Let Nothing Disturb You

Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. Everything passes away except God. — Saint Theresa

Learning to detach may be the most demanding and difficult part of this program. Detachment means being filled with closeness and love toward someone, yet knowing we cannot fix or protect that person. It means we can be in emotional contact but don’t have to react to someone else’s issues. We respond from our own center with what is fitting for us. Being detached means we allow others to be in the hands of God because we cannot live their lives for them. Detachment gives us an inner calm, an acceptance of our limits, and the freedom to live our own lives with integrity.

Detachment is a skill in living, and like other skills, we can practice it. Gradually, it becomes a natural response. True detachment takes root and grows within us over a period of time as we deepen our relationship with the Steps and with our Higher Power.

Today, I turn to God as my eternal rock for strength in learning to become detached.

From the book Touchstones: A Book of Daily Meditations for Men - Hazelden Meditations

When you are down, get back up and fight! - Iris Timberlake

Our attitude determines how we handle every experience. If we feel defeated by circumstances–say we’ve lost a job or a friend has abandoned us–we will not be ready for the next opportunity our Higher Power has in store for us. No door is ever closed without another one being opened. However, if we are focused on what’s no longer ours, we’ll miss what can be.

This is not to say we shouldn’t grieve our losses. In order to accept them, we must feel them. Then we need to get back on our feed and go on with this moment, this day, this life. Not to do so is to deny trust in one’s Higher Power. The Third Step promises that we have a caring God in charge. Yesterday’s closed doors didn’t mean our lives were over. Nor will today’s

I will relish the strength I feel to day when I remember that God is opening (and closing) all the right doors for me.

From the book A Woman’s Spirit: More Meditations for Women from the Author of Each Day a New Beginning - Hazelden Meditations

Hazelden Meditation from Touchstones

Sometimes I go about pitying myself, and all the time I am being carried on great winds across the sky. — Ojibway

“Ah, poor me,” we sometimes say, “I have to work so hard!” “I have so much stress! “If only my problem with money would get better, then I could be content!” “I just don’t understand women!” “Why can’t my family have fewer troubles?” This attitude of self-pity is as ancient as humanity. The Ojibway recognized blindness to the spiritual path. Every man has problems and challenges, and life often is not fair. Self-pity becomes a stumbling block when we get so narrowly focused upon our problems. We forget we are a part of a whole throng of fellow pilgrims on this path. It helps to notice others beside ourselves who are seeking courage to live their lives.

Sometimes we reawaken our awareness of our Higher Power by seeing that we are “carried on great winds across the sky.” We have many blessings; we are not alone. Often within problems we discover our greatest blessings.

God, help me find the spiritual path in the choices I make today. Help me turn away from self-pity.

from Touchstones: A Book of Daily Meditations for Men