Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bear bad fruit and man is his own gardener. --John Leonard
Evil thoughts and destructive attitudes are not forced on us by fate. They are choices we make as we act and react to events in our lives.
Before the Program, when negative things happened, our first reaction was to choose to react negatively: "Life's not fair." "Why did that have to happen to me?" "I hate them for doing that." "I'm going to get even if it's the last thing I do." It is easy to react positively when good things happen. But we have often chosen to react negatively to even good events.
Good can be found in even the worst situations if we look for it. Bankruptcy can provide a fresh start. Defeat can allow rebuilding in a new and better way. Evil teaches us what is good. Death brings new life. Admitting our powerlessness finally gave us the freedom to make choices.
By choosing good thoughts and attitudes, the garden of my soul will thrive. By choosing bad ones, it will shrivel and die.
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'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
Pappy, this is a very powerful message that took me years to learn. I wish I could get back all those years in the earlier stages of my life that I squandered by wallowing in self pity and just plain being negative about everything. It took getting through Step Nine to finally see that I'd actually been given blessings all my life, even though I didn't know it then.
