Good Orderly Direction

GOOD ORDERLY DIRECTION It is when we try to make our will conform with God’s that we begin to use it rightly. To all of us, this was a most wonderful revelation. Our whole trouble had been the misuse of willpower. We had tried to bombard our problems with it instead of attempting to bring it into agreement with God’s intention for us. To make this increasingly possible is the purpose of A.A.’s Twelve Steps, and Step Three opens the door. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 40 All I have to do is look back at my past to see where my self-will has led me. I just don’t know what’s best for me and I believe my Higher Power does. G.O.D., which I define as “Good Orderly Direction,” has never let me down, but I have let myself down quite often. Using my self-will in a situation usually has the same result as forcing the wrong piece into a jigsaw puzzle—exhaustion and frustration. Step Three opens the door to the rest of the program. When I ask God for guidance I know that whatever happens is the best possible situation, things are exactly as they are supposed to be, even if they aren’t what I want or expect. God does do for me what I cannot do for myself, if I let Him. From the book Daily Reflections. Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

Daily Writing Prompt for Friday, March 7th

I learned today that at least one person, a teacher’s assistant, thinks I do a good job in working with the younger elementary grades. I substituted today in a first grade class and had a good experience. I’ve worked with this particular group of children before and that certainly helps. I normally just like to work with the older elementary students, so it was good to hear someone who would know say that I was doing a good job. – David Lee

Daily writing prompt
What is the last thing you learned?
View all responses

The First Couple of Days: A Hiatus from Social Media

I’m taking the season of Lent to take a break from all social media. The first two days have been relatively easy, but I’ve caught myself going through some of the same motions as before….

Wednesday, March 5th was my first day away from social media. It also happened to be the only day this work week I didn’t have a substitute teaching assignment. To make things even more interesting, we had rain most all of the first hours of daylight and I had to find things to do to stay away from my tendency to look on social media.

In the morning hours, I started a new routine with several devotional books. One of the books, Streams in the Desert, is an old favorite. In addition to reading entries each day, I make notes in my journal. Another book is one that allows me to see daily readings on letting go of attachments. I also made notes from this book. I also continued playing four online games using the New York Times website, although I wasn’t able to post my daily results to my Facebook page as I would normally do. I have started posting the results here on my WordPress page each day.

At several points during that first day, I caught myself looking on my phone and came to the quick realization that there wasn’t much there for me to look at. Facebook, SnapChat, Instagram, and TicToc apps had been uninstalled from my phone and FB Messenger as well. I didn’t find myself looking at my phone as much on day two because I had a fourth grade substitute teaching assignment and had to direct most of my attention to that task. I do usually post at least one picture with each substitute assignment and I had to remind myself I wouldn’t be doing that.

The fact I’ve taken this same hiatus from social media for several years now makes the whole process a whole lot easier. I do miss catching up on the comings and goings around town and seeing what others are up to, but that’s one of the likable assets of social media that I know I’ll have to do without.

Day three is nearly half done and I haven’t been tempted as many times today. And as I have found in previous sabbaticals away from social media, I know it gets easier in the days and weeks to come.

Such is the nature of the beast…

David Lee