Wisdom Of The Rooms - 2021

[bluidkiti]

August 23

Quote of the Week

"Happiness isn’t out there, it’s in here."

One glorious, sunny day, I was driving my big, beautiful, black Mercedes through Malibu canyon on my way to do some shopping at the high-end galleries on the Pacific Coast Highway. As the car snaked around the mountains, I caught glimpses of the shimmering, blue ocean. It was a Sunday morning, and I seemed to have it all: money, property, and prestige. I pulled over to an outlook and stood gazing at the incredible beauty around me, and I wondered why I felt so bad that I wanted to die. This was what my bottom felt like.

In recovery, I started to see life from a completely different point of view. When I read in the literature that character building and spiritual values had to come before trying to acquire and gain satisfaction from material things, I could really relate. It was hard, at first, to turn away from what I had been taught to pursue almost my entire life, but I had evidence that happiness and contentment definitely weren’t “out there.” And so I set to work the Twelve Steps.

It has been explained to me, over and over, that the Steps are written in the specific order that you should take or work them. And what I have found is that the foundation of the Steps is in developing a relationship with my Higher Power first. I now have vast experience that He can do for me what I can’t do for myself. And that includes giving me the feelings of serenity, peace, and purpose that I never got from outside things. Today, I strive to acquire greater knowledge of His will for me and the power to carry that out. And when I do, I find that happiness has always been available to me—in here.