“That began what I like to call “the defrost cycle” – everything I ran from was starting to come into view.”

Three readings. A song that says the rest. And inspiration for whatever this day is here to teach.

A lone surfer riding inside a great curling wave

Read — the readings that opened the day

Mindfulness of Difficult Emotions

Sharon Salzberg

“Mindfulness makes painful feelings more manageable; meditation is like going into an old attic and turning on the light. In that light we see everything—beautiful treasures we’re grateful to have unearthed; dusty, neglected corners that inspire us to say, ‘I’d better clean that up.’ We inspect, learn & discard. We often find unfortunate memories of the past that we thought we had gotten rid of. Brahmavihara, or divine quality of equanimity, offers a way forward. Acknowledging them all, with an open and loving awareness to learn, let go and detach, we can move forward. It’s never too late to turn on the light.”

Adapted from Mindfulness of Difficult Emotions

Excerpt From The Daily Reader for Contemplative Living

Thomas Keating

“Enter your inner room!” Where is that, please? It’s the spiritual level of our being. We move off our ordinary psychological everyday experience; events, people and our reactions to them and leave them outside. We enter our inner room; a metaphor of the spiritual movement from the use of our ordinary everyday faculties in prayer to cultivating the spiritual level of our faculties — of our being — which are the intuitive intellect and the will toward God.”

Adapted from The Daily Reader for Contemplative Living

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Meditation for the Day "Lord, to whom shall we go but to Thee? Thou hast the words of eternal life." The words of eternal life are the words from God controlling your true being, controlling the real spiritual you. These are “words from God” are heard by you in your heart and mind when we are wide open to His spirit. They are the words of eternal life, which express the true way you are to live. They say to you in the stillness of your heart and mind and soul: "Do this and live." Prayer for the Day I pray that I may follow the dictates of my conscience. I pray that I may follow the inner urging of my soul.

Reflect — Steve L.'s own words

The awareness that alcohol was only a symptom of my dis-ease came upon me very quickly. Many of my insecurities, fears, old hurts, regrets and shame started to surface. I wanted to push them down, escape, but you told me, “90 meetings in 90 days”. That began what I like to call “the defrost cycle” – everything I ran from was starting to come into view. You also told me the dark room was where the negatives are developed; that I was entering the White Room where I could hear, see and relate to others; to learn how they recovered and begin to grow into a new life. My old environment of bars, clubs, casinos, and wherever else I found solace had to be be replaced. I could come out of my dark room; the meeting rooms were the White Room!

Yesterday, riding in the passenger seat with Richard was just another one of those new experiences. A former NY cabbie and street junkie, given a new life 15 years ago, he is one of the new characters put in my life. Like the rooms where the meetings are held, it isn’t the outside appearance that delivers the message. Seeing the light within brings hope, love & joy.

Thank you God for putting people in my life that are real and transparent; who make fun of themselves and allow me the privilege of the same! And for an invitation to come into the White Room. There’s hope, love and better solution here than what I used in the dark room.