In meetings: how do we respond to the reading?
We share our experience on applying it, not our opinions on it, not our judgements of it, not our analysis of it, not our rejection of it.
If I don't like or understand the reading, I have missed something: whoever chose it can see something of value in it. My job is to stay quiet and learn.
'Treat him, when you can, as though he had pneumonia.' (Alcoholics Anonymous, page 108)
When people are not well, they talk rubbish. I include myself in this. Sift at a distance in case there is something that does need cognisance or attention, but basically don't mentally engage. They're not talking; they're coughing and sneezing. The words are not speech in the true sense but the symptoms of sickness.
Know that man is moulded by his actions; his heart and thoughts are constantly drawn after the actions which he is involved in, whether for good or for bad. This is true even with regard to a thoroughly wicked person who thinks sinful thoughts all day. If such a person's spirit will be aroused and he will turn his energy and efforts towards the diligent study of Torah and performance of mitzvot, even not for the sake of Heaven, his heart will quickly become inclined towards good and eventually he will act for the sake of Heaven. Through his deeds, his evil inclination will die, for one's heart is drawn after one's actions.
Passover: its Laws, Observances, and Significance
An inspirational speaker does just that: he inspires.
But when the talk is over, the inspiration fades, and the bubbles pop, one by one.
An informational speaker provides information.
If that information is acted on, permanent change takes place.
An inspirational speaker who does not convey actable-on information is a bubble bath without soap.
However, a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down:
An informational speaker needs to inspire to successfully convey the information.
Who wants to get into a bath without bubbles?
But a little goes a long way: too many circus tricks, and the balance is lost.
An observation:
There are a lot of inspirational circuit speakers in AA.
There are a few informational circuit speakers in AA.
The smallest group comprises informational speakers who can inspire ...
... to hold the room and communicate to it without turning it into Barnum and Bailey.
Like holding the patient's arm whilst performing the necessary injection.
I cannot change my identity. I cannot change myself. I cannot change what I think of.
I cannot change my instinctive reactions to situations, my drives, or my impulses.
I can change what I think about. I can change what I say. I can change what I do.
When I change what I think about, what I say, and what I do, ...
... my instinctive reactions, drives, and impulses change all by themselves, albeit slowly.
There need be no fear of losing my identity by working a programme of change.
When change takes place, it is not my identity but my false perceptions of it that change.
What I thought was my identity was the set of tools I was using to live: thought, word, deed.
What I have become was encoded in my identity as a seven-year-old.
I cannot produce happiness directly; I can produce only the dopamine hit directly.
Thinking, speaking, and doing right produces a satisfactory life.
A satisfactory life will produce profound happiness.
Wash your hands. Wash your mind. There's a lot of infectious thought-pathogens circulating.
The Queen recently praised the British for 'self-discipline, quiet good-humoured resolve, and fellow feeling'. This is not a bad recipe.
How I handle illness, unhappiness, tragedy, or crisis round me:
Firstly, it's not happening to me. I'm its witness.
I'm not the character on the screen. I'm the viewer.
And if even if some aspect appears to affect me directly, it's actually affecting my physical form (my communication device) or my circumstances.
I am not my physical form; I am not my circumstances.
I am spirit: and so is everyone else. We're experiencing this physical form and these circumstances.
But the physical form and these circumstances are not who we are.
I'm still not the character on the screen when the character looks like me.
I'm still the viewer.
I do not add a drama to a crisis, eclipsing the crisis.
The crisis is sufficient.
The happenings of the day are sufficient unto the day.
I get on with my job: I stay connected with God and others; I get on with practical things; I stay active; I rest.
I share difficult emotions with a chosen confidant.
I don't broadcast them publicly.
I don't collect them and serve them up.
But I don't ignore, minimise, or discount them.
The emotions are not good or bad: they are what they are. They're meant to be felt.
They can also provide useful information about my attitudes, thinking, and behaviour.
When strong emotions arise, I note them, feel them without dwelling, dramatising, or narrativising, and then pray and come back to the present and the task at hand.
I am disciplined about stripping away layers of unnecessary commentary or judgement.
It's possible to remain essentially optimistic and active despite waves of alternating emotion.
Attitude is a choice. Action is a choice.
Will establishes a structure that withstands weather. Emotions are the weather.
If emotions are persistently disruptive, the problem lies with the structure.
Fix the attitude; fix the action.
Unhappiness is a solitary pursuit, even when mirrored. Joy and gratitude can be shared. So share.
If it's on your plate, you probably ordered it.
People are talking about the madness 'out there'. There's no more madness 'out there' than there was before. The only 'madness' I need to concern myself with is the madness 'in here' (points to own head). As Astrid says, the calls are coming from within the house.