Sunday, April 30, 2017

Transplanting A New Way OF Life

On 4/27/17 Kev writes, I type:

We all feed off each other..One of the most amazing things I see happen in recovery based meetings is the new way of life that is found through the shared experiences of one addict helping another...When I thoroughly worked the twelve steps with a sponsor... I have learned by living the steps on a daily basis that I would be able to transplant the new way of life that I had found into the next person struggling. The death of our old habits can offer life to the next person in need... gaining the understanding that we are no better or worse than the person next to us - will help us to become an asset for each other.. We can always learn from one another. Even when someone displays a negative thinking pattern or chooses to live their life in a destructive way..we can still learn from watching their experiences and using them to gain a greater insight into what we must do in our own lives to eliminate that same scenario from happening to us...Our shared experiences are what makes this crazy world go round...we don't have to agree on the choices people make, but we can use what we learn not only from our own negative choices, but from the negative choices of others to better our lives and in return help better the lives of others who are in similar situations....
When a surgeon transplants a new heart....he would never choose to transplant a defective organ into someone in need of a healthy replacement. This same concept holds true to life in general. In order to convey the right message we have to first practice what we preach. Plus, how could we convey an experience we have not yet lived? By demonstrating the benefit of being a good person, we in turn create an image that others can learn from...we plant the seeds of a new life much the same way a surgeon transplants a healthy organ into a person needing that new organ. We can transplant a new way of life and give the world a better heart and a better beat to follow...

Today's Positive Affirmation: I will be the healthy example that breathes new life into those in need..

Taking The High Road

On 4/23/17 Kev writes, I type:

On of the biggest things I've learned to practice on a daily basis is the concept of acceptance.I feel like most people in today's world struggle with this concept, and in return it becomes the reason why we are constantly at war with one another. All the hate, aggression and violence usually seems to stem from our inability to accept each other's differences..in return no common ground is found.and nothing seems to change. We end up spending more time tearing each other down instead of working together to make our world a better place. Until people are able to look past blatant ignorance and realize that no matter what our cultural differences may be , no matter what the color of our skin may be, no matter what our spiritual preferences may be and no matter what gender we end up choosing to love.  we are all human beings,,,
I'm not saying that we have to surrender our own opinions. or that we stand down in the face of oppression; what I'm saying is that when we end up leaving our minds closed to the possible things we can learn from one another...we end up losing ourselves in the process. I've learned that sometimes to win the fight we must be able to take the high road..That road is found through acceptance.
You can't reason with rage, you can't reason with hate..So, instead of choosing to give into what rage and hate creates which is violence, we show our strength through acceptance. Love is the only thing that is truly able to defeat hate.  rage and violence. By being  the best human beings we can be, and keeping an open mind,...we become able to gain greater understanding for the capacity and power of love. Love is the cornerstone of peace, and through peace we can begin to learn how to exist together.
Let our shared experiences become the driving force that leads us through the darkness and into a brighter world. My journey us defined by progress rather than perfection..I choose to live each day with an understanding for all those who enter my life, even when our minds may clash. I try to learn from each person I meet. I don't understand all the mysteries that this world holds, but one thing I do understand is that love conquers all....

Today's Positive Affirmation: I choose to understand that my journey may be different than the person standing next to me. but I know there will always be a lesson to be learned from each person that I meet,,,We build a temple within ourselves, and lay each stone with love.

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Rise

On 4/16/17 Kev writes, I type.....

Sometimes the pain we endure throughout our lives can leave us feeling completely defeated...pain makes us feel loneliness even when we are surrounded by the ones who truly love us..pain makes us hate the world around us..pain makes it hard to live life on life's terms. The trials and tribulations of our lives are merely an aberration. They are moments that pass like changing seasons but when we allow our heart, mind and soul to become trapped in separate cages...we become fractured versions of ourselves floating is a state of suspended hopelessness. We must not allow our spiritual wreckage to become a wasteland of crowded distortions defined by our inability to accept life on life's terms.
We spend so much time fighting to acquire control over what is mostly uncontrollable...Life. We will never be able to control the force that drives the rain through the leaves, or ever truly know what comes after we close our eyes for good until we meet death. Life is the gift we are given, and the time between our birth and that last breath is a blank canvas waiting to be painted...When we decide that we are unable to lift that brush any longer, and we stop creating beautiful moments..we cease to live life and our picture remains unfinished. So, when that moment comes when we truly do meet death, we end up leaving the ones who love us wondering what we could have become...our half-finished picture hangs in their minds...
I'm not asking you to ignore the pain life brings...I'm only asking you to not allow that pain to defeat you. Learn to understand that even in death nothing will truly die...We rise from the ashes through the memories we leave behind, because not even the illusion of time can contain the essence of our existence...

