"We relax and take it easy. We don't struggle."

Yesterday during a meeting I heard the promises read for the first time directly from the Big Book. Wow! Here's the meat of the promises: "We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook on life will change. Fear of people and economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves. Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us - sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will materialize if we work for them." I don't recall any type of promise from Catholicism... perhaps you'll get to heaven after you've suffered adequately here and also gone through purgatory... 

The promises are found in the second half of Chapter 6 Into Action. They are described after step nine (making amends) and before the last three "maintenance" steps. There are other lines that also really speak to me deeply and truthfully, like the title of this post. Also: "We feel as though we had been placed in a position of neutrality - safe and protected. We have not even sworn off. Instead,, the problem has been removed. It does not exist for us. We are neither cocky nor are we afraid. That is our experience."

"We relax and take it easy. We don't struggle. We are often surprised how the right answers come after we have tried this for a while. What used to be a hunch or the occasional inspiration gradually becomes a working part of the mind... we find that our thinking will, as time passes, be more and more on the plane of inspiration. We come to rely on it."

Finally... "As we go through the day we PAUSE, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action." This was especially intense given my experience with emotions this week!  

I was playing around with Facebook this morning and kind of inadvertently changed my name. I somehow had the idea that it was difficult... NOT... before I really realized it, it was done.  In the digital world I'm now Laurie McCauley. I've filled out the legal papers and meet with my attorney next week... it should be done pretty quickly on the legal end as well. Yee Haw!

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