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Daily Reflections: New State of Consciousness

A NEW STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS
He has been granted a gift which amounts to a new state of consciousness and being.
— TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 107
Many of us in A.A. puzzle over what is a spiritual awakening. I tended to look for a miracle, something dramatic and earth-shattering. But what usually happens is that a sense of well-being, a feeling of peace, transforms us into a new level of awareness. That's what happened to me. My insanity and inner turmoil disappeared and I entered into a new dimension of hope, love and peace. I think the degree to which I continue to experience this new dimension is in direct proportion to the sincerity, depth and devotion with which I practice the Twelve Steps of A.A.
I'm not the wisest man, but I can just share what my experience has been. Before AA, and especially before reaching steps 4 and 5, anxiety was a very real and frequent part of my life. Irrational fears of abandonment, betrayal, and humiliation were present in many, if not quite every, day. I used to try to fill in "gaps" in my understanding or especially parts of the story that were omitted.  A person might tell me they couldn't do what they had committed to doing, with no explanation why.  That would drive me crazy and I'd make wild assumptions about why. And of course, all of my assumptions revolved around ME.
Now, I just accept what is, trust in the general good will of  people, even strangers, and try hard to have no expectations of how others should react to my words or actions.  I am nearly always surprised at how altruistic the people in my life are. I'm nearly always surprised to see that my friends care more than I knew.
My new spirital aliveness is one of gratitude, childlike wonderment, and trying to see the bits of God in others.  Sure, there are still plenty of suffering and sick people who do hurtful things, but I can still see the good in them, and the flaws in myself.

Comments

  1. UnknownDecember 13, 2016 at 7:33 PM

    I was out of town these last few days at some training, and at this training we spent a solid two hours discussing the importance of gratitude. One of the recommendations was to write daily gratitude lists for a while, then switch to weekly if it becomes yo arduous. The key thing though was to write the things we are grateful for down in a book. This is so vitally important because when hard times come, and they will, we have something tangible to reflect to illustrate all of the good that is in our life.

    I must say that for me the new level of consciousness is profound. I heard in a meeting that "coincidences are God's way of keeping his anonymity." I truly believe in this is spot on. There are times in my life where I face a difficulty or challenge, but when I take the time to open my eyes and ears and take in what is going on around me, I find that my higher power is speaking to me in the midst of my difficulty. I must be spiritually fit though for if I am consumed by self and caught up in my events that I am so preoccupied with my worries and struggles that I fail to see my higher power speaking to me and reassuring me.

    Keep up the good work. Don't let too much grass grow before you proceed to the next step.

    ReplyDelete

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