Today's Positive Affirmation: The greatest love is defined through the compassion and understanding of those who have yet to understand...

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Morals Of A Raver Kid

On 4/15/17 Kev writes, I type

When I was in college I used to attend electronic dance parties known as raves....
Looking back I realize that most of my participation at those raves were defined by excessive drug use and one night stands, but like every moment in life I am still able to find a significant meaning now even through the haze of that past party scene...
I remember meeting a group of kids that I began to see at most of those events...they loved the music scene and even had a set of principles that they proclaimed to live by. They said that the scene itself represented what they referred to as PLUR..Peace, Love, Unity and Respect. Back then I really didn't understand what they were getting at, or maybe most likely I just thought they were just some crazy party kids, but now I feel like I have an understanding of what it is they felt...
They found peace through the acceptance of one another . They found love through their music. They found unity inside the crowd, and they could respect each other's differences...
I can remember the connection I felt inside those crowds... I guess that's what music is supposed to do, create connections where sometimes it feels like there can be no connection.These kids were able to do something that most of us can't seem to do, and that was be able to look past each other's differences, love one another for who they were, and enjoy life together..even if it was just for those music-filled nights.
I find this realization to be pretty profound...it seems like in today's world we move further and further away from those types of connections..it seems as if we become more disconnected than connected even though technology would have you think otherwise...
Life is like a dance, but we always seem to try and make it more like a fight.Those kids learned to treat life like a dance and I think we could all learn from the morals of those raver kids...

Today's Positive Affirmation: If life is a dance..I choose not to leave others stranded on the sideline...

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Unwrapping Our Gifts

On 4/11/17 Kev writes I type...

I believe that every single human being on the face of this planet has something beautiful inside to offer the rest of the world. We all have special gifts. I feel like most of us spend our lives searching in the wrong places for what we already have inside. It's true that our experiences mold us into who we are, but I also believe that each of us have a special gift or talent that is already stitched into the fabric of who we are. Sometimes we have to pull the layers back until we are able to get close to the prize that's inside , and once we find it we have to hold onto it, nurture it and share it with the rest of the world.
The greatest artists and writers didn't just create their amazing work to sit unnoticed, they offered up pieces of themselves to help benefit the rest of the world. Some gifts involve sacrifice...a doctor who trains his hands and mind to save lives, while a police officer puts his own life on the line to benefit his community. We should all be soldiers fighting for each other instead of always fighting against one another.
Sometimes those experiences that test us the most in our life end up leading to a better understanding of what our gifts have to offer the rest of humanity. As we peel back the layers of our inner being we become closer to who we truly are. The real gift is about being able to find our individuality, and having the courage to share it with the rest of the world.
I've always been a creative person .. I realize that after all I have gone through that my true calling for my gift will be the ability to help create a better world for those around me. I have hope that people will start looking more inside themselves for something special rather than always relying on something on the outside to make them feel complete..When we allow our true hearts to shine through the way we choose to express ourselves, we help create a world with less darkness...we give the gift of hope.

Today's positive affirmation: I will allow the way I choose to live my life to reflect a gift of happiness for the rest of the world to share in..

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Roots

On 3/29/2017 Kev writes, I type..


We must never forget where it is we came from. In the garden of our existence, our roots create the blossom of who we become and sometimes who we strive to be.  We must always be vigilant of the negative forces that surround us...if left unchecked, they can warp the perception we have of ourselves and stain the beauty of who we truly are. We should never allow our garden to become infested with unnecessary weeds.  We change the world around us by first changing ourselves into the proper examples of that change... We can become the flowers that grow between the cracks in the pavement. By becoming the right examples we create the roots for the world around us to grow from. I see true hope in those who choose to lead by example, and the people who truly grow from their experiences, but never forget where they came from.  The way we choose to nourish the roots of who we are will dictate the people we end up becoming....


Today's positive affirmation: I will never forget where I came from, but I will never let my past keep me from a brighter future...

Sunday, April 2, 2017

Footprints In Cement

On 3/26/17 Kev writes, I type...

