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Hi again,

I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard the phrase “Keep it in the day” at meetings. It’s good advice not to project into the future or to wallow in the past, but how about taking it a step further, and try to “Keep it in the moment”. I first came across this idea in some Buddhist teaching or something similar, I can’t really remember (/blush), but just lately I have been reminded of it in yet another excellent book I have read, Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now, in which he describes the concept as “Presence”. For me it has come to mean that if I can be completely conscious of what I am doing at any given moment, I will be free of the “washing machine head” that we all suffer from.
It is impossible for the ego (the washing machine) to exist “in the now”, it must exist either in the past or the future, spinning on as it does about what has happened or what might happen, but never what is happening.
Whenever I find myself wandering off into a daydream I try to bring myself back to the present moment by concentrating fully and only on what I am doing.

For example if I am doing the washing up, but I am thinking about the revenge I will take on that bastard who cut me up on the drive home, I am not consciously doing the washing up.

I am in fact doing myself harm by feeling resentment and attracting more to feel resentful for into my life.

So by concentrating my thoughts on the task at hand, I stop this uneccessary resentment in its tracks, do a quick step ten and maybe say a prayer for the “bastard” to have a pleasant day, and carry on with my own. 

Be Well

fluke

Gratitude is a common thread that runs through both AA literature and thinking, and almost every book or teacher of the law of attraction.
When your sponsor nags you to make a gratitude list, they are not really nagging-they are trying to impart to you one of the most powerful tools for your recovery, and for improving every aspect of your life.
The first time you start a gratitude list can be a bit daunting, especially if you are new to recovery and are gingerly sifting through the wreckage of what was once your life.
It can be hard to feel grateful for anything.
So start with the basics; be grateful for the absence of a hangover, the air in your lungs, the light of day, the promise of a sober day….
You will find that once you start a list and have a few items on it, more will spring to mind with ever increasing frequency.
So why is gratitude so important from a Law of Attraction point of view?
Rhonda Byrne’s Secret Gratitude Bookhas a great explanation-
“As you focus on gratitude and think, speak and feel gratitude, you are transforming your energy frequency intoone of the most powerful and highest frequencies of all. Gratitude attracts like energy of gratitude to it, so as you are feeling grateful you are powerfully bringing like energies to you, which will have you experience more things to be grateful for. In other words you will magnetize to you the energy of people, circumstances and events that will bring good into your life.
It is impossible to bring more good into your life if you are feeling ungrateful for what you have. Why? Because the thoughts and feelings you emit as you feel ungrateful attract a life filled with more things to feel ungrateful about. Whether it is jealousy, resentment, dissatisfaction, or feelings of “not enough”, those negative emotions cannot bring you what you want. They are blocking your own good from coming to you. If you want a new car but you are not grateful for the car you have, that will be the dominant frequency you are sending out, and you cannot attract something better. On the other hand, if you feel grateful for the car you have now, you are powerfully summoning an even better car to you.”
Right now, I’m grateful that you’ve read this post and (hopefully) left a comment

Have a great day
fluke

Hello and a (belated) Happy New Year!
Sorry I haven’t posted for ages – I was sick as the proverbial parrot all over the holidays – most of which I spent in Poland, in bed in a hotel room, coughing and swearing at the polish overdubs on tv. All of my good intentions, the law of attraction, EFT, the whole lot went out of the window and I was in “sick grumpy bastard” mode. And no effing internet connection in my room!! (cue tinny violin concerto for high class problems)
Full of fear again and still not recognizing it!! But still a million times better than full of fear and full of booze – my behaviour and general attitude wasn’t great, but I didn’t cause any carnage like the old days – so everything was ok really…
My general mood wasn’t helped by no AA meetings for a good three weeks, but despite the temptations of everybody else who was ill having “medicinal” shots of wodka/whatever every half an hour or so, I managed to avoid that first drink. Phew!! ;-D
I have no doubt that my regular attendance at meetings over the past years has kept me in good stead for my annual aversion therapy, but I’m definitely due for a recharge – in fact the first meeting I could get to after getting home-I was at ;-D
And I’m back on track with my investigations of the law of attraction and EFT – more soon…
I’m still nursing the last of my flu/cough, but at least back in the UK, back at work and going to meetings ;-D

Be Well,
Happy Thoughts,
Fluke

p.s. thought for the day from an AA friend – “09 – it’s mine!”

I tried the EFT techniques I mentioned in my last post on one of my more unpleasant recurring negative thoughts a couple of days ago and so far so good….not completely gone, but greatly reduced – I’m well impressed
So for my next move-as it sort of says in the manual “rinse and repeat”.

Another thing I’ve yet to mention that I’ve found useful is “guided meditation”.
On tape, cd or mp3, there are all kinds from “quit smoking” to “win the lottery”(joke!) but the mechanics are the same – soothing music overlaid with metronome sounds or “binaural beats” to cause you to relax into an Alpha brainwave state, and then introduce positive affirmations on top. The basic idea is to get these affirmations deep into the subconscious.
I had used these many years ago to great effect and then slowly forgot about them and went on my not so merry way. But since AA managed to wake up my spirituality I’m remembering all this stuff and trying it out again.
At the moment I’m using a self esteem meditation on my mp3 player and after 20 minutes I really do emerge relaxed, refreshed and positive.

And Grateful for another sober day

be well
Fluke

Right then, I’m back

This time I’m hoping to create a space to share my thoughts and ideas on sobriety and spirituality with the world, and hopefully get a bit of dialog going…

I do attend AA meetings at present and would thoroughly recommend ANYONE who thinks they have a problem with alcohol to do the same, however I do not necessarily agree with all of AA’s ideas and approaches and I’m sure that there are AA’s who disagree with a lot of mine, and that’s OK.
For the uninitiated, the basic idea behind AA and other similar organizations is of a spiritual remedy for our problems (addiction), consisting of a series of simple steps to not only sobriety, but to a new and better way of life.

A lot of my ideas regarding spirituality may be a bit “out there” for some, but if you have read or seen “The Secret” you will be on the same page more or less.

“The Secret” is basically an introduction to the idea of the “law of attraction”,
that WE are the creators of our own experience, and that we do this “creating” with our THOUGHTS.

If I am honest with myself as the program of AA suggests, I have to agree that the law of attraction is exactly my experience, my truth. I can see from real life events in my past, how I have created my experiences, both good and bad, with my persistent thoughts, and with how I felt about those thoughts.

Now I’ve put the drink down and been doing the AA thing for a few years, and as I am slowly “sobering up” to life and learning about myself, I am drawn to the idea of the law of attraction as a means to growth in all areas of life. However this does seem to raise some issues with the AA mindset, and I’ve been looking for a way to satisfactorily reconcile the two trains of thought.

So thats where I’m at lately.

Just been to a meeting, where the speaker was a lovely lady who I’ve known since I first came to AA. Her “speakers choice” was the “just for today card” which was brilliant! I’d never heard it read aloud before

Anyway, check back soon for more.

Fluke.