Category Archives: help

Believing that God Exists

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Once you accept the existence of God—however you define Him, however you explain your relationship to Him—then you are caught forever with His presence in the center of all things. – Morris West “Having our Higher Power as an integral part of how we experience all the hours of a day (whether they hold burdens or blessings) heightens our awareness of the fullness of our life. Believing that God exists for us and in us profoundly changes how we see every aspect of our day. “A number of us didn’t believe in God when we joined a Twelve Step program. Or if we did, many of us believed in a demanding or punishing God who had no relevance to our daily life. What a difference it makes to let a loving God take charge of our thoughts, attitudes, behaviors, and plans for the future.” – “In God’s Care*: Daily Meditations on Spirituality in Recovery,” June 16 *As We Understand God I was one of those individuals that didn’t believe in God when I joined a Twelve Step program. I was a devout atheist, and even though I’d suffered with an eating disorder my entire life, it took me five years … Continue reading →

Constructive Criticism

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It takes a rare person to want to hear what he doesn’t want to hear. – Dick Cavett “Accepting criticism is difficult for most of us. “We not only cheat ourselves out of the serenity that comes when we accept our fallibility, we also miss the opportunity to learn from others when they offer helpful criticism.” I will not turn from my critics today and will try to evaluate their words objectively. – “In God’s Care*: Daily Meditations on Spirituality in Recovery,” June 3 *As We Understand God I have to say that I’m not one to mind constructive criticism from others. I seek to improve myself, in order to improve my life, and also so that I can be of better service to Spirit and others. I pride myself in being objective and as long as the person dispensing the criticism is coming from a loving space and is accurate in their assessment, I think I’m amenable to hearing their words. Unlike many others, I also like change. So perhaps I am open and receptive to constructive criticism because it contributes to change. After all, growth is change, and that is what can proceed from constructive criticism. I’m sure … Continue reading →

Spirit’s Computer Lesson

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I am so filled with joy and gratitude for Spirit’s computer lesson I received today! No, I wasn’t enrolled in software training or the like. My personal laptop had an Internet communication connection problem and I got through it with flying colors! That’s why I’m in my joy and gratitude (although the fact that the problem was resolved is nice too). When I say I got through it with flying colors I am referring to the way I conducted myself throughout the three-plus hours of troubleshooting… how I showed up to myself, the automated ISP tech support helper, the human ISP tech support person, and the Geek Squad rep. Since my work laptop was connecting to the Internet just fine, I knew the issue was specific to my personal laptop, so my first step was not to check with the Internet Service Provider (ISP). I started by researching and following troubleshooting tips online; they didn’t solve the problem. Nevertheless, I appreciated the online knowledge share, especially since I know the time and effort that goes into creating such content. I remained calm and peaceful, moving onto the next step. I contacted the ISP so they could check the Wi-Fi router … Continue reading →

Happiness Comes From Giving

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“Beginning with childhood, we all receive messages that getting is the purpose of living: we must have romantic love, sexual fulfillment, possessions, and prestige to be happy. “God has a different message: Help one another. We learn from experience in our program that happiness comes from giving—whether it be time, talent, money, or other things. Experience tells us that giving what we have to help someone else makes us a lot happier than keeping it to ourselves.” – “In God’s Care*: Daily Meditations on Spirituality in Recovery,” April 14 *As We Understand God Growing up, my parents were caring, giving people, but not strong role models of volunteerism. I did some volunteering as I grew older, but still wasn’t all that much into being of service. That changed dramatically when I joined a 12 Step program. Service and giving of one’s time, talent, and money is a huge part of the Program; it is the final step after working through the other ones: “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to compulsive eaters, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.” Step 12 is the culmination of a spiritual … Continue reading →

One-Word Prayer

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Help!—my one-word prayer throughout most of today. I’ve been working this technical writing contract for several months but it’s not been very satisfying. There hasn’t always been a lot of work either, but last week I got slammed work as my manager finally had a chance to get me what was needed to proceed before she left on vacation. In looking over the various tasks I needed to tackle, I have found myself lacking energy and focus. Of course, that won’t do. I am a professional, getting paid to do work, and it needs to get done. I cannot regress to being a child saying, “I don’t wanna!” Coming out of my morning meditation, I consciously chose to dwell on the good and what I wanted to achieve today, rather than be fearful and dread how I would manage to get through this round of work. And, I realized I didn’t have to think I was alone in this situation, my go-to mindset. Spirit is with me always and wants only good for me. Spirit has the Power and I can use it! So throughout the day I was pretty much chanting “Help!”, seeking to stay focused and be productive. … Continue reading →

Come By Here, Spirit

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Today’s reading in “Everyday Joy, 365 days of ohmygod life,” by Z Egloff and Melissa Phillippe stated the original meaning of the word “kumbaya” was “come by here” as in Come by here, Spirit. We need your help. The reading got me curious enough to learn a bit more about this term and its history, as I’ve always enjoyed listening to and singing the song with that single word title. There is lengthy discussion provided by the Library of Congress; below is a brief summary. The most common claim made today about the origins of “Kumbaya” is that it is from the Gullah-Geechee people of coastal Georgia and South Carolina. The earliest record in the Library of Congress’s American Folklife Center (AFC) comes from lyrics collected in North Carolina in 1926 for a song called “Oh Lord, Won’t You Come By Here.” The spiritual pleads for divine intervention—for God to come by here and help a people in great need, referencing an area historically connected to the enslavement and oppression of African Americans. The following rendition of  “Kumbaya” is sung by the Soweto Gospel Choir. In asking for help, we acknowledge that we can’t do this thing called Life alone. … Continue reading →