blue is not easy to handle. This manifestation of fear is known as an anxiety attack (panic attack) and it is debilitating and dangerous. Such overwhelming anxiety attacks can lead to difficulty in breathing, nausea, a racing heartbeat, and severe pains in the chest. Often, these feelings are so severe the person who suffers from an anxiety attack will assume he is experiencing a heart attack.
The root origins of an anxiety attack can vary. Sometimes, an anxiety attack can be brought on by something buried deep in the subconscious. For example, a person who is seriously worrying about paying a bill could have an anxiety attack after walking past a bank. However, the individual may not be consciously aware that the image of the bank brought about the anxiety attack.
The various causes of panic attacks can be stress, alcohol/drug issues, hereditary problems, fears and phobias, or environmental related causes such as a difficult home or work life. The amount of time an anxiety occur lasts will vary from individual to individual as will the frequency of panic attack episodes.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
While anxiety attacks are severe, the condition of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is even more problematic. Once considered solely the result of war experiences, psychologists have discovered there are many different causes for the development of this serious psychological condition.
PTSD is a form of anxiety disorder that results from exposure to an event that yielded either severe physical harm or the potential for physical harm and/or death. Common sufferers of PTSD include veterans, police/fire personnel, victims of crime or abuse, or those involved in serious, life threatening accidents.
What makes the anxiety of PTSD so powerful is that sufferers of this condition relieve the trauma experience over and over in their head. This comes in the form of flashbacks, nightmares, and intrusive thoughts. These symptoms are usually brought about as a result of triggers in the conscious world that affect the subconscious. For example, a victim of a mugging could suffer flashbacks when coming across a police drama on television. Because these intrusive thoughts are so overwhelming, the individual will seek to reduce exposures to triggers. This can be achieved by withdrawing from life, isolating oneself, becoming a workaholic, or taking part in other means of avoidance. Clearly, this would have a very negative effect on one’s life.
Dealing with the Conditions
Thankfully, there are a number of ways anxiety attacks and PTSD can be treated. Therapy and outpatient prescription medication care are means that have long since proven to be successful. Those that are dealing with these conditions should consult with a qualified mental healthcare professional to discuss treatment options.
Please visit http://www.manage-anxiety.com for more details.
Being alive...
God creates. People rearrange.
Being alive is our invitation to act in fresh, inventive ways.
All it takes is concentrating on our inner vision in combination with external reality.
The components for accomplishing any task are at our fingertips, awaiting discovery.
Our burdens are lightened when we understand that all situations are resolvable - no mystery need leave us in the dark for long.
Just as surely as we each exist, so exists every element we need to solve any problem or chart any new course.
Our purpose in life is to select those elements that will satisfy the need.
We each have been blessed with this capability for proper selection.
The day promises challenge and many choices.
I can successfully handle all possibilities.
Being alive is our invitation to act in fresh, inventive ways.
All it takes is concentrating on our inner vision in combination with external reality.
The components for accomplishing any task are at our fingertips, awaiting discovery.
Our burdens are lightened when we understand that all situations are resolvable - no mystery need leave us in the dark for long.
Just as surely as we each exist, so exists every element we need to solve any problem or chart any new course.
Our purpose in life is to select those elements that will satisfy the need.
We each have been blessed with this capability for proper selection.
The day promises challenge and many choices.
I can successfully handle all possibilities.
Growth
Self-determination does not mean exercising intellectual mastery at all times over bodily, earthly processes, though the capacity for that mastery expands our human possibilities.
Growth means learning the limits of our will.
What appears to be mastery - flying in an airplane, for example - is merely cooperation with natural forces.
Human intellect does not master natural processes; we tap into them, learn them, bring our own aims into harmony with them.
The world is not a jungle, to be hacked, cleared, or bulldozed.
Human beings are learning not to clear jungles that way either.
The world is us extended over the globe.
We can spend our whole lives discovering the wonderfull oneness of creation.
The awareness of this unity expands our human possibility, for each case is an example of our growing harmony with nature.
I will pray for harmonious resolution of my human possibilities with the great forces of nature.
Growth means learning the limits of our will.
What appears to be mastery - flying in an airplane, for example - is merely cooperation with natural forces.
Human intellect does not master natural processes; we tap into them, learn them, bring our own aims into harmony with them.
The world is not a jungle, to be hacked, cleared, or bulldozed.
Human beings are learning not to clear jungles that way either.
The world is us extended over the globe.
We can spend our whole lives discovering the wonderfull oneness of creation.
