Today's thought from Hazelden: November 11th

It is impossible that anything should be produced if there were nothing existing before.
--Aristotle

Everything comes from something. All the organic compounds in our world come from four elements: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. From these simple ingredients have developed the marvelous chains of self-replicating proteins that fill the planet with jungles, gardens, farms, the swarming life of the sea, and four billion people.

Each of us contains all human possibilities within ourselves. Nothing that we do comes from nowhere; we all have the capacity for great goodness as well as great selfishness and blindness. The choice, at every moment, is ours. What will we use out of our formidable repertoire of responses?

Most of us have a pattern of response that we are comfortable with. Our habitual behavior saves us from the discomfort of always having to make a choice. But in exchange for comfort, we give up a little bit of our spontaneity. Every once in a while, it's good for us to become aware of what our habits are, and what determines our usual behavior.

Today I'll take myself off automatic pilot and navigate the whole course in person.

You are reading from the book:
The Promise of a New Day by Karen Casey and Martha Vanceburg

 

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Most of us LIVE on auto-pilot. Becoming conscious is such a huge part of this journey. We function with a closed mind, going through the motions of life, without actually allowing ourselves to FEEL. Food and other addictions are a great way to keep the mind closed and shut down, precisely so we DON'T have to feel..............we wind up shutting out pain AND joy along the way. When we take ourselves off of auto-pilot, we begin to live as we were intended to live, allowing ourselves to experience ALL that life has to offer, the pain, the joy, and the emotions, good or bad.

For today, I'll take myself off automatic pilot & navigate my life in person.