Tuesday February 8, 2011

When I look back on all these
worries I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed
that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which never
happened.
  —Winston Churchill

A rolled-up ball of yarn does not take up much space - it sits, ready to
be used when needed. It gets unrolled a little bit at a time - just as
much as is needed and no more. But a ball of yarn that gets unraveled
can be strewn across an entire room. It becomes a jumbled mass,
entangled and confusing.

When we live our lives a day at a time, we are
like that rolled-up ball of yarn. Our thoughts, feelings, and skills are
ready to be used as they are needed. But when we worry, our spirit
becomes a jumbled mass of yarn. We get ahead of and behind ourselves -
our thoughts are scattered and often our feelings are confused. Worry
adds clutter and confusion to life.

What is most helpful is to put the worry away--to
roll up the ball of yarn and bring ourselves into the present moment.
In this way, we stand ready for each new stitch--and we will never be
given more than we are able to handle.

Do I have worries that are cluttering my life today?

Small Decisions

We live this program one day at a time, one meal at a time. Throughout
each day, we make many small decisions one at a time. We may often be
tempted to procrastinate for some unspecified amount of time (to browse on the Internet or a social network),  to not bookend our tasks or just start working on something or starting a diversionary task or mental activity rather than setting a timer and planning it exactly, or we may be tempted to include a problem activity in
our daily plan -- even when it has caused us to procratinate before.

Each time we decide not to start the diversionary activity or problem procrastinating activity, each time we work with a timer or bookend our tasks, each time we decide to avoid the problem activity that can lead to procrastination, we become
stronger. The next wise decision becomes easier to make.

One wrong decision does not have to ruin an entire day. None of us is
perfect. We can learn to accept the fact of a mistake and move on to the
next decision, which needs to be made. We can let our Higher Power
total up our score and be the judge of how well we work the program. Our
job is to work it, and at every moment we are free to decide wisely.

I pray for wisdom to make the right decisions.