We're recruiting. Perhaps you will join us. Or maybe you have already joined. All are welcome. The door is open.

<br /> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">On the surface of the Earth now there is war and violence and everything looks horrible. But, simultaneously, something quiet, calm and hidden is happening and certain people are being called by a higher understanding.</span><div> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"> A quiet revolution is settling from the inside out. From bottom to top. It is a global operation. A spiritual conspiracy. There are cells from this operation in every nation on the planet. You will not watch us on TV. Or read about us in newspapers. Or hear our words on radios. We do not seek glory. We do not use uniforms. We arrive in several different shapes and sizes. We have costumes and different colours. Most work anonymously. Silently we work out of the scene. In every culture in the world. In large and small cities, in the mountains and valleys. In the farms, villages, tribes and remote islands. We might cross paths on the streets. And not realize ... We follow in disguise. We are behind the scenes. And we do not care about who wins the gold of the result, and Yes, that the work gets performed. And once in a while we will cross paths on the streets. We exchange looks of recognition and continue following our path. During the day many are disguised in their normal jobs. But at night behind the scenes, the real work begins. Some call us army of consciousness. Slowly we are building a new world. With the power of our hearts and minds. We follow with joy and passion. Our orders reach us from the Central Spiritual Intelligence. We're throwing soft bombs of love without anyone noticing; poems, Hugs, songs, photos, movies, fond words, meditations and prayers, dances, social activism, websites, blogs, acts of kindness ... We express ourselves in a unique and personal way. With our talents and gifts. Being the change we want to see in the world. This is the force that moves our hearts. We know that this is the only way to accomplish the transformation. We know that with the silence and humbleness we have the power of all oceans together. Our work is slow and meticulous. As in the formation of mountains. Love will be the religion of the 21 century. Without educational prerequisites. Without ordering an exceptional knowledge for your understanding. Because it is born of the intelligence of the heart. Hidden for eternity in the evolutionary pulse of every human being. Be the change you want to see happen in the world. Nobody else can make this work for you. We're recruiting. Perhaps you will join us. Or maybe you have already joined. All are welcome. The door is open.</span></div>

We're recruiting. Perhaps you will join us. Or maybe you have already joined. All are welcome. The door is open.

On the surface of the Earth now there is war and violence and everything looks horrible. But, simultaneously, something quiet, calm and hi...

