"Must"

"Must" appears many times in the Big Book, along with a few "absolutes."

This doesn't refer to our requirements for working the Program.

It just lets us concentrate on what we can do, not on what we can't.

Slow Dance

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask How are you?
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?

You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say,'Hi'

You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift.
Thrown away.

Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

Awareness, Acceptance, Action

Dear God,

Slow me down when all I do is try to fix and control things and people. Help me to first accept situations, as they are when I become aware of them.

Slow me down in your stillness.

Mark my awareness with unselfishness, my acceptance with humility, and my actions with usefulness to me and others.

~ The 12 Step Prayer Book Volume 2 by Bill P. and Lisa D.

Origin of the Left & the Right

I have often wondered why it is that Conservatives are called the "right" and Liberals are called the "left."

By chance I stumbled upon this verse in the Bible:

"The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left."
Ecclesiastes 10:2 (NIV)

Thus sayeth the Lord. Amen.

Can't get any simpler than that.


Spelling Lesson:

The last four letters in American..........I Can
The last four letters in Republican.......I Can
The last four letters in Democrats.........Rats

End of lesson.

Test to follow in November, 2012

Remembering Mom's Clothesline

We had a long wooden pole (clothes pole) that was used to push the clotheslines up so that longer items (sheets/pants/etc.) didn't brush the ground and get dirty.

You have to be a "certain age" to appreciate this one. ... (But you YOUNGER ones can read about "The GOOD ol' days"!!)
I can hear my mother now.....
THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES:

1. You had to hang the socks by the toes... NOT the top.

2.You hung pants by the BOTTOM/cuffs... NOT the waistbands.

3.You had to WASH the clothesline(s) before hanging any clothes - walk the entire length of each line with a damp cloth around the lines.

4.You had to hang the clothes in a certain order, and always hang "whites" with "whites," and hang them first.

5.You NEVER hung a shirt by the shoulders - always by the tail! What would the neighbors think?

6.Wash day on a Monday! NEVER hang clothes on the weekend, or on Sunday, for Heaven's sake!
7.Hang the sheets and towels on the OUTSIDE lines so you could hide your "unmentionables" in the middle (perverts & busybodies, y'know!)

8. It didn't matter if it was sub-zero weather... clothes would "freeze-dry."

9. ALWAYS gather the clothes pins when taking down dry clothes! Pins left on the lines were "tacky"!

10. If you were efficient, you would line the clothes up so that each item did not need two clothes pins, but shared one of the clothes pins with the next washed item.

11.Clothes off of the line before dinner time, neatly folded in the clothes basket, and ready to be ironed.

12. IRONED???!! Well, that's a whole OTHER subject

Waiting

I've started to realize that waiting is an art, that waiting achieves things.
Waiting can be very, very powerful.
Time is a valuable thing. If you can wait two years, you can sometimes achieve something that you could not achieve today, however hard you worked, however much money you threw up in the air, however many times you banged your head against the wall. . .
--The Courage to Change by Dennis Wholey



Today, I am willing to learn the art of patience.
If I am feeling powerless because I am waiting for something to happen and I am not in control of timing, I will focus on the power available to me by learning to wait.

Beer News

This is Alarming!

Beer contains female hormones!

Yes, that's right, FEMALE hormones!

Last month, Montreal University and scientists released the results of a recent analysis that revealed the presence of female hormones in beer.

Men should take a concerned look at their beer consumption.

The theory is that beer contains female hormones (hops contain Phytoestrogens) and that by drinking enough beer, men turn into women.

To test the theory, 100 men each drank 8 schooners of beer within a one (1) hour period.

It was then observed that 100% of the test subjects, yes, 100% of all these men:

1) Argued over nothing.

2) Refused to apologize when obviously wrong.

3) Gained weight.

4) Talked excessively without making sense.

5) Became overly emotional

6) Couldn't drive.

7) Failed to think rationally, and

8) Had to sit down while urinating.

No further testing was considered necessary!