Author: Andrew Arthur Dawson

A teacher of meditation, a motivational speaker, a reader of numerology, and a writer by trade, Andrew Arthur Dawson is a spiritual man devoted to serving his Higher Power and bringing a lot more light and love into this world. This blog, www.thetwelfthstep.com is just one of those ways...

I Wish I Was Barry Allen, AKA The Flash

If you had to live in a television show as the lead character for the rest of your life, which one would it be? As you can see by today’s title, I wish I was Barry Allen, aka The Flash, which is a show currently airing weekly on the CW.

For those who aren’t superhero nuts like myself, Barry Allen was an average guy living an average life as a police chemist doing what he could to help fight crime. But one night he’s suddenly struck by lightning, which also shatters various vials of chemicals he’s working with all over him. After awaking from a coma, Allen becomes fully imbued with the power to move at nearly the speed of light. In time, he also discovers he has the ability to pass through objects and phase into other dimensions as well.

Why I’d choose to be Barry Allen in this CW TV show is how much the lead character has qualities that remind me so much of myself. In it, Barry, who’s played by actor Grant Gustin, is somewhat of a nerdy loner with a sarcastic and witty side to himself. That’s pretty close to how I see myself today and how I mostly was during my teenage years. But the trait I’ve always admired the most about Barry Allen is the same I liked with how the comic books originally portrayed him. Barry’s truest inner desire was always to be a hero and help others, which becomes totally apparent once he gains his superpower.

I’m not really sure why I’ve always gravitated the most towards The Flash though given the rest of the team he eventually becomes a part of, that being the Justice League. After all, his teammates include Green Lantern, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, and Aquaman, all of which are much stronger and endowed with more than just a single ability. Maybe that’s why though because just like I was when growing up, Barry Allen was that average skinny geek who was regularly picked on and bullied and never fast enough to get away from any of it. But when he gains the ability to run even faster than Superman, he doesn’t run away from any of that danger anymore. Instead, he runs right towards it finding plenty of ways to utilize his gift to help protect the greater good of mankind.

By far, I find this CW series to be the most accurate I’ve ever seen a comic book hero portrayed. For years I waited to see something like this manifest for my favorite fictional character and thankfully, it’s finally here. I really wish there was a way for me to magically transport myself into this series and live as Barry Allen. Alas, I’m pretty sure there’s not so I guess I’ll have to settle for living vicariously through watching actor Grant Gustin on my television screen each week. And in the meantime, while I continue to enjoy watching this new series, I patiently await the development of my own unique spiritual superpowers, as I’m totally convinced we all have them lying dormant within us, waiting to emerge when the time is right, solely for the sake of being a guardian of the Light.

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

What A Life Of Self-Reliance Got Me…

I used to be fully convinced I could do it. I had honestly believed my path to a life of peace and serenity was going to be achieved through nothing more than self-reliance. But when that path led me into a dead-end with a suicide attempt, it was then I realized just how wrong I was. Thankfully, what I rely the most upon today is my Higher Power, except to get there took a whole heck of a lot of pain and hardship.

I really think most human beings are stubborn by nature. Aren’t the majority of us initially full of so much pride and ego that we often convince ourselves we can get through anything on our own, no matter how difficult it seems to be. Well I know I once did and that path began with me deciding in 1995 that I didn’t need any type of 12 Step program to recover from my alcoholism and drug addiction. Instead, I chose to forge my own path of sobriety, one that felt more than not like I was always fighting a lot of fires. For a good while I was quite successful in doing it too and each time I did, I merely patted myself on the back and continued to foster the belief that I all I needed to make it through life was myself. But in 2007, when my long-term relationship completely collapsed and ended for good, I saw the first chink appear in my prideful armor I had constructed out of self-reliance.

Life then became like a domino effect for me after that. After the fall of that relationship came the demise of my business. And after the demise of my business came the collapse of my financial stability. And after the collapse of my financial stability came the downfall of my health. And after the downfall of my health came a five-day stint in the mental ward of a psychiatric hospital. And finally after that five-day stint in the mental ward of a psychiatric hospital, came that eventual attempt at suicide in the fall of 2011. It was then that I knew a life of self-reliance was never going to work. I was so thoroughly miserable, angry, and resentful at that point in time that I knew the only thing I could do was fully seek something greater than myself because I had already tried everything else.

Since the spring of 2012, I have been doing my best to rely upon the Higher Power I found in working the 12 Steps. It hasn’t been easy for me though to maintain this practice on any level solely because I lived with self-reliance for so long. But I have to say there’s far less fires having to be put out in my life these days. And even when there has been one because I went back to a little bit of self-reliance, it’s rarely required anything more than a watering can to be put out. That’s a far cry from the days when a life of self-reliance led to multiple five-alarm fires.

The bottom line is that any life run on self-reliance is only ever going to lead someone to fighting one fire after another. While they may be successful for a time in putting each of them out all on their own, eventually some will get so out of control it will get them seriously burned in the process. And when a person sustains enough of those serious burns, it’s then and only then will they realize that self-reliance failed them. And it’s then they hopefully will seek something greater than themselves to run their life instead…

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

“Why Is It That…?”

A teacher saw a student crawling into class one day, and asked why he was doing that.

The boy said, “Because class has already started and you warned us not to dare WALK into class if we were late!”

Hi everybody, it’s your favorite person Andy, back for another day of writing! I hope you liked my little chuckle for the day, as I know I did. Anyways, Mr. Poopy Pants (that’s Andrew if you didn’t know who I’m talking about) took today off from writing another one of his thought-provoking (in other words, boring) blog articles. Clearly I’m the head honcho today and I have another neat idea to write about, which deals with the topic of asking questions. My Mom always said I asked them about everything from the time I popped out of her womb (which is totally gross by the way), but isn’t that just the nature of being a curious kid? So today I’m going to write a bunch of ones I still have in life, which I decided to title, “Why is it that…?”

Why is it that God never speaks to me directly with a voice?

Why is it that I never seem to be able to reach the end of any rainbow?

Why is it that parents think screaming and yelling at a kid will help make them learn something better?

Why is it that so many churches say that everyone is welcomed when they keep turning people away?

Why is it that there is a Fathers Day and a Mothers Day but no Kids Day?

Why is it that movie theaters won’t give me a discount if I bring in my own 3D glasses?

Why is it that the movie previews these days have to give away so darn much of the movie?

Why is it that parents think hitting a kid is ok when they wouldn’t want to be hit themselves?

Why is it that people start wars and do hateful things to each other all in the name of God when God is only supposed to be about peace and love?

Why is it that so many grown-ups never take the time to have fun and play (and no, I’m not talking about that icky bedroom kind either! LOL.)?

And…

Why is it that Andrew Arthur Dawson has to obsess so much about his yard that he goes outside multiple times each day with a vacuum to suck up every single leaf that falls on it? (Sorry Andrew but I was just dying to tell everyone this! 🙂 )

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson