Beyond Belief Quotes

“Below the surface of our chaotic lives was greater Fear—the Fear of being unwanted, unloved and forgotten. We lived with walls to keep people out; we also Feared that we didn’t matter to the same people we were trying to keep out.”
― Joe C., Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life: Finally, a daily reflection book for nonbelievers, freethinkers and everyone!

“Faith is a curious liberty in Twelve Step groups, considering how much latitude we are given. If you have an outrageous Higher Power concept you might get some laughs but you won’t get picketed by evangelists. For some of us, Faith in a Higher Power is intuitive. It is felt so strongly it doesn’t have to be articulated to be believed. Some of us don’t need a creator to explain the unknown; the universe is fascinating enough. Just coming to a second meeting was an extreme leap of Faith for any of us. The program looked like quackery but we hoped something would rub off and relieve our temptation to relapse. We may have attended the first meeting out of morbid curiosity or as part of a negotiation to get the heat off. But coming back—that takes Faith.”
― Joe C., Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life: Finally, a daily reflection book for nonbelievers, freethinkers and everyone!

“September 23 "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." Dr. Seuss (1904–1991) According to this advice from the good doctor, we are fine just the way we are. Whether we change dramatically or stay the same, we need not be aShamed of today’s thoughts, feelings and actions. Dr. Seuss tells us that while it may be prudent to hear out our critics, our self-image need not be swayed by their vantage points. Our best friends are not waiting for us to be better; they appreciate us completely—just the way we are. How long can we sustain belief in ourselves without becoming critical of ourselves? It will likely take practice. Somewhere along the line we became conditioned to never be satisfied. Where did that get us? Did we turn to pills, booze, bad relationships, Gambling, spending, eating and/or self-abuse? The doctor has prescribed a new medicine for the mind. Can we accept the remedy? Let’s look at ourselves through the eyes of those who consider us fine—right now, just like this. Why not start loving ourselves the way we are right now? When we hear the internal critic, how about showing that voice some compassion too? In being fair with myself I will avoid judging others. Bill W. said, “The way our ‘worthy’ alcoholics have sometimes tried to judge the ‘less worthy’ is, as we look back on it, rather comical. Imagine, if you can, one alcoholic judging another!” Now imagine needing the approval of another addict to feel worthy. We may hear in meetings, “Once I needed your approval and I would do anything to get it; today I appreciate your approval, but I am not willing to do anything to get it.” What situations challenge my ability to be authentic? How many minutes can I go without criticizing myself? Do I feel desperate for the approval of others?”
― Joe C., Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life: Finally, a daily reflection book for nonbelievers, freethinkers and everyone!

“If blame is part of our narratives, we are tragically predisposed to change the cast and replay the same scripts again and again.”
― Joe C., Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life: Finally, a daily reflection book for nonbelievers, freethinkers and everyone!

“Games People Play by Eric Berne”
― Joe C., Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life: Finally, a daily reflection book for nonbelievers, freethinkers and everyone!

“When we feel superior, all-knowing or persecuted, or as though we’re on a crusade, we isolate ourselves with a barrier of uniqueness. Our true motives might fly below our own radar.”
― Joe C., Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life: Finally, a daily reflection book for nonbelievers, freethinkers and everyone!

“We don’t stand before the fire pit of life and say, “Pit, give me heat and then I will put some wood on you.” We commit to a course of action and “all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no [one] could have dreamed would have come [our] way” occur as a result of this decision.”
― Joe C., Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life: Finally, a daily reflection book for nonbelievers, freethinkers and everyone!

“Peace has to be created, in order to be maintained. It is the product of Faith, Strength, Energy, Will, Sympathy, Justice, Imagination, and the triumph of principle. It will never be achieved by passivity and quietism.” Dorothy Thompson (1893–1961)”
― Joe C., Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life: Finally, a daily reflection book for nonbelievers, freethinkers and everyone!

