“If we never experience the chill of a dark winter, it is very unlikely that we will ever cherish the warmth of a bright summer’s day. Nothing stimulates our appetite for the simple joys of life more than the starvation caused by sadness or desperation. In order to complete our amazing life journey successfully, it is vital that we turn each and every dark tear into a pearl of wisdom, and find the blessing in every curse.” Anthon St. Marteen

Our tears define us. They will either drown us in self-pity, regret, despair;morbid reflection ascendant or they water, nurture and cause to sprout the seeds of awakening in purpose to the lessons of this amazing timeless journey. Will they paralyze us or motivate us to move and grow as Children of the Miraculous? In truth, though we would never wish ill on anyone, who truly appreciates the blessing of a cup of cool water better than those who have thirsted or a simple meal more than those who have faced starvation?

The tears we have shed have the power to heal, to instruct, to impart wisdom, to be blessings if we choose. As agents of free will, the choice is always ours. So, our darkest moments can either be a curse or a blessing, that which sinks us in despair and sadness or our greatest gift to ourselves and those in need. And our tears of joy? Points of light set high on a hill, for truly, who can appreciate joy more than those who have walked through sorrow.

Miracles Of Recovery 

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

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“Simple, but not easy; a price had to be paid. It meant destruction of self-centeredness.” Alcoholics Anonymous.

After having been on the spiritual path for a time, the truth became evident,the only person restricting me, shutting me off from the peace and happiness I so desperately craved, was me. Though it was a pivotal moment in my life, it was not a pleasant one. I had spent years carefully constructing the narrative of my life and could effortlessly spin the well-rehearsed stories of why my life was as it was; people, places and things responsible for all the negative outcomes, my victimhood clearly warranted.

Then, faced with a crisis of faith I could no longer postpone or evade, I had to face the truth, at the center of every problem, ever crisis, there I stood.Though a situation may not have been entirely of my own making, when looked at honestly, the choices and decisions I had made, based in self, placed me in a position to be harmed.

Though an unpleasant truth to face, it was the beginning of true freedom, for to be free requires effort, work on our part, the willingness to look at ourselves honestly. When we do, the truth blesses us, and we are free from the bondage of self, a day at a time.

Miracles Of Recovery

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

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Regardless of belief, if we are honest, we have felt the inspiration he is describing. That stirring, those thoughts and feelings that well up from seemingly nowhere, often catching us by surprise. Those AHA! moments when the solution to a problem “pops” into our mind, when we look at something or someone, perhaps for the hundredth, thousandth time, and we see through a different lens, a new truth apparent. The place we go when we just can’t take one more step, and then we do. A piece of music that makes us smile, dance or even brings tears. The compassion for strangers when they are hurt or hurting.Love. All these things, and infinitely more, testify to something greater than ourselves, a connection that cannot be quantified, measured or even really accurately described, though we have been trying too for thousands of years, but is there nonetheless.

We are all connected and receive in all manner of ways from something beyond our human understanding. We are spiritual beings, and when we can salute the connection we share, transcend the bickering, the need to be right, the one-upsmanship, whether we like or approve of someone being immaterial and see all as the Spiritual entities we truly are, the world changes. Remember, avalanches began with the movement of a single rock or the falling of a single snowflake that sets everything into motion, so join me today in asking “let there be peace, and let it begin with me.”  

Miracles Of Recovery 

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

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“Opening to the power of intention, you begin knowing that conception, birth and death are all natural aspects of the energy field of creation.” Wayne Dyer

Everything is comprised of energy, everything. When dieting, people will often count calories to manage their weight. But how many know what a “calorie”really is? Well, it is a measurement of energy. A calorie is the amount of heat(energy) released by food as it is digested by the body as needed to raise the temperature of 1,000 grams (2.2 pounds) of water by one degree Celsius. See, now that you know, losing weight will be so much easier! OK, maybe not, but that is not the point. The point being energy is all around us, we are comprised of it, it is what propels everything and everyone and takes many forms we often take for granted or never bothered to consider.

The amount of energy required to burn off that pepperoni pizza from last night is one thing, of infinitely more importance is the amount of spiritual energy we will require today to handle the inevitable trials and tribulations of life. The good news is it’s all around us, available, and by opening ourselves to it with prayer, meditation and being of service to others, we tap an unlimited reservoir of intention, remembering this field of energy is the Great Creative Life Force itself, of which we are a part and parcel of.

So, if shedding a few pounds going into the New Year is the goal, maybe skip apiece of pizza or two, but never miss an opportunity to pray, meditate and be of service, for spiritual calories are never a bad thing and they always look good on you.

Miracles Of Recovery 

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

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“Faith without works is dead.” There is an eternal question we all must address: are we willing to go to any length for a Spiritual awakening? No one can answer this question for another, and it is only truly answered through our actions and regardless of path of enlightenment chosen, one of the side effects of walking this path is often feeling unworthy, the sense of “who am I” to suggest to others how to grow spiritually. The adversary, Fear, will cajole us into inaction, to downplay the work we have done, to soften the import of the truths we hold in our heart of hearts because we are afraid of looking pompous or self-righteous.

We must turn the “who am I” into “I am who” walks the path that leads to freedom, the freedom from the bondage of self the adversary revels in. Fear will bluff us into inaction, try to convince us the well-earned lessons of our growth into warriors of the light somehow lack value, our demonstrated freedom should be kept secret, lest we appear full of ourselves. As Children Of The Light we must stand ready, available, to testify to the work we have done and be counted, when asked. Will some, still locked in the bondage of self, disparage, perhaps even attack us? Yes, but take heart, for this is just another indication you are on the right path.

