Good morning OH'ers.. IT'S FRIDAY! !

Today I am grateful..

For family..

For unconditional love..

For circles..

For knowing I am a sick person trying to get well not a bad person trying to get good..

For unity..

SONG OF THE WEEK

GANGSTA'S PARADISE BY COOLIO

As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I take a look at my life
And realize there's nothing left.
'Cause I've been blasting and laughing so long
That even my momma thinks that my mind has gone.
But I ain't never crossed a man that didn't deserve it.
Me be treated like a punk, you know that's unheard of.
You betta watch how ya talking
And where ya walking
Or you and your homies might be lined in chalk.
I really hate to trip but I gotta loc,
As they croak, I see myself in the pistol smoke.
Fool, I'm the kinda g that little homie's wanna be like,
On my knees in the night
Saying prayers in the street light.

[Chorus]
We've been spending most our lives
Living in a gangsta's paradise.
We've been spending most our lives
Living in a gangsta's paradise.
We keep spending most our lives
Living in a gangsta's paradise.
We keep spending most our lives
Living in a gangsta's paradise.

Look at the situation, they got me facing,
I can't live a normal life, I was raised by the street.
So I gotta be down with the 'hood team,
Too much television watching, got me chasing dreams.
I'm an educated fool with money on my mind
Got my ten in my hand and a gleam in my eye.
I'm a locked out gangsta, set tripping banger
And my homies are down so don't arouse my anger.
Fool, death ain't nothing but a heart beat away,
I'm living life do or die, what can I say?
I'm twenty-three now, will I ever live to see twenty-four,
The way things is going I don't know.

Tell me why are we
So blind to see.
That the ones we hurt
Are you and me?
We've been spending most our lives
Living in a gangsta's paradise.
We've been spending most our lives
Living in a gangsta's paradise.
We keep spending most our lives
Living in a gangsta's paradise.
We keep spending most our lives
Living in a gangsta's paradise.

Power in the money, money in the power,
Minute after minute, hour after hour,
Everybody's running, but half of them ain't looking
It's going on in the kitchen
But I don't know what's cooking.
They say I gotta learn
But nobody's here to teach me.
If they can't understand it, how can they reach me?
I guess they can't,
I guess they won't,
I guess they front,
That's why I know my life is out of luck, foo!

We've been spending most our lives
Living in a gangsta's paradise.
We've been spending most our lives
Living in a gangsta's paradise.
We keep spending most our lives
Living in a gangsta's paradise.
We keep spending most our lives
Living in a gangsta's paradise.
Tell me why are we
So blind to see.
That the ones we hurt
Are you and me?
Tell me why are we
So blind to see.
That the ones we hurt
Are you and me?

MOVIE QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"IT'S AWFULLY COLD OUT HERE WHEN YOU ARE ALL ALONE"  Victor Sweet in Four Brothers.

03/11 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY
Since I came to The Program, I've begun to recognize my previous inability to form a true partnership with another person.  It seems that my egomania created two disastrous pitfalls.  Either I insisted upon dominating the people I knew, or I depended on them far too much.  My friends in The Program have taught me that my dependence meant demand -- a demand for the possession and control of the people and the conditions surrounding me.  DO I STILL TRY TO FIND EMOTIONAL SECURITY EITHER BY DOMINATING OR BEING DEPENDENT ON OTHERS?

TODAY I PRAY
May I turn first to God to satisfy my love-hunger, knowing that all He asks from me is my faith in Him.  May I no longer cast emotional nets over those I love, either by dominating them or being excessively dependent upon them -- which is just another form of domination.  May I give others the room they need to be themselves.  May God show me the way to mature human relationships.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
To have faith in His love.

03/10 REFLECTIONS FOR THE DAY
In a letter to a friend, AA's co-founder Bill W. once wrote, "Nothing can be more demoralizing than a clinging and abject dependence upon another human being.  This often amounts to the demand for a degree of protection and love that no one could possibly satisfy.  So our hoped-for protectors finally flee, and once more we are left alone -- either to grow up or to disintegrate."  We discover, in The Program, that the best possible source of emotional stability is our Higher Power.  We find that dependence upon His perfect justice, forgiveness and love is healthy, and that it works where nothing else will.  DO I DEPEND ON MY HIGHER POWER?

TODAY I PRAY
May I realize that I am a dependent person.  I have depended upon chemicals to alter my moods and attitudes.  I have also developed parasitic attachments for others.  May I stop making unrealistic emotional demands on others, which only serve to choke off mature human relationships and to leave me bewildered and let down.  Only God can provide the kind of whole-hearted love which I, as a dependent person, seem to need.  May I depend first upon God.

TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
God offers perfect love.

Hey all - I had WLS in 2007 and have dealt with addiction transference issues which has led me to AA.  I have created a group on this site that may be of interest to you all.  Take a look and share your experiences.  We can all learn from one another!

http://www.intherooms.com/group/view?gid=1182

Peace to all!
Shelley J
Clinton, MS

Today I am grateful for:

suboxone, and how it is helping me with my pain.

good friends, who exhort and admonish me when I need it.

family, both my kids and my sibs and mom

AA, and my sponsor

my IOP group.

my counselor and therapist.

my psych meds

the rehab I was in and how I stayed in spite of myself.

Trish