“How can I change my thinking and vocabulary to be less handicapped by my own ignorance, Blind spots or overconfidence?”
― Joe C., Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life: Finally, a daily reflection book for nonbelievers, freethinkers and everyone!

“Consider putting one foot in a bucket of ice and the other in boiling water. This may seem to be balanced living when you average it out, but these opposite extremes won’t make us comfortable or happy in real life.”
― Joe C., Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life: Finally, a daily reflection book for nonbelievers, freethinkers and everyone!

“Misery loves company but so does recovery.”
― Joe C., Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life: Finally, a daily reflection book for nonbelievers, freethinkers and everyone!

“Forward thinking that doesn’t account for the very human tendency to resist change and sabotage progress is coo-coo.”
― Joe C., Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life: Finally, a daily reflection book for nonbelievers, freethinkers and everyone!

“It is never too late to build a foundation for our lives on legitimate Values.”
― Joe C., Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life: Finally, a daily reflection book for nonbelievers, freethinkers and everyone!

“We lived with walls to keep people out; we also Feared that we didn’t matter to the same people we were trying to keep out.”
― Joe C., Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life: Finally, a daily reflection book for nonbelievers, freethinkers and everyone!

“Applauding me for quitting [drinking] is sort of like giving a trophy to a cowboy with hemorrhoids for not riding his horse.” John Larroquette”
― Joe C., Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life: Finally, a daily reflection book for nonbelievers, freethinkers and everyone!

“The only problem with speaking the Truth is that there are so many versions”
― Joe C., Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life: Finally, a daily reflection book for nonbelievers, freethinkers and everyone!

“When a snake sheds its skin it lets go of the dead, dysfunctional layer. The new and wholesome skin, the new self, is already inside. It is just a matter of writhing, massaging or employing other kinds of work and energy to get the old skin off. Being likened to a slithering reptile may give us the creeps, but let’s take what we can from this metaphor. It doesn’t matter if our guidance comes from a Higher Power or an inner voice—the snake’s shedding of its skin is a useful likeness to the process. Our better self, higher self or our Good Orderly Direction is already inside us.”
― Joe C., Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life: Finally, a daily reflection book for nonbelievers, freethinkers and everyone!

“Sure we have some work to do. However, we are already worthy, based on who we are now, not on what we do or on the conditions of self-improvement and attaining certain goals. So, we all have damage; that doesn't make us unworthy.”
― Joe C., Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life: Finally, a daily reflection book for nonbelievers, freethinkers and everyone!

“The urgency to own stuff and have it now is promulgated by our culture. In the USA, tax incentives for mortgage debt have been around since the 1930s. The idea was that debt enslaved—a man with a mortgage won’t go on strike. It was a way to control a worker for his or her working years.”
― Joe C., Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life: Finally, a daily reflection book for nonbelievers, freethinkers and everyone!

“Steps One to Four make us aware of our blind spots. In Steps Five through Eight, understanding and acceptance help to unshackle us from the impulsiveness that sabotages our lives. In Steps Nine to Twelve, we live what we have learned.”
― Joe C., Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life: Finally, a daily reflection book for nonbelievers, freethinkers and everyone!

“Am I tempted to dance the semantics dance or have I found an understanding of Step Two that works for me? What is Step Two in my own words?”
― Joe C., Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life: Finally, a daily reflection book for nonbelievers, freethinkers and everyone!

“If we invite newcomers to talk about themselves they feel more comfortable. New members won’t remember what we said—not exactly—but they will remember how we made them feel.”
― Joe C., Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life: Finally, a daily reflection book for nonbelievers, freethinkers and everyone!

“By identifying triggers, we can lessen the tendency to react and develop the Habits and skills to consider alternate, less reactive ways of responding.”
― Joe C., Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life: Finally, a daily reflection book for nonbelievers, freethinkers and everyone!

“If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882)”
― Joe C., Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life: Finally, a daily reflection book for nonbelievers, freethinkers and everyone!