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Attitude is Everything

I heard that trying to "get spiritual" was like standing in water up to my neck trying to get wet. I can't become spiritual because I already am. I just don't realize it much of the time as I get so caught up in the things of the world. I feel closer to my higher power when I can escape from the "worldly clamors" that seem to demand constant attention.

It helps me to imagine that I am watching a movie. I sit in the theater looking up at the screen. The movie seems to be about me because I see glimpses of myself and people I know. I spend a lot of time trying to figure out the plot and if the the other people in the movie are "good" or "bad." I wonder how it will turn out. I'm become convinced that this movie is all about me and my life.

What I am learning is that the movie is not about me and my life. I am not the movie. I am the light coming out of the projector. The light is real. The movie is not real. The movie is not real because the light from the projector passes through the filters of my beliefs, attitudes, and programming before it reaches the screen. Thus as my attitude changes so does the movie I see.

My "whole attitude and outlook" has changed since I begin my spiritual journey in Alcoholics Anonymous. When I look up at the movie screen today I see I much happier movie than I did when I was back sitting in my dirty apartment in my "command chair" with my bottle of wine, bag of pot and my remote control watching reruns on Gilligan's island.