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October 7 – My Best Teacher · The Daily Ripples Podcast

• 0:03
  Good morning, this is Steffani with the Daily Ripples.
• 0:07
  And I have to give a shout out and a thank you to Pastor Mike for allowing me to be a part of this podcast the last few days.
• 0:15
  If you've been following along.
• 0:18
  I invited my daughter to go on this journey with me, and it has been a real experience and has given me an opportunity to do living amends and have real conversations with my child.
• 0:30
  Nothing gives me more joy than to share my experience, strength, and hope with others, especially my own family.
• 0:38
  And so for that, thank you, Mike.
• 0:42
  I truly appreciate you.
• 0:44
  October 7th, my best teacher, the stone.
• 0:49
  My disturbance usually says more about me than about the person who caused it.
• 0:55
  Ripple one practical.
• 0:58
  Today, I will treat every disturbance as information.
• 1:01
  When someone upsets me, I will pause and look in my own reaction before I judge theirs.
• 1:07
  I will remember that whatever is happening around me, I still choose what happens within me.
• 1:13
  Ripple 2 spiritual.
• 1:15
  As I keep watch over my own heart, the Holy Spirit turns irritation into instruction.
• 1:21
  I begin to see that the people who upset me most often reveal exactly where the Father is still working on me.
• 1:29
  Over time, judgment gives way to gratitude, and even hardened counters become part of Christ's low work of making me new.
• 1:39
  Wow.
• 1:40
  Um, When I 1st read this, it really hit me between the eyes, um, this is something that, In my past life, my reaction was everything, there was no pause button.
• 1:55
  And I can tell you today that my pause button is there, but it's not near as, as strong as I would like for it to be.
• 2:03
  Um, it is super difficult at times when I am use the word triggered, or I, um, and put in a situation where I feel, um, irritation, anger, or sadness. Um, but I've come to realize that the most important spiritual growth doesn't happen when I'm sitting in silence or on a yoga mat.
• 2:30
  It happens in the midst of conflict when I'm frustrated and I'm angry or scared. And I'm doing the same old thing.
• 2:37
  And then the pause button comes into play and I suddenly realize that I have a choice that I can do this differently.
• 2:44
  I don't have to react.
• 2:47
  Um, this program of action, these 12 steps have given me the opportunity to work through my feelings.
• 2:56
  Um, so it's not something that has been an easy journey.
• 3:01
  It's required a lot of trial and error.
• 3:05
  But I don't have to do things the same way that I used to do.
• 3:08
  Um, you know, in our big book.
• 3:12
  A lot of the times we are told to read 86, 87, and 88, those pages in particular, because they're prescriptions for living throughout the day.
• 3:21
  What you do when you wake up.
• 3:23
  And what you do when you go to bed.
• 3:25
  And what you do in the middle of the day.
• 3:28
  And so page 87, it says, as we go through the day, we pause when agitated or doubtful.
• 3:34
  We ask for the right thought or action.
• 3:38
  And we constantly remind ourselves that we are no longer running the show, humbling saying to ourselves many times a day, thy will be done.
• 3:48
  We are then in much less danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self pity, or foolish decisions.
• 3:56
  I do know in my life, you know, rash decisions and quick judgments, um, have been predominantly part of my life.
• 4:08
  Um, I've been called tenacious, um, a go-getter at times that has backfired in my life.
• 4:14
  Um, This is an important principle of doing step work is finding this balance of pausing when our feelings come to the forefront, you know, how do we deal with them?
• 4:29
  What do we do?
• 4:30
  Um, you know, the old way of thinking, uh, is that it's all about me, you know, and this person has done this to me or, um, this situation happened because I must have ticked off God.
• 4:45
  And, um, really in life, it's really not about me.
• 4:48
  The world keeps spinning and life keeps going on, and I'm just a cog in the wheel of life.
• 4:55
  And if I can pause a minute, realize that, The conversations with others aren't truly about me.
• 5:04
  Um, and if I can look at another perspective, If I can ask for God's help, then it gives me an opportunity to respond instead of reacting with that 1st feeling or thought that comes to my mind.
• 5:19
  Um, there's a great passage in the Bible in Matthew 7, 3 through 5.
• 5:25
  It says, And why do you look at the spec in your brother's eye, but not consider the plank in your own eye?
• 5:33
  Or how can you say to your brother, let me remove that speck out of your eye.
• 5:38
  And look.
• 5:40
  There's a plank in your own eye.
• 5:43
  Hypocrite, 1st remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother's eye.
• 5:51
  And for me, that just says, you know, uh, sometimes when I get irritated, uh, I get my feelings hurt, like it says, in the practical ripple, it is because I see the very things in my life that I need to work on.
• 6:10
  There are many times in my life that I'm quick to make a judgment of others based off of a feeling or a thought that I have.
• 6:18
  So, I'm super critical and can find fault or the spec, if you will, and other people.
• 6:27
  And I really feel like it's a blind spot for me, and God uses the eye metaphor.
• 6:35
  Because sometimes you just can't see your own concerns, your own issues, your own character defects or faults.
• 6:43
  That's why doing a 10 step inventory or a 4th step, fearless moral inventory, is super critical in the 12 step program.
• 6:56
  Um, sitting down and writing out, um, your, your resentments and your code of conduct, and then finding the area where your part is and everything.
• 7:14
  It's a huge eye opener.
• 7:16
  When I I can see,
• 7:21
  Where I've gotten myself to, how I end up in the same situation I always end up in.
• 7:27
  When I put that down on paper and have a conversation with another human being about it.
• 7:33
  It's a daunting task.
• 7:35
  Um, like we've talked about in previous days, But it allows me to see the truth for what it is, and it allows me to recognize it going forward.
• 7:49
  So that way, when situations crop back up because they always will.
• 7:55
  I can pause, I can ask for God's help.
• 7:58
  I can take a break, and I cannot have the same reaction.
• 8:03
  I typically would, because I have done an inventory.
• 8:07
  I see it for what it is.
• 8:09
  I can call it out as truth, and I can choose a different path.
• 8:13
  And what a beautiful thing that is.
• 8:16
  You know, this program of action is simple, but it's not easy.
• 8:21
  And I encourage anyone that's on this path or is interested in pursuing a spiritual program of action to put fear aside.
• 8:32
  And get in touch with somebody who can walk you through this program.
• 8:38
  The 12 sets of Alcoholics Anonymous in any other recovery program, they follow the principles in this big, big book.
• 8:48
  And I love that, um, this podcast marries the 2 of these together because they are such a blended thing.
• 8:57
  We are all broken people and we all have things that we can work on.
• 9:01
  Um, things in our life that We haven't ever considered or thought about is maybe something that Is a character defect.
• 9:11
  Or in in biblical terms is a sin.
• 9:14
  And um, I thank God every day that I'm an alcoholic.
• 9:20
  Because he has given me a journey to be able to share my experience, strength, and hope with others in order that they also may find God.
• 9:28
  Um, what a beautiful thing.
• 9:31
  The prayer for today, Father God, help me look within before I judge.
• 9:37
  Through your Holy Spirit, teach me what disturbances are trying to show me, and give me gratitude even for the people who test my patience.
• 9:45
  Shape me through the example of your son.
• 9:48
  Amen.