A phrase from one of my recovery readings comes to mind often, “Small things like traffic jams are no longer cause for upset.”
Usually I am driving when it comes to mind and usually I am upset when it comes to mind.
In these moments this is truly the first thing that pops into my head but it is quickly followed by the rest of the reading which in essence allows me a momentary flight of fancy then an immediate confirmation that I am NOT the center of this or any other universe.
The reading is from one of the pathways I choose to follow to support my program of long-term recovery and comes from a faith based 12 Step program so I will paraphrase two statements and neutralize the text for the purpose focusing on what is key to me also to highlight the universal nature of what I consider the truths being offered to be in a more humanistic context.
“The submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on the world’s altar. It is hard doctrine, but it is true. The other things we give the world, however nice that may be of us, are actually things it has already given us, and it has loaned them to us. But when we begin to submit ourselves to charity and positivity, then we are really giving something to the world.” (Adapted from Neal Maxwell “Insights from My Life,” Ensign, Aug. 2000, 9)
And
“Perhaps the greatest discovery of my life, without question the greatest commitment, came when finally I had the confidence in charity and positivity that I would loan or yield my agency to it— without compulsion or pressure, without any duress, as a single individual alone, by myself, no counterfeiting, nothing expected other than the privilege. In a sense, speaking figuratively, to take my agency, that precious gift which is essential to life itself, and say, ‘I will do as you direct,’ is afterward to learn that in so doing I possess it all the more” (Adapted from Boyd Packer Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year [Dec. 7, 1971])
Traffic does upset me and I swear a lot, this is my choice…my greater and more lasting choice is to be more positive, caring and loving when faced with my daily challenges.
Will Allphin, Director of Programs FFR
https://www.ccarconference.org/
https://www.recoveryanswers.org/recovery/pathways-to-recovery/
https://favorgreenville.org/rich-jones/3-random-thoughts-on-multiple-pathways-of-recovery/