By stepping out in faith, trusting in a Power Greater Than Ourselves as we have come to understand it, to use us as instruments of Divine Love and Knowledge at whatever our current level of understanding is, we can alleviate fear, pain and suffering for others and light the way for those still lost in the bondage of self.

Miracles Of Recovery 

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

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“One more dance along the razor’s edge finished. Almost dead yesterday, maybe dead tomorrow, but alive, gloriously alive, today.” Robert Jordan

Fear is the mind killer. Fear will attempt to layer us with guilt and shame dredged from the past, while burying us with anxiety about the future. Learning to live, a day at a time, is one of the keys to freedom. To do this we must take the specters from our past and embrace them for the experiences in living they are. All the mistakes, the missteps,the times when we acted in our own self-interest at the expense of others, and yes, all the times when we have been hurt or treated poorly must be dragged from the shadows and brought into the light and allowed to heal. For these scars, well-earned and proudly displayed, are badges of our survival, and we must stand ready to share their story with anyone if it will assist them on their journey.

Our future fears: mere phantoms, insubstantial, attempting to bluff us into retreating from life, to cower, move from the light back into the shadows of morbid reflection, cut off from the truth of being: that we are Spiritual Beings, extensions of the Great Creative Life Force, in fact, children of Creation.

So, smile and dance today in the manner that suits you, and when the adversary Fear whispers a storm is coming and you should be afraid, laugh and plant flowers for the coming rain to nurture for storms are not only part of living, but are necessary as part of our ever-unfolding awakening.

Miracles Of Recovery 

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

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“Patience is the companion of wisdom.” Saint Augustine

Patience.  I recall a student saying to me years ago in all earnestness “I know I need patience, I just need it right now!” Eventually we laughed, but in the moment, he truly couldn’t see the forest for the trees.Today as never before society and our lives move at a breakneck pace. Today I laugh when I realize I’m starting to feel annoyed when downloading something and it takes more than a minute. When the internet was new updates often took hours, sometimes over night to download, or irritated when ordering something online and they don’t offer same day shipping. Most reading this won’t remember the standard tag line when you ordered something pre-internet: “expected delivery time 4 to 6 weeks.”

I grew up in a world of newspapers and magazines and 30-minute daily broadcasts of Walter Cronkite (or Huntley and Brinkley) to report the day’s news. Phones were attached to walls. Portable music was a transistor radio and the playlist consisted of whatever the station chooses to broadcast. For research: hard bound Encyclopedias and trips to the library. Spell check was a dictionary. Coffee was black, though cream and sugar were available, and out in the world if you wanted to grab a quick cup the local donut shop was often the destination, usually poured by someone 40ish who clearly enjoyed doughnuts wearing a stained white all-purpose apron and a hairnet. 

Now don’t misunderstand, I love the technological advances of the last few decades and readily avail myself of them. I don’t want to go back. But we all need to remind ourselves daily to slow down, take a breath and enjoy the day. When we practice this habitually, there is much less chance of becoming impatient when someone has 17 items in the 15-itemmax checkout line, or who takes 5 minutes (at least it feels like it) to order a cup of “coffee.” We slow down by taking a break, a time out from the world. We turn off the phone, Laptop, Tablet, the TV and just enjoy a few quiet minutes of solitude, every day. By doing this we drop our stress levels and become more efficient (clinical studies show this to be true) and instead of being annoyed you will find yourself smiling the next time the person in front of you orders a half caff double pump mocha Frappuccino with a splash of vanilla extra whip with Hazelnut sprinkle’s in a double cup, with a sleeve of course, from that stylish 20 something Barista in the designer bib.

Miracles Of Recovery 

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

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“The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.” General Norman Schwarzkopf.

From 25 to 30 years of age I was pretty much lost in self and a haze of intoxication. By 25 I had had a good job, owned a home, drove a nice car, was married and a father. Though my daughter was stuck with me, the rest was gone or going. Now, I am supposedly a pretty smart fellow, if you believe IQ tests, (today I suspect scoring well on an IQ test merely demonstrates an ability to take IQ tests well) but looking at my life, I sure wasn’t acting like a “genius.” There were uncounted times when I knew what I was doing or about to do was a bad idea, but that didn’t stop me. Oh, and I was a time traveler when under the influence. I would start out in one place,blackout and then come too, sometimes the next day, in a different place,sometimes wearing different clothes, invariably broke, often in the company of new “best friends” whom I didn’t recognize. A few times this happened while driving, a truly disconcerting experience.

These time traveling episodes terrified me. I was certain I was going to wake up in jail cell somewhere with no recollection of how I got there or what I had done, or cuffed to a hospital bed, or just dead. But as much as I hated these episodes, I did it regularly. A smart man remarked years ago this type of behavior demonstrates a base form of insanity,and it sure felt like it.

I haven’t lived like that for a very long time. Curiously, to this day, that self-destructive voice that drove me all those years ago, cloaked in all manner of guises (fear), still whispers in my mind’s eye in an attempt to drag me back into that old life and ways of thinking. Such is the profound and deep-rooted nature of addiction thinking. The good news is today I have a Recovery tool kit to rely on so when it starts in,I stop and employ the tools that experience, both mine and others, have shown to be effective, a day at a time. 

Miracles Of Recovery 

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

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