The
picture above is something I made for the CreatingDreams Facebook Page. I
made it because of my strong belief in the truth of it.
You can not enjoy finances without a spiritual life. And true financial growth will never occur without a spiritual presence in your life.
All in all, I do believe that is the whole idea of 12 Step groups. It gets us closer to our Higher Power...
You can not enjoy finances without a spiritual life. And true financial growth will never occur without a spiritual presence in your life.
All in all, I do believe that is the whole idea of 12 Step groups. It gets us closer to our Higher Power...
We
found we could not place money first.That
is so easy to say. Worry more about your spiritual growth
before worrying about money. Yes, easy to see... yet very
difficult to accept for anyone early in sobriety.
I doubt anyone goes into Alcoholics Anonymous on sound financial footing. Alcoholism and drug addiction cause serious financial problems for everyone. Many are ashamed with how out of control their spending became. We needed booze, we needed drugs, we needed them more then food, more then a home, basically more then security.
I doubt anyone goes into Alcoholics Anonymous on sound financial footing. Alcoholism and drug addiction cause serious financial problems for everyone. Many are ashamed with how out of control their spending became. We needed booze, we needed drugs, we needed them more then food, more then a home, basically more then security.
My
first sobriety I was deep in debt and it became my top priority to
fix that mess. Amazingly, I did it in two years. After
this was accomplished you would think that I would have been
stress-free and totally at peace.
Quite the contrary. I became a workaholic and a rageaholic. I paid my bills but my recovery was nothing more then substituting one drug (alcohol) for another (work.) I still had no inner life. I had no peace or serenity. Without that serenity, without that peace, I had no chance to find a Higher Power. Without an inner life, long term sobriety wasn't possible. Looking back at it, I'm amazed I stayed clean and sober for a little over five and a half years.
In 1994, I started my second journey in recovery. This journey was entirely different then the first. The first didn't work, so why try the same thing again? This time I went to counseling, I went to AA and I listened. I believed that everyone was brought to that place and that time to help me on my journey. And what is the journey? To get close and stay close to my Higher Power.
By listening, I learned early on that the people who seemed to be the happiest and the most at peace were the ones who had a spiritual center. I wanted that peace and serenity. So I went to work building my spiritual foundation.
I still worried about my finances but they never became an obsession. Slowly, with the help of my Higher Power, my fiances got back in order and they stayed that away until I began to wander away from my Higher Power.
Three years ago, I left my marriage and inherited a mountain of debt from it. An overwhelming about of debt. Strangely though, it never overwhelmed me. I reconnected with my Higher Power and just have that spiritual centerness back in me worked miracles.
With renewed confidence in my abilities, I worked myself back out of debt. Like I had with a second chance at sobriety, I have been blessed with a second chance with my Higher Power. Something, I will never take for granted again. I have learned and relearned that material well-being is nothing compared to spiritual serenity.
Quite the contrary. I became a workaholic and a rageaholic. I paid my bills but my recovery was nothing more then substituting one drug (alcohol) for another (work.) I still had no inner life. I had no peace or serenity. Without that serenity, without that peace, I had no chance to find a Higher Power. Without an inner life, long term sobriety wasn't possible. Looking back at it, I'm amazed I stayed clean and sober for a little over five and a half years.
In 1994, I started my second journey in recovery. This journey was entirely different then the first. The first didn't work, so why try the same thing again? This time I went to counseling, I went to AA and I listened. I believed that everyone was brought to that place and that time to help me on my journey. And what is the journey? To get close and stay close to my Higher Power.
By listening, I learned early on that the people who seemed to be the happiest and the most at peace were the ones who had a spiritual center. I wanted that peace and serenity. So I went to work building my spiritual foundation.
I still worried about my finances but they never became an obsession. Slowly, with the help of my Higher Power, my fiances got back in order and they stayed that away until I began to wander away from my Higher Power.
Three years ago, I left my marriage and inherited a mountain of debt from it. An overwhelming about of debt. Strangely though, it never overwhelmed me. I reconnected with my Higher Power and just have that spiritual centerness back in me worked miracles.
With renewed confidence in my abilities, I worked myself back out of debt. Like I had with a second chance at sobriety, I have been blessed with a second chance with my Higher Power. Something, I will never take for granted again. I have learned and relearned that material well-being is nothing compared to spiritual serenity.
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