We are always looking for a way to be noticed in the world around us, for that way to leave our mark. Have you ever noticed that when a construction company pours a new concrete sidewalk, how people can't help putting their name , their hand prints or their footprints in the new cement before it hardens up? We long to be noticed by one another in any way that we can.
We can be noticed the best by each other by learning to become the best human beings we can, leaving our mark by being examples worth following. All species long to leave a legacy behind. We reproduce to prolong our existence, and try to leave a world worth living in for the future of our kind. How can we leave a better world for the next generation when most of us seem to be more caught up with our own selfish needs? The best footprints we can leave in the cement are the ones worth walking in..Our legacy should be for each other.
Life should not be about just fulfilling our own desires. Life should be about keeping life alive if that makes any sense to anyone besides me....
The concept of suffering is one we all face together. By working together instead of against each other we build a better chance of defeating that suffering. When we learn form our own personal experiences and then choose to use what we've learned to help the next person going through what we have already experienced, to me that is one of the greatest gifts we can give to one another...
We defeat suffering by learning from it and by becoming the best human beings through the process. Sometimes it's hard to get our of our own way before our hearts harden and turn to stone..Each day is like stepping in fresh cement...will your footprints be worth walking in? They can be if we try each day to represent something positive through acceptance and kindness.

Today's Positive Affirmation: I will leave footprints worth following, and make a life worth living for others.

The Chase

On 3/23/17 Kev writes, I type...

The roadways to our success lie in the palm of our hands. We have the power to create the life we want for ourselves...our dreams are only imagined ideas until we begin to take action...Our actions and the way we choose to live our lives on a daily basis are the outward expression of how we feel inside. The way we conduct ourselves in society usually represents how we feel about ourselves..I know this to be true from personal experience...
I used to believe that my drug use was my only real problem...I thought that if I just stopped using everything else would be perfect, but what I did not realize was that my drug use was just a symptom of the real problem..Me. Every single time I allowed myself to use drugs was a demonstration of how I truly felt about who I was....I did not know myself anymore... I was never able to find happiness within myself, and I used toxic relationships and drugs as a way to fill the void I had created inside. It was not until I became incarcerated for the second time in five years that I came to realize a different truth.
That truth was that I needed to accept myself and learn to live my life one moment at a time.. If I allowed myself to be stuck in the past or get too caught up in the future...I would never truly learn to live. We chase tomorrow , but forget that the tomorrow we chase is only possible if we take care of today. Human nature is about learning to live for each other by first learning to live with ourselves...

Today's positive affirmation: I will live in each moment with acceptance and the determination to succeed.

Saturday, April 1, 2017

The Ledge

On 3/19/17 Kev writes, I type....

There are moments in our lives that truly define us. Life is about having the right leverage at the right time. Most of our lives are spent trying to gain that leverage in preparation for that one moment. Some people spend their entire lives without truly living because they become so consumed by that moment that they have planned for inside their minds.
We love feeling that we have control of everything when in fact we are not in control of really much to begin with. We can plan and work for something , but when it doesn't go our way we fall apart. Our inner ego is such a powerful force. It can be our driving force to accomplish miraculous things or it can be the thing that destroys us from the inside out...
Life is unpredictable and the only thing we truly have control of is our reaction to it. When we try to control life itself, it tends to pull us apart. We allow our perceptions of ourselves to take on a life of their own.We end up losing the true identity of who we are with who we think we should be according to the rest of the world around us...Left to it's own devices our own self is capable of running wild . We can all end up standing on the ledge of existence face to face with ourselves holding onto our inner ego . It will attempt to pull us off , but if we find the strength to let go and stand our ground we will be able to see new horizons. Not allowing ourselves to be controlled by what's inside will bring about new purpose in our lives .,,
The fear of the unknown can be a very scary thing. We can face life by living within each moment. If you are facing fear, anxiety and worry within your life....Push it off that ledge..Live in each moment. That's the terms we sign with life...

Today's positive affirmation: I will attempt to live life on life's terms each day and in every moment.

The Journey Is Happiness

On 3/16/17 Kev writes, I type....

Most of us spend our entire lives trying to find happiness. We see happiness as some type of destination, or a fixed point in time where all of our fears, anxieties, and problems dissipate. I've come to find out that it's not the destination but the journey getting there that makes me truly happy.
I've made plenty of mistakes, but I believe that this particular journey has allowed me to truly find myself as a man. I don't think I have ever been able to know myself like I do right now in my life. My journey has been about learning to accept myself.
There can be so much unnecessary space filled inside our minds by things we don't need..sometimes we just have to take out the trash. By clearing the wreckage inside myself I've gathered the strength to build a better me.
Our journey should never be about finding something to make us happy , our journey should be about happiness itself. What should truly make us happy is being ourselves. I feel the world around us is always trying to mold us into what it wants us to be and who it thinks we should be. I think it's more interesting when we can learn to follow what's inside of us, rather than what around us. The journey to happiness is happiness itself.
We can find more smiles in our mirror by learning to accept who we are. Make your journey worthwhile every day by just being you. We must realize after all that we only have this day. Tomorrow is never guaranteed and nothing stays the same.
Find your happiness in each moment, minute and second. Let your heart guide you to your smile and you will always be truly and utterly happy.

Today's positive affirmation: I will let my heart let me guide me to my smile.