Corking the Bottle

(Reprinted from my blog post July 13, 2018) I'm not happy all the time. No one is. When I get a flat tire, am allegedly nagged by my wife, stub my toe, get bitten by my cat, or watch the Pirates lose, I feel unhappy. Yet I feel joy pretty much all the time, even while those bad things are happening. I am about 2/3 finished reading  Choose Joy Because Happiness Isn't Enough , by Kay Warren. ( http://kaywarren.com/choosejoy/ ) She doles out an overdose of scripture, in my opinion, and claims the Bible to be the unquestionable 100% word of God. That's fine for her, but I have my own set of beliefs. And you have your own, too. Nevertheless, she gets it right, in my view, much of the time throughout her book. She defines joy as "the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be all right, and the determined choice to praise God in all things." Happiness, she claims, is a temp...

[First published August 8, 2018] "Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be all right, and the determined choice to praise God in all things."  -- Kay Warren,  Choose Joy ( http://kaywarren.com/choosejoy/ ) How comforting! To know that God is in control of my life, to be confident everything will be all right, to choose to keep in touch with God. You know, that sounds better than getting drunk and passing out in the living room. Been there, done that. But how do I move beyond the "old me?" Even if we are convinced change is necessary, so is patience. You can't demand patience to arrive right away. Change takes time, but is well worth the wait. The Big Book comes with appendices that I  overlooked for a long time. The second, called "Spiritual Awareness," cautions, " ...Our first printing gave many readers the impression that these pe...

[First published August 8, 2018] "Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be all right, and the determined choice to praise God in all things."  -- Kay Warren,   Choose Joy  ( http://kaywarren.com/choosejoy/ ) How comforting! To know that God is in control of my life, to be confident everything will be all right, to choose to keep in touch with God. You know, that sounds better than getting drunk and passing out in the living room. Been there, done that. But how do I move beyond the "old me?" Even if we are convinced change is necessary, so is patience. You can't demand patience to arrive right away. Change takes time, but is well worth the wait. The Big Book comes with appendices that I  overlooked for a long time. The second, called "Spiritual Awareness," cautions, " ...Our first printing gave many readers the impression that these pe...

[First published July 13, 2018] I'm not happy all the time. No one is. When I get a flat tire, am allegedly nagged by my wife, stub my toe, get bitten by my cat, or watch the Steelers lose, I feel unhappy. Yet I feel joy pretty much all the time, even while those bad things are happening. I am about 2/3 finished reading  Choose Joy Because Happiness Isn't Enough , by Kay Warren. ( http://kaywarren.com/choosejoy/ ) She doles out an overdose of scripture, in my opinion, and claims the Bible to be the unquestionable 100% word of God. That's fine for her, but I have my own set of beliefs. And you have your own, too. Nevertheless, she gets it right, in my view, much of the time throughout her book. She defines joy as "the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be all right, and the determined choice to praise God in all things." Happiness, she claims, is a temporary state...

Sobriety for me has become more than not drinking. It means becoming a better person and being a quiet supporter of others. I really am a better person than I ever have been before; all fact, no brag, as my high school friends used to say. I am "willing to turn the past to good account . We grow by our willingness to face and rectify errors and convert them into assets." (The Big Book, page 124.) Working the 12 steps helped me get in better touch with myself. That meant recognizing my character defects and, with God's help, understanding myself and, thus, understanding others. This has brought me a joyous life instead of mere happiness, which comes then fades. The Big Book continues, "Showing others who suffer how we were given help is the very thing which makes life seem so worth while to us now. Cling to the thought that, in God's hands, the dark past is the greatest possession you have -- the key to life and happiness ('joy')...."

I don't hear voices in my head. Oh yea, there's the one that says, "Come on! You can drink. You will get away with it. One drink never hurt anyone." That voice has been silenced. Now I hear God. As I said, I don't hear voices in my head. But sometimes, there's some kind of something I can't ignore. At A.A. today, I spoke of the silenced voice. It is replaced with Joy. Joy comes only with God, from God, and through God. I thought I was happy before. I was. Sometimes. But happiness is a mood and, by definition, moods change. Happy comes but goes. Joy, however, comes from having a true relationship with God. Joy is forever. I can't describe the difference between happy and joyous. It's just something I feel. Even when bad things happen, my Joy remains intact because God inside me tells me everything will be all right. That is real, God-given Joy. Listen for it, My favorite song ever, Stairway to Heaven , explains: "And if you listen very ...

"Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be all right, and the determined choice to praise God in all things."  -- Kay Warren, Choose Joy ( http://kaywarren.com/choosejoy/ ) How comforting! To know that God is in control of my life, to be confident everything will be all right, to choose to keep in touch with God. You know, that sounds better than getting drunk and passing out in the living room. Been there, done that. But how do I move beyond the "old me?" Even if we are convinced change is necessary, so is patience. You can't demand patience to arrive right away. Change takes time, but is well worth the wait. The Big Book comes with appendices that I  overlooked for a long time. The second, called "Spiritual Awareness," cautions, " ...Our first printing gave many readers the impression that these personality changes, or religious experien...

I'm not happy all the time. No one is. When I get a flat tire, am allegedly nagged by my wife, stub my toe, get bitten by my cat, or watch the Pirates lose, I feel unhappy. Yet I feel joy pretty much all the time, even while those bad things are happening. I am about 2/3 finished reading Choose Joy Because Happiness Isn't Enough , by Kay Warren. ( http://kaywarren.com/choosejoy/ ) She doles out an overdose of scripture, in my opinion, and claims the Bible to be the unquestionable 100% word of God. That's fine for her, but I have my own set of beliefs. And you have your own, too. Nevertheless, she gets it right, in my view, much of the time throughout her book. She defines joy as "the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be all right, and the determined choice to praise God in all things." Happiness, she claims, is a temporary state, while joy lasts for all time becau...