Tag / AA

by Vincent Lee Jones

God’s Calendar

God’s Calendar

“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.” Richard Bach

As another year comes to an end, many will take this as an opportunity to reflect on the previous year. But what really changes between December 31 and January 1? On the secular side, some new laws come into effect, the taxman starts a new count and if you still use paper calendars, it is time for a new one. Spiritually however, it is just another day in our continuing development.

So celebrate in the manner that appeals to you, dance and sing, make merry or quietly let it slip in with little fanfare, it matters little, for just as this day dawned, another comes tomorrow. God does not mark calendars, He is the same as yesterday, today and tomorrow, His love for us unbounded, Grace our birthright, and love one for another regardless of station or circumstance is how we demonstrate our connection not only to Him, but to one another, a day at a time.

Miracles Of Recovery

© Vincent Lee Jones All Rights Reserved
Miracles Of Recovery, Overdose Death, Alcoholism, Wayne Dyer, Drug Addiction, Zen, Emmet Fox, Opioids, Heroin, Einstein, AA, Healing Path Recovery, Drug Rehab, #Drug Addiction, #Drug Rehab, #Healing Path Recovery, #Heroin, #Opioids

by Vincent Lee Jones

Old Habits

Old Habitsh

“You leave old habits behind by starting out with the thought, ‘I release the need for this in my life’.” Wayne Dyer

Like many, my weight has varied greatly during my life. Currently it is at a low point, for which I am grateful. Now, putting on weight isn’t a mystery, and neither is losing it. It is really just simple math, burn more calories than you take in, and you lose weight. Simple, right? So, why is it, at least in my life, I have had to keep losing the same pounds repeatedly? Habit. Now, I have never been big on candy or sugary carbonated drinks, but baked goods; cookies, cakes, pies, doughnuts……oh, doughnuts are my kryptonite. And maybe a little ice cream, not the store brand stuff in the half gallon tubs, but those perfectly sized premium pints that say there are only 140 calories per serving, which is pretty good, until you check the servings per container, which is usually like a hundred or so. OK, I exaggerate, it’s more like 50.

Anyway, in the past after losing weight I would “reward” myself with baked goods, OK, doughnuts, and probably some Hagen-Dazs. Kinda like celebrating quitting smoking with a smoke. The curious thing is after all this time, the voice suggesting those “negative” rewards is still there even though my body carries the remnants of all those times my weight ballooned, the evidence undeniable, as is the truth: dieting doesn’t work long term, only changing the way we look at our diet does. “When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change.”

So, just for today, I have changed the way I look at my diet and have come to accept the simple math of it all, that those calories will either be burned or “stored”, in my case around my middle. As a result, I like the way I feel and look today (OK, maybe not the saggy skin) but most importantly, I now understand the counterproductive (OK, crazy) habit of negative rewards that take us back to where we just came from and worked so hard to leave. So, I will leave the French crullers to those who can control and enjoy their doughnuts and praise the god of desserts for Skinny Cow ice cream products. Now, if they would only go into the doughnut business…….

Miracles Of Recovery

© Vincent Lee Jones All Rights Reserved
Miracles Of Recovery, Overdose Death, Alcoholism, Wayne Dyer, Drug Addiction, Zen, Emmet Fox, Opioids, Heroin, Einstein, AA, Healing Path Recovery, Drug Rehab, #Drug Addiction, #Drug Rehab, #Healing Path Recovery, #Heroin, #Opioids

by Vincent Lee Jones

The Wisdom of Tears

The Wisdom of Tears

“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 All Rights Reserved
Miracles Of Recovery, Overdose Death, Alcoholism, Wayne Dyer, Drug Addiction, Zen, Emmet Fox, Opioids, Heroin,Einstein, AA, Healing Path Recovery, Drug Rehab, #Drug Addiction, #Drug Rehab,#Healing Path Recovery, #Heroin, #Opioids

by Vincent Lee Jones

Pomona

One of my early spiritual teachers was often painfully direct, no sugar coatings.Once when I was complaining about some recent misfortune and stated, “It’s not fair” to which he quickly replied, “You want fair, go to Pomona(where the LA county fair is held) once a year.” Now, being the sensitive type,this hurt my delicate feelings. He didn’t much care, or at all, and followed up with “pain is the only instrument sharp enough to cut away the excess of self, so be grateful for the lesson.” Geez, what an insensitive lout, but he was right.

Life is not fair. Life is messy, we all make mistakes, regularly. Trouble starts when we take things personally, allowing ourselves to become emotionally attached to the error. So the reality is, money comes and goes, jobs come and go,relationships change or end, people will let us down and we will let people down as well, such is life. We are all in this together, our true job to learn and grow in awareness and understanding and so when(not if) our feelings are hurt, we make a mistake, are let down or offended, because we will be, we embrace the lesson as an opportunity to grow spiritually. Remembering that today is just one day in our long awakening, and nothing is worth losing our peace of mind and serenity in spirit over. Oh, and try not to smile too broadly when it’s your turn to respond when someone states “It’s not fair.”

Miracles Of Recovery

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

Miracles Of Recovery, Overdose Death, Alcoholism, Wayne Dyer, Drug Addiction, Zen, Emmet Fox, Opioids, Heroin,Einstein, AA, Healing Path Recovery, Drug Rehab, #Drug Addiction, #Drug Rehab,#Healing Path Recovery, #Heroin, #Opioids

by Vincent Lee Jones

The Conquering Horse

The Conquering Horse

The fourth horse is the White Horse, the Conquering Horse. Our words have power. Too heal, to harm, to start a conflict or stop one, to spread love or condemn. Our words and actions mark us and lay the foundation for our future, a future of either freedom or bondage. Living on the Spiritual Basis we now know we can no longer hide behind generalities. When we marginalize or condemn anyone, for any reason, we pay the price. To ride the White Horse to freedom from Fear requires more courage than we are capable of on our own, but with the Miraculous all things are possible. So we abandon ourselves to God, asking Him to remove the lingering prejudices, sacred cows and fears holding us back, grabbing the mane of the Conquering Horse as it speeds by, jumping on, holding on with all our might. If our fears try to rein him in or guide him in any way he will toss us off for His vision is clear, His sights set, His destination no less than the heart of God, and nothing will stop or alter His course, for it is none other than God himself who sent him to us and He will provide the abiding strength and trust necessary for us, though trembling, to hold on and ride to freedom.

Take heart, we have all ridden the White Horse and been tossed off, for Fear is a persistent and convincing adversary. When your White Horse returns, and he always will for he exists only to carry you to freedom, jump back on and hold on with all the conviction at your disposal at this time and if we again find ourselves standing by the side of the road of Freedom from the Bondage of Self, we say a prayer of thanks for the distance travelled to date and rejoice while dusting ourselves off for the sound we hear, is the sound of approaching hoof beats.

Miracles Of Recovery

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

by Vincent Lee Jones

Riding The Black Horse

Riding The Black Horse

The Black Horse represents a complete reliance on our “human” intelligence. Consider how many worships at the altar of intellect. To be fair, they don’t see it as worship, but is there really a whit of difference in commitment or passion between the minister preaching from the pulpit or the self-assured professor, scientist or politician speaking with fevered conviction, condemning anyone who disagrees with them? Consider the science textbooks of just the last 40 years, regardless of discipline, that have had to be rewritten due to new discoveries, old theories making way for new. History is very illustrative on this point, for every generation believes they have all the answers. To wit:

A few hundred years ago if you argued the Earth was not the center of the universe as Galileo did, you could be jailed, even put to death. In the late 1800’s most in the scientific community believed man would never fly, for if he were meant to fly, he would have wings, so the “forces” of flight by any means would “naturally” prove fatal they believed. At the turn of the last century the head of the US Patent Office suggested it be closed, since everything worthwhile and of importance had been invented. As late as the 1950’s many of the most prominent scientific minds believed man would never survive a trip into space since they were certain passing through the Van Allen radiation belt was not survivable. Since the 1970’s everything science thought it knew about dinosaurs has been turned on its head, while revelations in Quantum Mechanics in the last thirty years has shaken physics, the basic laws of everything, at its foundation generating more questions than answers.

Is it not the height of hubris to think that “now” (or more accurately “this time”) we have all the answers in any area of study or science, let alone Spiritually? We ride the Black Horse when we close our minds to growth and greater inspiration and begin collecting and carefully herding sacred cows, shutting ourselves off from the fresh winds that drive our higher selves, stagnation in demonstration, dismissing any contrary thought or belief out of hand because just like Galileo‘s jailers, the issue, the science is settled and there is nothing left to learn or discover.

