Month: February 2021

Question For The Day

Today’s question is…

What is the biggest difference (besides your age of course), from who you were 10 years ago today, compared to now?

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson

The Twelfth Step The Twelfth Step The Twelfth Step The Twelfth Step The Twelfth Step The Twelfth Step The Twelfth Step The Twelfth Step The Twelfth Step The Twelfth Step The Twelfth Step The Twelfth Step The Twelfth Step The Twelfth Step The Twelfth Step The Twelfth Step The Twelfth Step The Twelfth Step The Twelfth Step The Twelfth Step

Are You The Same Type Of Person You Were 10 Years Ago?

Would you say you’re mostly the same type of person you were 10 years ago or would you say you’ve changed dramatically since then?

I’ve heard quite often so many say that people really don’t change much as they age, that at their core, they’ll always remain the same type of person, that essentially a person isn’t able to ever change their stripes. While there are some personality traits I’ll probably have for the rest of my life that have been a part of me since I was a little kid, who I am today is a far better person than the person I was 10 years ago.

10 years ago, at this very moment in time, I was a very unhealthy man due to addiction still ruling my life. Back then there was a guy named Andy in my life who I had become completely consumed with, or far better said in my addiction recovery terms, romantically obsessed with. I idolized this guy so much that I literally sat around at my home constantly waiting for him to call, where most often he didn’t. The irony in that connection was that he wasn’t even gay or bi. Rather, he used me knowing he could, knowing my feelings for him, and got a lot out of me financially and emotionally, yet never offered me hardly anything in return except stress and anguish. I was truly living in insanity then, all of which led me straight into the doors of a mental institution about four months later. And even after a five-day stint in the nut ward, I’d return to that insanity for almost an entire year before I finally woke up and began a shift to a much higher vibration in my life that I’m still working on cultivating to this very day. That shift came solely due to my relationship with God, as back then, I was still focusing more on what God needed to do for me, rather than even caring about what I could do for God. That’s because at my very core, selfishness and self-centeredness continued to consume me, where Him meeting my needs, wants, and desires was the only thing that mattered to me. The fact is, God knew I was a manipulative, hidden agenda-based, dishonest, and self-serving type of individual on most days and yet I still fought against Him changing it.

So, how did my stripes change then? Why is it today I care more about the needs, wants, and desires of others than my own and go out of my way to help another without any hidden agenda? And, how come I don’t get entangled anymore in romantic obsessions and remain dedicated to a life of 12 Step recovery?

Well, I can definitely say it didn’t arise out of my own thinking or was due to any promises or resolutions I made with myself. All of that got me nowhere actually. Ironically, the shift was born out of the very thing I was using addiction to avoid feeling, that being my chronic pain. It was indeed the very catalyst that eventually led me onto my knees, begging God to transform me into a better person. While I still bear the weight of a lot of chronic pain even to this day, it continues to have one positive effect upon my life. I seek God greater now because of it and ask Him every day to guide me in all my thoughts, words, and actions. It truly did take something Greater to shift me into the person I am today. And while I don’t believe I need to remain in pain to remain the better person I continue to become, I am thankful I’m not who I was 10 years ago am living proof that a person can truly change their stripes.

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson

Silly Joke Friday

Silly Joke #1

This blonde decides one day that she is sick and tired of all these blonde jokes and how all blondes are perceived as stupid, so she decides to show her husband that blondes really are smart. While her husband is off at work, she decides that she is going to paint a couple of rooms in the house. The next day, right after her husband leaves for work, she gets down to the task at hand. Her husband arrives home at 5:30 and smells the distinctive smell of paint. He walks into the living room and finds his wife lying on the floor in a pool of sweat. He notices that she is wearing a ski jacket and a fur coat at the same time. He goes over and asks her if she is OK. She replies yes. He asks what she is doing. She replies that she wanted to prove to him that not all blonde women are dumb by painting the house. He then asks her why she has a ski jacket over her fur coat. She replies that she was reading the directions on the paint can and they said, “For best results, put on two coats.”

Silly Joke #2

A police officer was investigating an accident on a two-lane, narrow road in which the drivers had hit virtually head-on. One driver, an extremely elderly woman, kept repeating, “He wouldn’t let me have my half of the road!” After gathering as much information as possible, he approached the other driver, who was examining his own damage. The police officer asked, “The elderly lady over there says you wouldn’t let her have her half of the road. Is that true?” In exasperation, the man turns from his smashed car and says, “Officer, I would have been HAPPY to give her half of the road — if she had just let me know WHICH half she wanted!!!!”

Silly Joke #3

A teacher asks her class if anyone can use the word ‘fascinate’ in a sentence. Brian raises his hand and says, “The sky is fascinate.” The teacher says, “No Brian, the proper use there is the word, ‘fascinating.’” Jennifer raises her hand and says, “When I saw the tigers at the zoo I was fascinate.” The teacher says, “No Jennifer, the proper use there is the word, fascinated.’” So then Little Johnny raises his hand and says, “My mom bought a new blouse with 12 pearl buttons, but her chest’s so big she could only fasten eight!”

Bonus Silly Joke (For Adults Only)

A first-grade teacher was having trouble with one of her students. The teacher asked, “Little Johnny what is your problem?” Little Johnny answered, “I’m too smart for the first-grade. My sister is in the third-grade and I’m smarter than she is! I think I should be in the third-grade too!” The teacher had had enough. She took Little Johnny to the principal’s office. While Little Johnny waited in the outer office, the teacher explained to the principal what the situation was. The principal told the teacher she would give the boy a test and if he failed to answer any of her questions he was to go back to the first-grade and behave. The teacher agreed. Little Johnny was brought in and the conditions were explained to him and he agreed to take the test. 

Principal: “What is 3 x 3?” 
Little Johnny: “9!”. 

Principal: “What is 6 x 6?” 
Little Johnny: “36!”. 

And so it went with every question the principal knew a third-grade should know. Little Johnny didn’t get a single one wrong. So, the principal looks at the teacher and tells her, “I think Little Johnny can go to the third-grade.” The teacher says to the principal, “May I ask him some questions as well before we make the official decision?” The principal agreed.

The teacher then asks, “What does a cow have four of that I have only two of?”
Little Johnny, after a moment, “Legs!”
“CORRECT!” said the teacher.

Teacher: “What is in your pants that you have but I do not have?”
The principal felt a little shocked why she would ask such a question!
Little Johnny replied, “Pockets!”
“CORRECT!” said the teacher.

Teacher: “What does a dog do that a man steps into?”
Little Johnny: “Pants!”
“CORRECT!” said the teacher.

Teacher: What’s starts with a C and ends with a T, is hairy, oval, delicious and contains a thin whitish liquid?
The Principal starts to object to the question, but Johnny quickly answered.
Little Johnny: “Coconut!”
“CORRECT!” said the teacher.
The principal was looking very stunned now.

Teacher: What goes in hard and pink then comes out soft and sticky?
The Principal’s mouth suddenly drops open.
Little Johnny: “Bubblegum!”
“CORRECT!” said the teacher.

At this point, the Principal was looking noticeably upset.

Teacher: What does a man do standing up, a woman do sitting down and a dog do sometimes on three legs?
Little Johnny: “Shake hands!”
“CORRECT!” said the teacher.

Teacher: Now I will ask some “Who am I” sort of questions, okay?” Little Johnny nodded his head.

Teacher: You stick your poles inside me. You tie me down to get me up. I get wet before you do.
The Principal looks visibly shaken now.
Little Johnny: “A Tent!”
“CORRECT!” said the teacher.

Teacher: A finger goes in me. You fiddle with me when you’re bored. The best man always has me first.
The Principal closed her eyes and placed her hands over her face.
Little Johnny: “A Wedding Ring!”
“CORRECT!” said the teacher.

Teacher: I come in many sizes. When I’m not well, I drip. When you blow me, you feel good.
Little Johnny: “A Nose!”
“CORRECT!” said the teacher.

Teacher: I have a stiff shaft. My tip penetrates. I come with a quiver.
Little Johnny: “An Arrow!”
“CORRECT!” said the teacher.

The Principal at this point was really hoping this nightmare of questions would end.

Teacher: What word starts with an ‘F’ and ends in ‘K’ and brings about a lot of excitement with all the noise it causes?
Little Johnny: “A Firetruck!”
“CORRECT!” said the teacher. “Great job Johnny! That’s all I have to ask. I guess you really should be in the 3rd grade!”

The principal then breathed a huge sigh of relief that the questions were finally over. She quickly ushered Little Johnny to the outer office and then closed her door. Talking to the teacher, “I think it’s best we put Little Johnny in the fifth-grade actually, as I couldn’t even answer the last ten questions correctly. But, off the record, it’s pretty apparent by the answers I had to all the ones I got wrong that I’m either a sex addict, have a really dirty mind, not being fulfilled enough by my partner, or all of the above!”

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson