When one alcoholic/addict shares with another alcoholic/addict

[MajestyJo]

You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning

Often God shuts a door in our face, and then subsequently opens the door through which we need to go.
—Catherine Marshall

We try and try to control the events of our lives. And not seldom the events in others' lives, too. The occasions are frequent when our will conflicts with God's. Then for a time we feel at a loss. Our direction is uncertain. But always, always, another door opens. A better way beckons. How stubborn we are! And how simple life would be were we to daily, fully, turn our will and our lives over to the care of God. God's help and direction in all things are always available. Turning a deaf ear is like trying to find a seat in a darkened movie theater unaided by the usher.

Every experience is softened when we face it accompanied by our higher power. Any past struggle, any present fear, is a testament to our attempts to do it alone. Too frequently we forge ahead, alone, only to have our way blocked. The detours need never be there. No door closes unless there is a better way. Divine order will prevail.

There is no need to struggle, today. I will breathe deeply and take my higher power with me, wherever I go. And the doors will be open for as far as I can see.

Posted on another site June 27, 2010

Control, the "C" word for me! I couldn't understand the word powerless until I substituted the word control.

As it says here, control is an illusion. I use to keep trying and trying, but 'it' just didn't work out. If they would just do that, "it" would be alright." If I could only do that, "it" would be just fine!

When I hear myself repeatedly saying the "I" word, then I know that I am back controlling my life. My life doesn't 'work' without my Higher Power. Until I could surrender to Him, my life was unmanageable, especially when managed by me. Through that surrender, I am empowered to do what I need to do for myself.

When I turn over the reins, those doors do open. If they appear shut, then I know that the time is not right and I need to learn to 'just be' and know that the door will open with the time is right. When I take my Higher Power with me, I will know what to do and what direction to do it in.

As they say, "If you have to control it, it is already out of control." This was such a profound and enlightening statement for me. It helped to get rid of a lot of denial, not just about my alcoholism, but about my codependency, my eating disorder, and my other addictions.