Thought for today:

Ever get jealous of “high achievers” who created “something out of nothing”?  They seem so “lucky” – the entrepreneurs.  Ever wonder what makes some people get “lucky”?

While it is true that circumstances (where you are born, your parents, etc.) can bring greater advantage, they are no guarantees of success.  Being successful in some endeavor is often hard, exhausting work.

Funny thing about luck. You’ve got to prepare for it like crazy.  To be ready to seize opportunity when it presents itself, we have to create a solid foundation we can build on.  But how?

Don’t be fooled – mental exercise is real exercise! You can feel exhausted at times, especially when breaking through old patterns of behavior.

It takes a lot of effort to learn something new.  The harder something is to learn, the more our brain goes into overdrive, creating new brain cells and connecting them with new synapses.

Knowing this can help us adapt to the process, not resist it so much, and eventually we will thrive.  We first need to accept the “uncomfortability” of learning.  (If we don’t know something, of course it will be strange!)

A great way to learn how to “work DA” is to read the literature and then share what you are learning at meetings and on the telephone.  The more you remind yourself every day, by tracking your expenses and income, by making DA meetings, helping someone else learn the program, you are reinforcing DA knowledge.

If learning is feeling particularly arduous, take breaks every 20 minutes to take your mind off of it.  Take five.  Eventually, with practice, you can dig in, retrieve great new concepts, and time flies!

Will I challenge my brain to learn something new?

Meditation for today:

“Lessons Learned” require effort.  Otherwise, they would be of no value.  The process is simple, though.  All you need to do is to show up for life, ask for help when you need it, and become willing to learn. Then, when “luck” happens, you will be ready to capitalize on it.   Often times some coincidence takes place that brings out a recipe for your own “secret sauce”.  Most people don’t process these “opportunities for growth”.  They avoid them and bury their heads. The few who do go through the learning process always reach new heights, and their foundation for life becomes stronger.  They can weather storms better than those who “build their house on sand”.  In this way, learning is like a storm – a brainstorm!

Affirmation for today:

In this very moment, I am uniquely connected to the universe, just as everyone else around me is also connected.  That means we are each connected to each other in a “Collective Unconsciousness”, through which all knowledge and growth flow and evolve.  Messages I receive today from this “current of energy” are often not what I expect, or even enjoy.  They are often strange, because nothing stays the same.  But as I accept each of today’s signals as an “opportunity for growth”, neither judging them good nor bad, I can tap into a “higher powered”, abundance-oriented life.

Prayer for today:

I pray to acknowledge that my Higher Power is nourishing me with wisdom.  I pray to be ready to receive it.  My Higher Power is there at the beginning and the end of my journey, is both the source of strength and the destination of my life, woven into me, helping me tolerate the healing it brings to me today.

Recommended further reading:

• Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Peter C. Brown.  Some of the ideas in the post were inspired by this book.    It is recommended reading for teachers.
• A Currency of Hope, Debtors Anonymous.  This book is the basic text of the fellowship of Debtors Anonymous.
• How to Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt, and Live Prosperously*: Based on the Proven Principles and Techniques of Debtors Anonymous by Jerrold Mundis.

(By clicking the above book links you will be brought to Amazon.com.  If you decide to make a purchase, Amazon gives us a commission.  Using these book links in no way increases your cost of purchase.  It helps us defray the costs of running this website.  Please do not use a credit card to make the purchase.)

• Debtors Anonymous.org. This is the official website of Debtors Anonymous, the Twelve Step fellowship for recovery from compulsive debting.  There you can find meeting locations, and more literature about the fellowship.