Hard Lesson – Two
No One Can Save You But You
No one – not even God – will force you to make the right choices in life. Praying for God or Jesus or Buddha to change you only sets you up for failure. Because such a course removes responsibility from there it belongs (on you) and places it on God.
“Well,” you say, “I asked God to change me, and he didn’t.”
If God made you stop drinking, or using drugs, or cheating on your spouse, then you wouldn’t be human.
You’d be an automaton. You would no longer have free will. What we can do, is ask Him for wisdom, for the discernment to see the harm we cause ourselves with our self-destructive actions.
Ultimately, change comes from within.
That’s why God gave us a brain, and common sense.
That’s why He gave us two eyes with which to see, and two ears with which to hear.
Using the eyes God gave us, we are able to see the destruction in our lives caused by addiction.
Using the ears God gave us, we can listen to the lessons life is trying to teach us.
And with this knowledge, we can then use the brain God gave us to conclude that a decision is called for. A decision to stop our self-destructive behavior.
Only you can make this decision. God cannot make it for you.
And know this too – that choosing not to decide is still a decision. If you’re an addict, and you choose not to decide to get clean and sober, it’s the same thing as choosing to be a slave.
Again, you can ask God for strength, or wisdom, or discernment. But ultimately, it’s your decision. And if you find yourself praying for the strength or wisdom to make a decision, that’s a pretty good indication you already know in your heart that a decision is called for.
So in reality, you don’t need strength.
Or wisdom.
You simply need to make up your mind to do what’s right.
In such a case, it’s not a problem of strength, or wisdom.
It is, rather, a problem of attachment.
How much strength does it require to let go?
The problem therefore, is not a lack of strength. The problem is indecisiveness.
Hard Lesson – One
Truth About Happiness
Many people – especially addicts and alcoholics – have somehow come to the misguided conclusion that we’re supposed to always be happy.
We always want to feel good. No matter what the circumstances. We’re always craving that next hit, that next drink, and next slice of chocolate cake.
For many it’s a constant struggle to perpetually feel good. We’re always on the lookout for the next new way to get high and feel good. As if feeling good were the end-all be-all of existence. We search in vain, high and low, for the secret to happiness.
But the secret to happiness begins with the knowledge that we weren’t put here just to be happy. We were not put on this earth merely to feel good. We were put here to learn, to grow, and to evolve.
And the funny thing – the miraculous thing – is that the more we learn, the more we grow and evolve, the more we find ourselves wanting to help others.
And the more we begin to help others, the more we find that, lo and behold, we ourselves are made happy in the process.
By putting others before self, through the path of service to others, we then find the true secret to happiness.
Enough is Enough
Sit down, my son — please lend me your ear.
Lately, you’ve taken a wrong turn, I fear,
But I won’t criticize you or take you to task,
I only have one simple question to ask.
Have you had enough nightlife and glamour and thrills?
Have you had enough problems with paying your bills?
Have you had enough cocaine and whiskey and pills?
Have you had enough puking and headaches and chills?
Have you hurt enough loved ones — thrown away enough years?
Have you killed enough brain cells — or cried enough tears?
Have you had enough suffering or lost enough friends?
Have you felt enough pain now — is this where it ends?
Or would you like to keep smashing your head thru the wall?
Do you like it in prison — are you having a ball?
How ‘bout some cirrhosis, hepatitis, or AIDS?
A bloody old needle? Now, don’t be afraid!
Have you had enough black-outs and car wrecks and jail?
Have you had enough courtrooms and lawyers and bail?
I know what you’re thinking: “Dad, leave me alone!”
“I’m not a kid anymore — can’t you see that I’m grown?”
Well, forgive me, my son, if my love is too tough.
I just thought you should know that,
“Enough is enough!”
Spencer Lane Adams
—
05/29/2020
What Path Are You On?
So where are you on your path?
Are you choosing to focus on what is positive and most productive in your life?
On creating, building, and contributing to society and those around you?
On love, friendship, and harmony with the people around you?
May we daily utilize our God-given intelligence to make the right choices. May we see each and every day as an opportunity. An opportunity to redeem ourselves from past mistakes.
And if, in the past, we have harmed ourselves through poor choices, or the darkness of addiction, may we now see clearly the hurt we have caused ourselves and society, and therefore choose the higher path of sobriety and integrity.
Let us, from this day forth, put the past behind us, and choose light over darkness, truth over lies, and life over death.