Boredom, Disillusionment, and Gossip

Circumstances:  A fact; an event; a particular incident.

"It is not your circumstances that need altering so much as yourself.  After you have changed, conditions will naturally change.  Take each day with no backward look.  Face the day's problems with God and seek God's help and guidance as to what you should do in every situation that may arise.  Never look back.  Never leave until tomorrow the thing that you are guided to do today."

I don't know about this.  My life would go along more smoothly if I could alter things I don't like so that I then liked them.  Magically alter them.  That sounds a lot easier than doing the work to change myself.  Why can't you see what I want and change to accommodate me?  Much easier and a lot more convenient.

I like the emphasis on looking forward.  I don't think the intent here is to ignore the past completely - we need to clean up our messes and learn from our mistakes - but life is an ongoing concern.  I need to handle what needs to be handled.

My stance on seeking God's stance instead of relying on my brilliance is firmly established.  God should be seeking MY advice instead of the other way around.

Gossip:  Idle talk about someone's private or personal matters, especially someone not present.

Disillusionment:  A feeling of disappointment, akin to depression, arising from the realization that something is not what it was expected or believed to be, possibly accompanied by philosophical angst from having one's beliefs challenged.  (Ed. Note: Philosophical Angst would be an excellent name for a prog-rock band from the '70s.)

Boredom:  Mildly annoyed and restless through having nothing to do.

"Fellowship is wonderful, but its wonder lasts just so long.  Then some gossip, disillusionment, and boredom may come in."

I like making the distinction between The Fellowship and The Program.   The former has been critical to me over the years - the meetings and lunches and coffees and phone calls and the meetings before the meeting and after the meeting - but the rubber hits the road when I put my energy into working the Twelve Steps and growing my spiritual life.  I can get along for prescribed periods of time without The Fellowship but I can't get along without The Program.  This is a fact in my life learned through hard and painful experience.  There have been periods where I was very active in The Fellowship while ignoring the Steps and spiritual stuff.  I get this - it's usually easier to show up at a meeting than it is to make an amend or to change some disgusting, harmful behavior.

You know how some rock stars have nicknames like Bono or Prince?  The three guys in my band will be Boredom, Disillusionment, and Gossip.  Or maybe I'll be all three of them.