Category: Words To Live By

I recently updated my profile picture on Facebook solely because the one I had been using was more than several years old. What I didn’t know was how this simple action was going to appear on the general newsfeed for everyone else to see. It didn’t take long for me to realize that though when I began receiving one “like” after another, and while I was grateful and flattered for each, all of it got me thinking about why my blog postings haven’t been getting nearly the same attention.

Why should this even matter, one might ask???

I’m pretty sure my spiritual teacher would say it doesn’t and I also believe she’d say that the only thing it’s really mattering to is my ego. In all reality, that’s probably true on both accounts. The fact is I never began this blog with the purpose of gaining the world’s attention or approval. I began it as a way of getting back into writing as well as furthering the healing processes going on within me.

Writing was once a daily part of my life, but I abandoned it back in 2007 when a long-term relationship ended and my sex and love addiction took off. I’ve learned through much of my recovery work that addictions usually rob a person of their creativity. In my case that was definitely true. I never had any energy leftover to write because I was always channeling most of it into one of my former addictions. When I finally found sobriety from all of them, I knew I needed to start putting that energy into something else that was far healthier. Sadly, many people often go from addiction to addiction because there is an abundance of energy that sits idle when they cease any one of them. For example, when I quit alcohol and drugs, I suddenly felt a huge surplus of creative energy within me. But instead of pouring it into something creative like my writing, I put it into constantly chasing after sexual relationships. The actuality is that most creative hobbies require people to be by themselves and that was the last thing I ever wanted to do back then. Thankfully that’s not the case for me today, as now I’m able to be by myself more than not and actually enjoy it. With that being said, I started this blog as a way of channeling that former addiction-based energy into something positive for myself, but it’s also had an ever better effect on me as well. It’s helping me heal.

Life has its many ups and downs and I’ve discovered that my writing can frequently help me work through any of those low points when they occur. How that happens always starts with me asking my Higher Power for guidance and then I just typing about what I’m feeling inside. Eventually through the words I write, I’m often led to the spiritual answers I’m seeking and in all truthfulness, this blog entry has been an example of that.

While my articles may never receive the amount of “likes” that a profile picture update can get, or even what those goofy you tube videos, various opinions, or generic statuses of people doing their day-to-day things can generate, the reality is that it genuinely doesn’t matter. I’m writing now because I want to write and not be stuck in addictions. And I’m writing now because I want to heal and not be stuck in any type of negativity.

So I’ve decided that if my Higher Power somehow guides any of these words to help another enough to where they end up giving me one of those “likes”, I’m just going to be grateful for it, because having even one “like” is far better than having none at all now isn’t it?

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

“…Don’t Be Mean When I Say It!” is one of the better spiritual catch phrases I’ve learned over the years. Unfortunately, so many frequently overlook the last part of this phrase becoming quite cruel in the process when trying to convey their words to another. Sadly, I was regularly guilty of this myself for a very long time.

When I used to be under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or any mind-altering substance, it actually was quite common for me to say some pretty nasty things towards others. I definitely always said the words I meant to say and without a doubt, meant what I said as well at those particular moments in time, but how I conveyed them was usually with a tremendous amount of anger and vulgarity. All that resulted in was a lot of the same behavior coming back at me from those I had sent those harsh words towards. None of this behavior changed much either during all the years I got caught up in other addictions.

It wasn’t until I became free of my addiction-prone life that I was able to start letting go of the majority of my past resentments and burdens in life. As I cleared more and more of that wreckage away from within, the more my heart became open. And the more my heart became open, the more I began believing that each and every person in this world contained a part of my Higher Power. And the more I began believing that each and every person in this world contained a part of my Higher Power, the more I began feeling the pain and suffering of everyone else. And ultimately, the more I began feeling the pain and suffering of everyone else, the less I wanted to inflict any more of it upon any of them.

I’m a lot more guarded today with all my words I express whether they’re oral or written, as there are too many I once said to others I wish I could take back. But the reality is that I can’t, thus the only thing I can do now is what I’ve been doing, and that’s to proceed forward in life by doing the best I can to not be mean in any of the ways I choose to communicate. I believe the key to making sure this happens is to keep my Higher Power in charge of my life and to stay in my heart and out of my ego. I find myself pausing quite a bit now to ensure this happens, as I don’t want to hurt anyone more than they already might be hurting inside.

So while I do believe it’s extremely important to always say what I mean and mean what I say, I know now that being mean when I say it is only going to result in causing more pain and suffering to another extension of my Higher Power. The last thing I would want nowadays is that, thus I will continue doing my absolute best to not be mean in whatever I say, as I know it will help not only me, but all others as well, on our spiritual journeys towards greater enlightenment…

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

I received polar opposite comments from two separate readers of my blog a few mornings ago mere minutes apart, where the first was overly positive and encouraging, and the second was predominantly negative and judgmental. I was incredibly grateful for the order they arrived in because it continued to show me that as long as I keep my Higher Power in charge, I will often get what I need, when I most need it.

There was a time not long ago though when I didn’t feel like I was getting any of what I needed from my Higher Power, but that’s because my life was fueled almost completely at that time by self-will. This in turn always caused me to create a tremendous amount of drama and fires I had to work very hard to put out on a daily basis. But when I began to turn more and more of my will over to my Higher Power, I noticed that not only did those dramas and fires begin to disappear, I also started receiving the precise things I needed to handle those curve balls when they came my way in life. I felt this way specifically after reading those two conflicting comments the other morning.

The first came in from a reader who personally wanted to thank me for the candor I have when I write. They told me they enjoyed the fact I am very personal and honest in my writing, and said that each of the entries they read were well written. They then shared some personal information about what they connected to in some of my words and at the end of their feedback, they thanked me for listening and encouraged me to keep writing as I have been.

Receiving a comment of this caliber was very uplifting and motivational for me, as there have been days where I’ve wondered if my words are having any type of positive effect on anyone else other than myself. Hence the irony in the second set of comments I received a few minutes later. There, the reader told me quite extensively how they felt I was sharing the same experiences again and again and wasn’t moving on from them. Instead, they thought I was just reliving various abuses over and over again. They also thought through the words they read that I was judging the world for not following exactly as I do in life.

Thankfully, I can safely say that the second reader’s comments didn’t fit me at all and were really never about me. I’ve learned through a lot of hard work that anytime I ever made serious judgments or negative comments on someone else, that it was always about the same things within me I didn’t want to look at. I must say that if I had received this second set of comments by itself that morning, there’s a good chance I might have gone into my head and started doubting all the effort I’ve been placing into my writings for this blog. But the fact is that it’s never been my intention when I write any of the entries for this blog to tell anyone what they need to do in life. I don’t think of myself as better than anyone else either. I’m also not being burdened anymore by my past tragedies in life, and in all actuality, it’s just the opposite. The more I share positively about anything from my past or present, the freer I seem to feel. So frankly, I’m just grateful I received that first set of comments when I did, because the positive energy I received from them truly helped me to deflect all the negative energy I got a few minutes later when I received that second set.

Thus I fully believe my Higher Power knew I was going to need an uplifting boost the other morning and I’m so grateful I got it. I definitely feel in life today that I do get what I need, when I most need it, but it absolutely took turning a lot more of my will over to my Higher Power to finally realize that. And I’m truly glad I did, specifically for times just like this…

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson