Thought for today:

A member shares:

“How can I relax when I have so many problems? I have to be on high alert all the time!”

How many of us are overworked, underpaid, anxious, irritable and discontented?  Rhetorical question, of course.  Too many!

It’s a symptom of the disease of compulsive debting to never allow ourselves down time, to never turn away from the maddening noise of creditors, marketers, and salespeople.  We feel trapped in our jobs, in our homes and in our own skin.

The program teaches us something different: “Happiness is a byproduct of a life well lived”.  It is not a requirement of life that we run from crisis to crisis!  There is no debtors prison!

We can turn off the radio or tv and be without the steady stream of sales pitches drowning our serenity.  But it takes practice to detach from such “triggers”.

It may feel very strange or boring at first, detaching from the “debting machine” that our lives had become. But with practice it gets easier and more pleasant, as each day we seek to let go of the old compulsion to live frantically.

Am I will to let go of the “quick deal”, and turn off the phone and TV for some time today, so I can begin to let my spirit have some space, and so I can be me again?

Meditation for today:

Here is a thought: What if someone else took over your worrying for today?  Imagine that everything was managed for you. Is this possible, with your Higher Power?  So much of what we worry about is unnecessary and never even happens!  Why not turn over that worry to your Higher Power while you sleep? The Higher Power doesn’t have to sleep, right?

Affirmation for today:

I will claim my mental space today. I will leave the results of my work to God.

Prayer for today:

“God, Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can, and

Wisdom to know the difference.”

Further Reading:

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values is a book about living life well.  At one point, Buddhist monks hike easily through the mountains while the young man following them struggles at each turn to keep up.  Amazed at the much older monks’ resilience, he comes to understand that it is their attitude that keeps them happy and moving.  It is  not “keeping your eye on the end goal” that gets you where you need to be, it is the joy of the journey itself.

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