Something just dawned on me while posting a reply on Sober Chick's bloggage. The other day, I had referred to dealing with my weight/eating, anger and other defects of character as a game of whack-a-mole. It dawned on me that maybe if I don't focus so much on the defect of character itself but on the solution, maybe I won't have so much whacking to do... In other words, in "clinical" terms, stop treating the symptoms; or in "manufacturing terms" get to the root cause of the defect and fix that... Or in recovery terms,s top focussing on the problem and live the solution.
I know that prayer and seeking God's Will for me is the answer, but I still like to get caught up in and focus on the exact problem itself. So, for today, I am going to try to focus more on living rightly than not living wrongly. I think there's a fine line here... We have to identify the problem, we have to search ourselves, but at some point, we have got to focus on the solution. The trick is to keep the chracter defect in sight, in perspective while living the solution. I know this, I know it well.... My fave Big Book Story tells me this: "today when I focus on the problem, the problem increases, when I focus on the solution, the solution increases..." -Big Book; "Doctor Alcoholic Addict" 3rd ed, around pg 450 or 451.
Prayer for the day:
God/HP/Eye in the Sky, please help me today to seek Your Will and stay in the solution. Help me not to focus on my shortcomings, but on the blessings in my life. Please help me to be helpful to others, rather than worrying about my own difficulties.
(this is starting to sound an awful lot like that one prayer from that one guy, who was it? ummm, oh yeah some St. Francis fellow....)
Today I am grateful for:
AA/HP/sobriety/health...
my wife, son n doggie...
summer...
rain...
summer rain...
beautiful golden wheat fields...
that we live in a rural area of Ohio...
extended family...
opportunities for growth...
blogging loved ones (that's y'all)...
the model my wife got me for Father's Day, thinking it would be fun for me and Ian to assemble together, only to find out it's quite a complicated deal, needs paint, everything...
that I started on the model last nite, it's been years since I built one, am looking forward to working on this one...
prayers...
for the hug I am about to get from Ian, who just woke up and stumbled in here...
6 comments:
Yep. Character defects are God's business. Getting to know God's will is our business. It has taken me a long time to get that one straight and to keep it straight is a daily job. I just love reading your stuff and wish I did it daily.
From another recovering Ohioan...
Suz
GREAT to read you again! I missed you! Glad things are going so well! : ) Sounds like you're doing great! Love that St.Francis prayer too
I need to know more about the model. Such as pictures etc...
I spent many years in Ohio - from age 3 to age 14. I really loved Ohio. I think it is very underrated. So pretty..
Live in the solution not the problem is something my sponsor has taught me. It takes practice and reminding and practice and reminding and ......
That is the key, but why sometimes is it so hard to do?
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