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I Am Nothing

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <h1 style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: url(http://www.ijourney.org/pics/bk_dotted.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 2.2em; font: normal normal normal 2.1em/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; letter-spacing: -1px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"> I Am Nothing</h1> <h4 style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: italic; font: normal normal normal 1.1em/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; letter-spacing: -1px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"> --by <a href="http://www.ijourney.org/index.php?op=author&sel=Paul+Buchheit" style="background-color: inherit; color: #cb4721; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Paul Buchheit</a> (<span class="date" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Aug 30, 2011</span>)<div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div> </h4> <div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> <img align="right" alt="" border="1" src="http://www.ijourney.org/pics/weekly/764.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #dadada; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 4px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 5px;" /></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> What will you do if you're too tough to be a good woman, too sensitive to be a good man, too selfish to be a good husband, too lazy to be a good employee, too shy to be a good friend, too caring to be rational, too fat to be pretty, too effeminate to be straight, too introverted to be a good leader, too smart to be kind, too young to be taken seriously, too old to make a difference, or too far behind to even get in the race?</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> These are all false standards and false dichotomies, but they are so common and so ingrained that we sometimes believe in them without even realizing it. And this leads to a mountain of insecurities, because nobody measures up to these crazy standards (and nobody should). But even if we don't believe in these things, it still matters what other people think, right? What will the neighbors think? Or how about our co-workers, or the people at church? And so everyone works to hide their insecurities, and they look around at their peers for comparison, and maybe they feel bad because everyone else seems to have it easy, to have it all figured out. The truth is, nobody can see the truth anymore. They are all working to hide the truth, because the truth is that they are afraid of who or what they really are. So they all put on a show, and they pretend to be a good whatever. Or maybe they rebel, and make a point of being a bad whatever, but then they are still under the control of that false standard, and they are still not being themselves.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> That is all so exhausting.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> I am nothing. It's simple. If I were smart, I might be afraid of looking stupid. If I were successful, I might be afraid of failure. If I were a man, I might be afraid of being weak. If I were a Christian, I might be afraid of losing faith. If I were an atheist, I might be afraid of believing. If I were rational, I might be afraid of my emotions. If I were introverted, I might be afraid of meeting new people. If I were respectable, I might be afraid of looking foolish. If I were an expert, I might be afraid of being wrong.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> But I am nothing, and so I am finally free to be myself.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> This isn't license to stagnate. Change is inevitable. Change is part of who we are, but if we aren't changing for the better, then we are just slowly decaying.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> By returning to zero expectations, by accepting that I am nothing, it is easier to see the truth. Fear, jealousy, insecurity, unfairness, embarrassment -- these feelings cloud our ability to see what is. The truth is often threatening, and once our defenses are up, it's difficult to be completely honest with anyone, even ourselves. But when I am nothing, when I have no image or identity or ego to protect, I can begin to see and accept things as they really are. That is the beginning of positive change, because we cannot change what we do not accept and do not understand. But with understanding, we can finally see the difference between fixing problems, and hiding them, the difference between genuine improvement, and faking it. We discover that many of our weaknesses are actually strengths once we learn how to use them, and that our greatest gifts are often buried beneath our greatest insecurities. </div> <div class="zemanta-related" style="clear: both; margin-top: 20px; overflow: hidden;"> <h4 class="zemanta-related-title"> Related articles</h4> <ul class="zemanta-article-ul zemanta-article-ul-image" style="margin: 0; overflow: hidden; padding: 0;"> <li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/05/addicts-are-afraid-that-if-someone.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/172783141_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/05/addicts-are-afraid-that-if-someone.html" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Addicts are afraid that if someone truly knew about their addiction or deepest secrets and insecurities then they would be rejected.</a></li> <li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/use-white-hot-pain-of-that-truth-as.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/noimg_30_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/use-white-hot-pain-of-that-truth-as.html" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">SBR uses the white hot pain of the truth as ammunition to change our insane lives.</a></li> <li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/people-are-afraid-to-connect-with.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/noimg_107_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/people-are-afraid-to-connect-with.html" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">People are afraid to connect with a Higher Power for two main reasons. Fear of losing control and fear that they will be punished or judged by the powers that be, rather than loved and forgiven.</a></li> <li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-spiritual-narcissist-these-are.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/noimg_100_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-spiritual-narcissist-these-are.html" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The spiritual narcissist. 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display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-importance-of-solution-based.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/noimg_32_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-importance-of-solution-based.html" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The Importance of Solution Based Recovery it's important to GET REAL with yourself.</a></li> <li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/05/checklist-of-flaws-and-assets.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/noimg_4_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/05/checklist-of-flaws-and-assets.html" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Checklist of Flaws and Assets</a></li> <li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/people-get-into-relationships-thinking.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/noimg_109_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/people-get-into-relationships-thinking.html" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">People get into relationships thinking that other people can give them security, or feelings of self-worth, feelings of worth at all, something to live for, validation.</a></li> <li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/relationship-dependents-are-often-no.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/noimg_17_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/relationship-dependents-are-often-no.html" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Relationship dependents are often no longer in love with their partners but still cannot let go.</a></li> <li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/are-you-perfectionist.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/177367657_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2013/06/are-you-perfectionist.html" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Are you a perfectionist?</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"> <a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_h.png?x-id=7481d461-a9dd-47f5-a08d-8f0db7be709f" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div> </div>

I Am Nothing

I Am Nothing --by  Paul Buchheit  ( Aug 30, 2011 ) What will you do if you're too tough to be a good woman, too sensitive to b...

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http://12steppers.blogspot.com/

<p><a href="http://12steppers.blogspot.com/">http://12steppers.blogspot.com/</a></p>

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http://12steppers.blogspot.com/

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Native American Serenity Prayer

