Here I Am Once Again

I have been thinking a lot about the 12 steps, Buddhism and mental health lately. I found a great workbook on a 12 step site (www.12step.org) and I want to share some tidbits of upbeat information that I came across. Here they are:

Three Spiritual Gifts from Practicing the 12 Steps

1. The Awakening to the Presence of our Higher Power and to be in conscious union with this presence.
2. The Awakening to the Love that we are, that all of us are.
3. The Awakening to the individual Self we were created to be, with purpose and meaning. In other words, to consciously live our Heart's Desire, God's will.

"We have failed many time, but we are not failures. We have been foolish, but we are not fools. We have done many bad things, but we are not evil."

"We will repeat the same problem until there is real healing."

"Watch out for the termites, the little day-in day-out stuff. This is a real present danger. These little guys undermine the foundation of every relationship. Termites destroy more property than all the fires, floods, wind and hail and so it is with relationships. With the "big" problems, we are forced to do something about these or run away. With the little stuff we don't have to do anything about it, or it is not important enough. In one way or another, we often stuff these. One termite doesn't matter, but when they build up in numbers, watch out. It is best to deal with all problems ASAP."

I just started to go through the work book and I already found these tidbits. I can hardly wait to read more.

I also bought a new book called The 12 Step Buddhist. It is right up my alley being an AA member and a person interested in Buddhism. There is also a website associated with this book http://the12stepbuddhist.com. I even felt compelled to write a lengthy letter to the author. Isn't the world wide web grand?

Now I just have to find someone in the mental health field to help me and I will have all the bases covered.