The awareness of this unity expands our human possibility, for each case is an example of our growing harmony with nature.
I will pray for harmonious resolution of my human possibilities with the great forces of nature.
"What if..."
"What if..." - How often we hear these words from people?
How often, in fact, we tend to say them ourselves.
"What if I lose my job?"
"What if my car breaks down?"
"What if I get sick and con't work?"
"What if my child gets hooked on drugs?"
What if - anything our desperate imaginings can project.
Only two small words, yet how heavy-laden they are with dread, fear and anxiety.
The answer to "What if..." is, plainly and simply, "Don't project."
We can only live with our problems as they arise, living one day at a time.
Am I keeping my thoughts positive?
Today I pray:
May I grow spiritually, without being held back by anxieties.
May projected fears not hobble my pursuits or keep me from making the most of today.
May I turn out fear by faith.
If I will only make a place for God within me, He will remove my fears.
Today I will remember:
I can only borrow trouble at high interest rates
How often, in fact, we tend to say them ourselves.
"What if I lose my job?"
"What if my car breaks down?"
"What if I get sick and con't work?"
"What if my child gets hooked on drugs?"
What if - anything our desperate imaginings can project.
Only two small words, yet how heavy-laden they are with dread, fear and anxiety.
The answer to "What if..." is, plainly and simply, "Don't project."
We can only live with our problems as they arise, living one day at a time.
Am I keeping my thoughts positive?
Today I pray:
May I grow spiritually, without being held back by anxieties.
May projected fears not hobble my pursuits or keep me from making the most of today.
May I turn out fear by faith.
If I will only make a place for God within me, He will remove my fears.
Today I will remember:
I can only borrow trouble at high interest rates
My reflection of the day
If I live just one day at a time, I won't so quickly entertain fears of what might happen tomorrow.
As long as I'm concentrating on today's activities, there won't be room in my mind for worrying.
I'll try to fill every minute of this day with something good - seen, heard, accomplished.
Then, when the day is ended, I'll be able to look back on it with satisfaction, serenity and gratitude.
Do I sometimes cheerish bad feelings so that I can feel sorry for myself?
Today I pray:
That I will get out of the self-pity act and live for today.
May I notice the good things from dawn to nighfall, learn to talk about them and thank God for them.
May I catch myself if I seem to be relishing my moans and complaints more often than appreciating the goodness of my life.
Today I will remember:
Today is good
As long as I'm concentrating on today's activities, there won't be room in my mind for worrying.
I'll try to fill every minute of this day with something good - seen, heard, accomplished.
Then, when the day is ended, I'll be able to look back on it with satisfaction, serenity and gratitude.
Do I sometimes cheerish bad feelings so that I can feel sorry for myself?
Today I pray:
That I will get out of the self-pity act and live for today.
May I notice the good things from dawn to nighfall, learn to talk about them and thank God for them.
May I catch myself if I seem to be relishing my moans and complaints more often than appreciating the goodness of my life.
Today I will remember:
Today is good
Wednesday, 25 February 2009
Relantionships
Relantionships are only as alive as the people engaging in them.
We receive from every experience in proportion to what we give.
In other words, the richness of our lives is necessarily dependent on the depth of our commitment.
Reserved involvement guarantees only limited rewards, while wholehearted efforts promise full-scale returns.
In all aspects of our lives, we'll find this to be true.
Our relantionships gift us justly.
These experiences with others are woven together, and their beauty is equal to the beauty we bring to one another's company.
However, if we bring only criticism and bleak hopelessness to a relantionship, we'll find despair rather than joy.
Every relantionship is the sum and substance of the partners involved.
No relantionship is more fruitful than the efforts of those doing the pruning.
How much do I give to the relantionships I deem meaningful?
They bless me in just proportion to what I give.
Today gives me a chance to make a greater contribution.
We receive from every experience in proportion to what we give.
In other words, the richness of our lives is necessarily dependent on the depth of our commitment.
Reserved involvement guarantees only limited rewards, while wholehearted efforts promise full-scale returns.
In all aspects of our lives, we'll find this to be true.
Our relantionships gift us justly.
These experiences with others are woven together, and their beauty is equal to the beauty we bring to one another's company.
However, if we bring only criticism and bleak hopelessness to a relantionship, we'll find despair rather than joy.
Every relantionship is the sum and substance of the partners involved.
No relantionship is more fruitful than the efforts of those doing the pruning.
How much do I give to the relantionships I deem meaningful?
They bless me in just proportion to what I give.
Today gives me a chance to make a greater contribution.
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