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container zemanta-img" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Minnehaha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: clear:left;"><img alt="English: Native American girl" border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted" height="385" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Minnehaha.jpg/300px-Minnehaha.jpg" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="300" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 300px;">English: Native American girl (Photo credit: <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Minnehaha.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</td></tr> </tbody></table> <br /> <div class="article-header" style="background-color: white; display: table; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding: 0px; text-align: center; width: 540px;"> <h1 class="title entry-title" style="color: #3433cd; display: table-cell; font-family: 'Cherry Cream Soda'; font-size: 20px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 40px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 460px;"> <a href="http://galatictours.blogspot.com/2010/01/native-american-serenity-prayer.html" rel="bookmark" style="color: #3433cd; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;"><span class="GingerNoCheckStart"></span>Native American Serenity Prayer</a><br /><br /><span class="blog-admin" style="display: inline;"><a class="edit" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=3922196140932006510&postID=3559943434382379741&from=pencil" style="background-image: url(data; background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #3433cd; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; height: 21px; opacity: 0.8; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; position: relative; text-decoration: none; top: 3px; width: 21px;" target="_self" title="Edit"></a></span></h1> </div> <div class="article-content entry-content" style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 10px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"> Oh Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds<br /> <br /> and whose breath gives life to all the world<br /> <br /> Hear me<br /> <br /> I come before you, one of your children<br /> <br /> I am small and weak,<br /> <br /> I need your strength and wisdom<br /> <br /> Let me walk in beauty and<br /> <br /> make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.<br /> <br /> Make my hands respect the things you have made<br /> <br /> my ears sharp to hear your voice<br /> <br /> Make me wise, so that I may know<br /> <br /> the things you have taught my People<br /> <br /> the lesson you have hidden in every leaf and rock<br /> <br /> I seek strength, not to be superior to my brothers<br /> <br /> but to be able to fight my greatest enemy, myself<br /> <br /> Make me ever ready to come to you<br /> <br /> with clean hands and straight eyes,<br /> <br /> so when life fades as a fading sunset<br /> <br /> My Spirit may come to you without shame.</div> <span class="GingerNoCheckEnd"></span><br /> <div class="zemanta-related" style="margin-top: 20px; overflow: hidden;"> <h4 class="zemanta-related-title"> Related articles</h4> <ul class="zemanta-article-ul zemanta-article-ul-image" style="margin: 0; overflow: hidden; padding: 0;"> <li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://hopeworkscommunity.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/the-best-of-hopeworks-the-bipolar-serenity-prayer/" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/noimg_73_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://hopeworkscommunity.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/the-best-of-hopeworks-the-bipolar-serenity-prayer/" style="display: block; height: 80px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; 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Native American Serenity Prayer

English: Native American girl (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Native American Serenity Prayer Oh Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in t...

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A spiritual conspiracy. There are cells from this operation in every nation on the planet.

<p> </p><p>On the surface of the Earth exactly now there is war and violence and everything looks horrible.  But, simultaneously, something quiet, calm and hidden is happening and certain people are being called by a higher light. A quiet revolution is settling from the inside out.  From bottom to top. It is a global operation. A spiritual conspiracy. There are cells from this operation in every nation on the planet.  You will not watch us on TV. Or read about us in newspapers.  Or hear our words on radios. We do not seek glory.  We do not use uniforms. We arrive in several different shapes and sizes. We have costumes and different colors. Most work anonymously.  Silently we work out of the scene. In every culture in the world. In large and small cities, in the mountains and valleys. In the farms, villages, tribes and remote islands.   We might cross paths on the streets. And not realize ... We follow in disguise. We are behind the scenes. And we do not care about who wins the gold of the result, and Yes, that the work gets performed. And once in a while we will cross paths on the streets. We exchange looks of recognition and continue following our path. During the day many are disguised in their normal jobs. But at night behind the scenes, the real work begins.    Some call us army of consciousness. Slowly we are building a new world.  With the power of our hearts and minds. We follow with joy and passion. Our orders reach us from the Central Spiritual Intelligence. We're throwing soft bombs of love without anyone noticing; poems, Hugs, songs, photos, movies, fond words, meditations and prayers, dances, social activism, websites, blogs, acts of kindness ...    We express ourselves in a unique and personal way. With our talents and gifts. Being the change we want to see in the world. This is the force that moves our hearts. We know that this is the only way to accomplish the transformation.  We know that with the silence and humbleness we have the power of all oceans together. Our work is slow and meticulous. As in the formation of mountains.    Love will be the religion of the 21 century. Without educational prerequisites. Without ordering an exceptional knowledge for your understanding. Because it is born of the intelligence of the heart. Hidden for eternity in the evolutionary pulse of every human being.    Be the change you want to see happen in the world.  Nobody else can make this work for you.     We're recruiting.  Perhaps you will join us.  Or maybe you have already joined.  All are welcome. The door is open.</p>

A spiritual conspiracy. There are cells from this operation in every nation on the planet.

  On the surface of the Earth exactly now there is war and violence and everything looks horrible.  But, simultaneously, something quiet, ca...