Miracles Of Recovery

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

by Vincent Lee Jones

Heathens In Our Head

Miracles Of Recovery


© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved
Miracles Of Recovery, Overdose Death, Alcoholism, Wayne Dyer, Drug Addiction, Zen, Emmet Fox, Opioids, Heroin,Einstein, AA, Healing Path Recovery, Drug Rehab, #Drug Addiction, #Drug Rehab,#Healing Path Recovery, #Heroin, #Opioids  

by Vincent Lee Jones

Heathens In Our Head

Heathens In Our Head

Everything we say, do or observe is recorded. Everything. Not by God, or some heavenly scribe watching our every move, but by each of us. It is written upon our heart, in our hand, recorded in our subconscious. Every questionable or negative thing we have ever said or done (as well as the good, but the good is never the problem) is still with us and it often seems the Devil himself unleashes these “heathens in our head”into the forefront of our thinking in an attempt to destroy our peace of mind and heart and fill us with fear, shame and all manner of negativity.

To be clear, we have no control over the negative memories that float up from our subconscious, driven by the heathens of morbid reflection, but we have complete control over the action we take when we become aware of these berserkers attempting to destroy our serenity.Our course is simple, we turn from the lower to the higher in prayer and meditation as soon as we become aware of the assault. We turn the sunlight of the spirit upon the discordant thoughts and assert the truth of Being: that we have been forgiven, restored, completely and forever, that Our Father’s love is unconditional, with us, in us now; negative thoughts phantoms, insubstantial,powerless in the face of His love and guidance.

The heathens are patient and cunning so we must remain vigilant in order to address negativity and morbid reflection as soon as the assault begins. The truth will set you free and the truth is we are now living on a different basis, the basis of trusting and relying upon God. Upon this basis the record, all the record, of our lives becomes our greatest asset in helping others to freedom from the bondage of self, it’s value inestimable, heathens be damned.
Miracles Of Recovery


© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

Miracles Of Recovery, Overdose Death, Alcoholism, Wayne Dyer, Drug Addiction, Zen, Emmet Fox, Opioids, Heroin,Einstein, AA, Healing Path Recovery, Drug Rehab, #Drug Addiction, #Drug Rehab,#Healing Path Recovery, #Heroin, #Opioids  

by Vincent Lee Jones

Persevere


“Pain is the only instrument sharp enough to cut away the excess of self.” Pain is what motivates us. Mother Teresa was motivated by the pain of those suffering around her. Martin Luther King Jr. was motivated by the pain he saw in the inequality of life based on skin color. The great spiritual teachers, Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Muhammad and others moved to act, often at the risk of their own lives, becoming selfless to address the spiritual, emotional and physical pain they witnessed in the world.

One of the central qualities they all shared: perseverance, they never stopped. Regardless of circumstance, fear or seeming failure, they persevered. So, just for today, when the voice of the true adversary, Fear, begins to whisper in our ear, cajoling us to reflect morbidly to stifle our growth as children of the Miraculous: we will take one more step, say one more prayer, help one more person and never stop, for we now know in our heart of hearts we are not alone, are growing day by day, sometimes quickly sometimes slowly, into amazing instruments of peace in demonstration, serenity in action.

Miracles Of Recovery

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

by Vincent Lee Jones

Harmless Gossip?

Harmless Gossip?

Vigilance is the price for continued Spiritual Freedom. Drifting into negative thinking or speech typically happens without any conscious thought or plan on our part. Those “good” natured gossip sessions with a friend or joining in (or worse, instigating) a huddle at work complaining about a disagreeable co-worker or boss or worse taking sides in any romantic or marital dispute to simply speaking about someone for any reason where we would be embarrassed if we discovered they overheard us, demonstrates we have dropped our spiritual guard. If we are saying anything about anyone we would be unwilling to say to them in person, we place ourselves at risk. Gossiping and tale telling rarely (if ever) embodies the patience, tolerance, kindliness and love Living on the Spiritual Basis requires. As far as taking sides in romantic squabbles, we have all probably done this only to become the enemy upon their reconciliation, so through bitter experience we have learned to be supportive but avoid engaging in character assassination, no matter how seemingly egregious someone’s behavior appears to be. One of the great truths in life is that every story has two sides and when it comes to romance, they often only have a passing resemblance to one another.

So restraint of pen and tongue is not only a secular truth but a Spiritual axiom as well if we wish to be free.

Miracles Of Recovery

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved