Blog for April 8th, 2024
Working on it!
First of all, I want to say happy anniversary to my daughter and son in law. Thirty-one years! Amazing, and three fantastic kids. What a blessing they are to us all. Amen. But that doesn’t mean everything is perfectly perfect, but what isn’t perfect, they are working on it.
It was a year ago next month that I was in Mississippi and went to a couple of meetings there where I would hear them chant “working on it” after certain readings. Like, “keep coming to our meetings regularly” and other readings. But especially during chip taking time. If they ask does anyone here have 30 days, some might say, “working on it”, and so on with 60-90 and then years most of them chant together, “working on it”.
Have you ever had to call a health provided, a bank, a utility company to ask about why you are being overcharged, ignored or pushed aside? Often, I have to call for my husband’s medication and ask why it wasn’t sent to pharmacy, they say “we’re working on it”. Oh, uh huh, whatever.
On my daily quest to live and grow as God would want me to, I am constantly “working on it”. Working on my relationship with God, working on my marriage, my relationships with kids, family, friends, whoever God puts in my life.
I work on my writing, my house and organizing a lifetime of crap. I work on my health, with exercise and diet. I work on my husband’s health too, as much as possible as he’ll let me. I work on my mindset, my mouth, my generosity, my caring, my not caring, my love. Giving to others and helping them. I’m “working on it”.
My adorable husband is “working on it” too, his old 1929 Model A Ford. And boy does it need a lot of work, but he enjoys it and it gives him pleasure, and I love that for him. Some people work on their God given talents, like painting, singing, dancing, building, preaching, counseling, writing and so on.
Mostly, I work on my character, my attitudes and life through working my steps and growing in my faith and relationship with my Higher Power. Yes, I read the bible, daily and more importantly I pray to be able to apply what I learn, “I’m working on it”, because I believe God is working on me. Helping me to grow.
As I just stated, I do work on all these aspects of my life through working the steps, what a blessing the twelve steps have been for me. For instance, besides the obvious fact that they help me/you/anybody to stay clean, they are also designed to help us grow in our recovery. As far as the steps are concerned, I have learned how to accept responsibility for my actions: past, present and future. I’m still “working on it”.
Yet, I remember hearing a main speaker at a So Cal convention in early 80’s, named Karen, say that if you are working on your step 6 & 7 to stay the hell away from her. LOL, I get it, she said that because when “we” try to deal with our own defects, we tend to draw extra attention to them and they become glaring defects in our personalities. The trick is to actually work the step by allow your HP to remove these defects of character. This is a case of when “working on it” without God’s help is disastrous.
I believe it is imperative that we always ask for our HP’s help when we are “working on it”, no matter if it’s, getting another day clean so we can pick up the next milestone chip or if it’s trying to lose weight, get that book written, get the house organized or learning to cope with illness or life on life’s terms.
I also believe that “working on it” helps us to keep a focus and live a life worth living, with goals, dreams and aspirations. Maybe we’ll reach those goals and maybe we won’t, but as long as we’re “working on it” we are living life, and that.. is awesome!
Question of the Week: Are you “Working on it?”
Added Note: After I wrote this, I immediately put on a Charles Stanley sermon, it was all about “God working it out with us”! wow! I love it, he said the bible says whatever God’s will is for us, He will work it out for us”. amen.