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You will be happier and less depressed one month from now

<p> </p><blockquote>Cultivating an "attitude of gratitude" has been linked to better health, sounder sleep, less anxiety and depression, higher long-term satisfaction with life and kinder behavior toward others, including romantic partners. A new study shows that feeling grateful makes people less likely to turn aggressive when provoked. How to practice gratitude? Research shows that those who keep a simple gratitude journal felt happier, more optimistic, and even slept better at night. Renowned psychologist Dr. Martin Seligman guarantees that if you (a) write a 300-word letter to someone who changed your life for the better, (b) hand-deliver it to the recipient, (c) read it out loud to them, then "You will be happier and less depressed one month from now</blockquote>

You will be happier and less depressed one month from now

  Cultivating an "attitude of gratitude" has been linked to better health, sounder sleep, less anxiety and depression, higher long...

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Lois W., the "first lady" of A.A. and the non-alcoholic wife of Bill Wilson, the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, tells her story of "co-dependence addiction" and her spiritual growth by applying A.A. principles to her own life.

.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px;">The Twelve Steps of A.A. are a way of life for anyone seeking a spiritual program. By substituting the word "alcohol" for any particular problem of life such as drugs, gambling, sex, food/sugar, self-harm, co-dependence, etc, one can identify and apply the A.A. program, found in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous as a recipe for recovery.</span><br /> <div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Lois W., the "first lady" of A.A. and the non-alcoholic wife of Bill Wilson, the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, tells her story of "co-dependence addiction" and her spiritual growth by applying A.A. principles to her own life.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><i>(Reprinted from the book, How Al-Anon Works for Families & Friends of Alcoholics, Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. 1995, 2008, pp. 152-159.)</i></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><h2 style="background-color: white; color: grey; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Lois's Story</h2><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Bill started drinking shortly before we were married, and although I didn't realize it then, he was an alcoholic from the very beginning. When he took one drink, he couldn't seem to stop until he was too drunk to lift another drink. I was greatly concerned, but I still had confidence that our life together would be so completed and rich that he would have no need for liquor. As time went on, his drinking grew worse.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Since we had no children, my one purpose in life was to help him get over this terrible habit. Aside from his drinking, we were very happy together. We liked the same things and were most companionable. Finally, when the drinking became practically constant, he, too, realized he must do something about it, and together we tried everything we could think of. He set up all kinds of plans for control. He read books on psychology and religion; he went to sanitariums. During two successive summers I gave up my job, and we escaped for three months to the country for renewal and rebuilding. Nothing worked. I had to assume family responsibilities and make all decisions.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">By now Bill did nothing but drink. He was afraid to leave the house for fear the police would pick him up. We lived entirely to ourselves. We had dropped all our friends or been dropped by them and we saw as little of our families as possible. Our whole life had simmered down to one terrific fight against alcohol. It was tragic indeed to watch such a fine man become completely beaten and hopeless.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">An old friend whom we considered a confirmed drunkard came to see Bill to tell of his "release" from alcoholism by spiritual means. Bill, encourage by the picture of his friend's bright eyes and hopeful story, went to the hospital to clear his own thinking. Here the miracle happened and Bill became a changed man, almost overnight. We were awestruck by this amazing transformation. In our happiness and gratitude neither of us doubted that his sobriety would last. (As I bring this story up to date, his sobriety lasted until his death in 1971. His friend's sobriety, unfortunately, was of shorter duration, but he was sober a number of years before his death in 1966.)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Bill figured that since a miracle had happened to him and his friend it could happen to theirs, so he worked endlessly and tirelessly to help alcoholics. We had the house full of drunks in all stages of sobriety. It seemed to me he was trying to dry out all the drunks in the world.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">We gratefully went to meetings of the fellowship to which our hopeful friend belonged, and Bill used their half-dozen spiritual principles in his work with alcoholics. Later, he wrote the A.A. book, he expanded the number to Twelve Steps so as to be sure there were no loopholes through which a drunk could escape.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">After a while I began to wonder why I was not as happy as I ought to be, since the one thing I had been yearning for all my married life had come to pass. Then one Sunday, Bill asked me if I was ready to go to the meeting with him. To my own astonishment as well as his, I burst forth with, "Damn you old meetings!" and threw a shoe as hard as I could.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">This surprising display of temper over nothing pulled me up short and made me start to analyze my own attitudes. By degrees I saw that I had been wallowing in self-pity, that I resented the fact that Bill and I never spend any time together any more, and that I was left alone while he was off somewhere scouting up new drunks or working with old ones. I felt on the outside of a very tight little clique of alcoholics that no mere wife could enter. My pride was hurt by the fact that friend, another alcoholic, had been able to do for Bill in a short time what I had tried and failed to do all our married years.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">My life's purpose of sobering up Bill, which had made me feel desperately needed, had vanished. I sought something to fill the void. As I began to be honest with myself, I recognized how greatly Bill had developed spiritually and how necessary to his sobriety was his feverish activity with alcoholics. I decided to strive for my own spiritual growth. I used the same principles as he did to learn how to change my attitudes.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Several years later, Bill and I found that strained relations such as ours often developed in families after the first starry-eyed period of sobriety was over. We were heartsick and puzzled to discover that, though alcoholics were recovering through this wonderful new program, their home lives were often difficult. We began to learn how many adjustments had to made and that the partner of the alcoholic also needed to live by a spiritual program.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Soon, small groups composed of the family members of alcoholics in A.A. sprang up all over the country. They had a threefold purpose: to grow spiritually through living by the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous; to give encouragement and understanding to the alcoholic in the home; and to welcome and give comfort to the families of new or prospective A.A. members.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Today Al-Anon groups have spread over this country, Canada, and many other lands. Many agencies, too, recognize that alcoholism is a family problem and that recovery can be greatly hastened by family understanding.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">A.A. and Al-Anon often speak of the Twelve Steps as tools. An extension fo this idea came to me one day. There is a striking analogy between working on ourselves and cultivating a garden.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Our inheritance and early environment compose the soil out of which grow our thoughts and actions, both flowers and weeds. To raise flowers we must get rid of the weeds.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Our garden tools are these principles of A.A. and Al-Anon: knowledge of ourselves and our motives, honesty in facing ourselves as we really are, a desire to help others, and an awareness of God.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">We must keep cultivating with these really effective implements lest our garden be overrun by weeds.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Soils vary; some are rocky, sandy, or swampy, while others are very fertile. But whatever the soil, there are appropriate flowers that can be grown. Even the desert blooms.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">One gardener may find it difficult to uproot the weeds because his tools are constantly being dulled against many large rocks. But by repeated sharpening of his hoe and by careful selection of his plants, at last he may be able to grow a very charming rock garden.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Yet another, because he is too sure of the fertility of his plot and takes it for granted that he will have a beautiful garden because his soil is rich, does not bother to cultivate. This gardener may someday wake up to find his garden filled with insidious weeds, the weeds of smugness and self-righteousness that thrive in fertile ground.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">In just this way the garden of many a martyred, self-pitying wife or husband of an alcoholic can become choked and unproductive.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">The Al-Anon Family Groups point out the need to cultivate the gardens of our lives and show us how this can be done through the use of A.A.'s Twelve Steps.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">My work on the Steps, over a period of years is the following:</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><h3 style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Step 1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol...that our lives had become unmanageable.</h3><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">I was just as powerless over my husband's alcoholism as he was, since I had failed in every way I tried to control his drinking. My own life was indeed unmanageable, as I was forced into doing and being that which I did not want to do or be. I tried to manage Bill's life, although not even able to manage my own. I wanted to get inside his brain and turn the screws in what I thought was the right direction. I, too was powerless over alcohol. It took me a long time to see this.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><h3 style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Step 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.</h3><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Because my thinking was distorted and my nerves overwrought, I had fears and attitudes that certainly were not sane. Finally I realized that I, too, had to be restored to sanity and that only by having faith in God, in A.A. (and later in Al-Anon), in my husband, and myself, could this come about.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><h3 style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Step 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.</h3><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Self-sufficiency, caused by the habit of acting as mother, nurse, caretaker, and breadwinner, as well as always thinking myself on the credit side of the ledger with my alcoholic husband on the debit side, resulted in my having a smug feeling of rightness. At the same time, illogically, I felt a failure at my life's job helping Bill to sobriety. All this made me blind for a long time to the fact that I needed to turn my will and my life over to the care of God. I believe smugness is the very worst sin of all. Only with great difficulty does a shaft of light pierce the armor of self-righteousness.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><h3 style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Step 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.</h3><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Here is where, when I tried to be really honest, I received a tremendous shock. Many of the things that I thought I did unselfishly were, when I tracked them down, pure rationalizations--rationalizations to get my own way about something. This disclosure doubled my urge to live by the Twelve Steps as thoroughly as I could.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><h3 style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Step 5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.</h3><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">I found this was just as necessary for me to do as it was for alcoholic, even more so perhaps, because of my former "mother-and-bad-boy" attitude toward Bill. Admitting my wrongs helped to balance our relationship, to bring it closer to the ideal partnership in marriage.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">At first I was deeply hurt because someone else had done in a few moments what I had tried my whole married life to do. Now I have learned that a wife can rarely, if ever, do this job. The alcoholic feels his wife's account has been written on the credit page of life's ledger; and he believes his own has been on the debit side. Therefore, she cannot possibly understand. Another alcoholic, with a similar debit entry, immediately identifies himself as no non-alcoholic can.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">I found no peace of mind until I recognized this important fact.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><h3 style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Step 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.</h3><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">There were selfish attitudes that I had felt justified in keeping because of what Bill or someone else had done to me. I had to try very hard to want God to remove these. There was, for instance, my self-pity at losing Bill's companionship, now that the house was full of alcoholics and we had little time to visit alone with each other. I didn't realize the importance of his working with others nor did I know how deep and consuming an absorption in A.A. it takes to banish the obsession with alcohol.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><h3 style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Step 7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.</h3><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">"Humbly" was a word I never fully understood. It used to seem servile to me. Today it means seeing myself in true relation to my fellow man and to God.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">While striving for humility myself, it was inspiring to see my husband's growth in the same direction. From an inferiority-ridden person durning his drinking days, Bill in A.A. at first bounced way up to superiority, but then leveled off and gained very real humility.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Slowly and with difficulty I realized I, too, had been beset by both inferiority and superiority over Bill in the old days while drinking and then inferiority to him as he made rapid progress in A.A.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><h3 style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Step 8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.</h3><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">At first I couldn't think of anyone I had harmed. But when I broke through my own smugness even a little, I saw many relatives and friends whom I had resented and to whom I had given short, irritable answers, imperiling long-standing friendships. In fact, I remember one friend at whom I threw a book when, after a nerve-wracking day, he annoyed me. (Throwing seems to have been my pet temper outlet.)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">I try to keep my list of persons harmed up-to-date, and I also try to shorten it.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><h3 style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Step 9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.</h3><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">This is just as important for me as for the alcoholic. I found that when I cleaned away the debris of the past by making amends for each harm done, I had taken an important step towards building a bulwark against any hard knocks that might later come along, as well as gaining serenity and joy in living.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><h3 style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Step 10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.</h3><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">It is astounding how each time I take an inventory I find some new rationalization, some new way I have been pulling the wool over my own eyes. It is easy to fool oneself about motives, and admitting it is hard--but very beneficial.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><h3 style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Step 11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.</h3><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">I am just beginning to understand how to pray. Bargaining with God is not real prayer, and asking Him for what I want, even good things, I've had to learn is not the highest form of prayer. I used to think I knew what was good for me. Therefore I, the captain, would give my instructions to my lieutenant, God, to carry out. That is very different from praying only for the knowledge of God's will for me and the power to carry it out.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Today's living is so involved that much time for mediation is hard to find. But I've set aside a small amount of time night and morning. I am so filled with thankfulness to God that gratitude is one of my principal subjects for meditation; gratitude for all the love and beauty and friends around me; gratitude even for the hard days of long ago that taught me so much. Thus, I have made a start toward improving my conscious contact with God.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><h3 style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Step 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.</h3><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">I am like many Al-Anon members whose spiritual awakening was slow developing experience. But all of us, whether our awakening was sudden or gradual, need to continue our efforts toward growth. One either moves forward or slips backward. I sincerely hope there has been a change for the better between my old and new self, an that tomorrow, next month, next year here will continue to be a better new self.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Nothing has done more to urge me forward than the need to carry the Al-Anon message to the families of alcoholics who are seeking a way out of their dilemma. The helping of others over the same thorny path that one has already trod strengthens both travelers, the helper and the one being helped.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><i>Do you have any experience using the Big Book with co-dependents? Tell us about your experiences.</i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; line-height: normal;">DISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder</span></div>

Lois W., the "first lady" of A.A. and the non-alcoholic wife of Bill Wilson, the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, tells her story of "co-dependence addiction" and her spiritual growth by applying A.A. principles to her own life.

. The Twelve Steps of A.A. are a way of life for anyone seeking a spiritual program. By substituting the word "alcohol" for any pa...

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