Daily Steps On Our Road to Recovery for Week of 12 August 2002

Published Last Week. Page Down for the next days that are added a day at a time

Monday 12 August 2002

What can I do to make it a better life here?

I remember as a child researching religions. My parents had given me the choice of what I wanted to do in this arena. I read from a college outline series on comparative religions and then from the bible. The only one that had any interest for me was this son of man and god called Jesus.

But I had a great resonance with Jesus of the new testament. Now I understand better why I did.

I had reservations about the god of the old testament and other religions. I had no resonance with any of the other religions, now I understand better why. It is not that many religions can not get us closer to God, it is just that these religions can make it harder to have a personal relationship with God, as a child of god with a really loving father within.

That is also true of the old testament god. It is easier to get close to the loving god of the new testament. It is only with great fear that one could attempt to get close to the jealous god of the old testament.

Tuesday 13 August 2002

The Good Life is working towards peace.

At http://www. newspost.com/editorial/displaycolumn.cfm?storyid=21687 Roy Meachum writes about saber rattling and George W. Roy concludes that history, will not be kind to GW. It looks to me like GW, has set himself up for failure. GW has rattled his saber, and if GW invades, we will be dealing with the results of world wide hatred for much too long, as GW looks strong, but foolish, and if GW does not invade, GW will look foolish and weak. Better GW, that all of US.

Most people have forgotten how long Iran and Iraq were at each other's throat, and destroying their youth in war. Then a relatively small incident of our Navy ship shooting down a passenger plane while our ship was also fighting off a gun boat attack, causes a focusing of their attention on US, and they quit fighting each other.

GW may even make Iraq and Iran allies, now.

Of course, GW could wake up one day as a courageous statesman, and apologize for our financing Israel "security" all these years, while not financing Palestine's recovery. We could have a new "Marshall Plan" for Palestine, for much less resources than war. A small incident like this, could make all the difference, on our journey to peace... Or GW could blindly plunge ahead like LBJ...

Wednesday 14 August 2002

The Good Life is about finding how to reduce negativity and increase spirit.

What can we learn from GW's dilemma? One thing that we can learn is that there are solutions, even though we do not see them. Another thing is that the solutions that are there are, may be ones that we would feel uncomfortable with, but they are the way to the light at the end of the tunnel. LBJ could have bought out most of North Vietnam, for the resources he spent in trying to not be a president that lost a war.

What could we do about helping GW with his dilemma? We could write on line, we could write editors of newspapers, we could write politicians, we could tell friends, we could even send something to GW. In other words, delegate the problem to those that are in charge of solving these problems.

What could we do about helping ourselves with our own dilemmas? We could look at alternatives that we were avoiding. GW is avoiding upsetting those that vote based on what we do about Israel. GW is missing the greater votes in those interested in peace, in a breakthrough in the fight between Arabs and Jews. In the long run, making peace is in the long term interest of Israel. So, we could look at our alternatives that are in our long term interest.

Thursday 15 August 2002

The Good Life is learning how life works.

As most of us mature, we have an improving long term memory, and decreasing short term memory.

What if this is no more than an incentive to remain in the present, with the good memories we want to keep?

How is a short short term memory an incentive to remain in the present?

Because, if we do not do it NOW, or write it down NOW, we can lose it, since we may not remember it. So, we must operate in the NOW, when we have less of the short term past around us. This is one blessing in disguise, from a decrease in our short term memory. Perhaps just training to remain in the NOW that we are returning to.

What about long term memory improving?

That can be a focus on the past, on what we want to remember, and to recreate our happy past in the present. That can be our heavenly mansion we are constructing. This is one blessing in disguise from a increase in our long term memory.

Of course we can get more in the present any time in our physical life cycle. Then we can find our happy memories that we are making in the present that is full of presents.

Friday 16 August 2002

The Good Life is about learning as you go.

I received the following message: [I removed the reference to who sent it.]

"Subject: effective prayer

Just worked thru all 31 slides.... quick first pass. Good stuff.

Got any tips for determining what my right livlihood is and how to achieve it? I'm 58, living in a house owned by my mom with her paying my bills. Best year I ever had I grossed $12k. I have tried many lines of work. I have been fired many times. I have spent most of my life trying to manifest mental health and am only now beginning to overcome the genetic brain chemical imbalance we call "depression." I am a successful singer/songwriter by some standards but have spent more money than I've made.

When I ask the question "what do I want?" The answers I get are "I can't have it so what difference does it make" and "what am I permitted?"

Any help you can give will be aprreciated.

Thanks and blessed be,

*******

(religious eclectic with a warm feeling for Jesus but not for Paul)

Hi *******,

Thanks for the positive feedback.

I also used to not have a warm feeling for Paul, until I met Mike Williams from http://www.gospelrevolution.com. I learned that most of the time Paul was speaking for grace, that all were redeemed by Jesus, and that anything we did had no meaning or guilt. Of course, other times he got out the law and whipped up on someone, sometime in just telling people like Peter, to get off the Jewish law. I understand Paul better and now appreciate more of where he was coming from. It is Peter, the fisherman that founded a church that is still like a Jewish temple worshiping the law, that I believe needs to be recovered from.

My right livelihood, for my first career, was doing what really interested me. I was interested in science and engineering and in project management and that is what I learned and what I mainly enjoyed getting paid for.

Now I am starting a new career, teaching what I have learned and continuing to learn. My first career gives me the time to take the time it takes.

I am sorry that you spent more money than you made. When I do that, I am poor. When I spend less than I make, I am rich...

The answers you are getting seem to me to be about not feeling worthy enough for having what you really want.

If I got such answers like yours, I would ask: What is it I can not have, or am not permitted?"

What ever ______ is, I would begin to keep saying: "I am enjoying having _______ , that I was not permitted, in the past." I would keep saying that, until ________ showed up, as I took baby steps towards _________, ever day.

Very Respectfully,

Michael

PS: http://recoverybydiscovery.com/personality/ has an updated presentation on more effective prayer.

I FOUND THAT THIS MESSAGE BLOCK BELOW DID NOT WORK ANYMORE, SO JUST CLICK HERE UNTIL I GET IT WORKING...

Michael

I appreciate any feedback, questions and suggestions that you have.

Directory of Directories & Lists

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Leadership

I am starting a page on leadership. My first link is to some articles by

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A daily hint has published each day since June 1996. This is past my fifth year anniversary, since starting my web pages. I started my daily page, because it is useful for me to look for some recovery tip or secret each day for my spiritual growth. we and I only need one secret to work on and let it work on us each day. They are secrets because they are usually the opposite of what the majority of society teaches. They must be secret because they are not commonly used. A friend of mine once said "Common Sense is not much in Common.". Now that I have grandchildren I am also writing for them. I would have really liked for my grandparents and my parents to have passed on more of what they learned.

What is happening now?

I now have completed my second copy of my CDROM, full of free programs, for my college class. I am sending my current version, to anyone that sends me $5. Or, you could get your copy of my CDROM disk for free by signing up at PayPal.com, where they may give you $5 in addition to sending $5 to me. If ProPay.com gives me $5 for refering you, that would be fine, but they are reducing their incentive to refer people. I like both of these programs and wish them well. When I get my $5 as long as these programs are alive, I will send you a copy of my free programs collection CDROM. When you live outside the USA you could send the extra postage. Things are changing in our Internet get paid world. These bonuses are at risk. AllAdvantage.com has disappeared.

When you would like ask questions, or contribute some of your wisdom, or want to make some comments or tell your success stories, click Michael Foster, M. A.

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