Spiritual Awakening

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When a man or a woman has a spiritual awakening, the most important meaning of it is that he has now become able to do, feel, and believe that which he could not do before on his unaided strengths and resources alone. He has been granted a gift which amounts to a new state of consciousness and being. He has been set on a path which tells him he is really going somewhere, that life is not a dead end, not something to be endured or mastered. In a very real sense he has been transformed, because he has laid hold of a source of strength which, in one way or another, he had hitherto denied himself. He finds himself in possession of a degree of honesty, tolerance, unselfishness, peace of mind, and love of which he had thought himself quite incapable. What he has received is a free gift, and yet usually, ay least in some small part, he has made himself ready to receive it.
A.A,'s manner of making ready to receive this gift lies in the practice of the Twelve Steps in our program.
c. 1952 AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pp. 106-107

--A spiritual awakening is our greatest gift. Author Unknown

G I F T = God Is Forever There.

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Awakening
Then I woke up. I had to admit that AA showed results,
prodigious results. I saw that my attitude regarding these had been anything but scientific. It wasn't AA that had the closed mind, it was me. The minute I stopped arguing, I could begin to see and feel. Right there, Step Two gently and very gradually began to infiltrate my life. I can't say upon what occasion or upon what day I came to believe in a Power greater than myself, but I certainly have that belief now. To acquire it, I had only to stop fighting and practice the rest of AA's program as enthusiastically as I could.
--Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Page 27

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12 Signs of a Spiritual Awakening
( Source Unknown )

1. An increased tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.
2. Frequent attacks of smiling.
3. Feelings of being connected with others and nature.
4. Frequent overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
5. A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than from fears based on past experience.
6. An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.
7. A loss of ability to worry.
8. A loss of interest in conflict.
9. A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.
10. A loss of interest in judging others.
11. A loss of interest in judging self.
12. Gaining the ability to love without expecting anything in return.


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Service is spirituality in action. --unknown

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The Awakening
by Virginia Marie Swift

A time comes in your life when you finally get it...
When in the midst of all your fears and insanity
you stop dead in your tracks and somewhere
the voice inside your head cries out - ENOUGH!
Enough fighting and crying or struggling to hold on.
And, like a child quieting down after a blind tantrum,
your sobs begin to subside, you shudder once or twice,
you blink back your tears and through a mantle of wet
lashes you begin to look at the world through new eyes.
This is your awakening.
You realize that it's time to stop hoping and
waiting for something to change or for happiness,
safety and security to come galloping over the next horizon.
You come to terms with the fact that he is not Prince Charming
and you are not Cinderella and that in the real world
there aren't always fairy tale endings
(or beginnings for that matter)
and that any guarantee of "happily ever after"
must begin with you and in the process
a sense of serenity is born of acceptance.
You awaken to the fact that you are not perfect and that not
everyone will always love, appreciate or approve of who
or what you are . . . and that's OK.
(They are entitled to their own views and opinions.)
And you learn the importance of loving and championing yourself
and in the process a sense of newfound confidence
is born of self-approval.
You stop complaining and blaming other people for the things
they did to you (or didn't do for you) and you learn
that the only thing you can really count on is the unexpected.
You learn that people don't always say what they mean
or mean what they say and that not everyone will always
be there for you and that it's not always about you.
So, you learn to stand on your own and to take care of yourself
and in the process a sense of safety and security is born of
self-reliance.
You stop judging and pointing fingers and you begin to accept
people as they are and to overlook their shortcomings and
human frailties and in the process a sense of peace and
contentment is born of forgiveness.
You realize that much of the way you view yourself, and the world
around you, is a result of all the messages and opinions that have
been ingrained into your psyche. And you begin to sift through all
the crap you've been fed about how you should behave, how you
should look and how much you should weigh, what you should wear
and where you should shop and what you should drive, how and where
you should live and what you should do for a living, who you should
marry and what you should expect of a marriage, or what you owe
your parents.
You learn to open up to new worlds and different points of view.
And you begin reassessing and redefining who you are what you
really stand for. You learn the difference between wanting and
needing and you begin to discard the doctrines and values you've outgrown,
or should never have bought into to begin with and in
the process you learn to go with your instincts.
You learn that it is truly in giving that we receive. And that there
is power and glory in creating and contributing and you stop
maneuvering through life merely as
"consumer" looking for your next fix.
You learn that principles such as honesty and integrity are
not the outdated ideals of a bygone era, but the mortar that
holds together the foundation upon which you must build a life.
You learn that you don't know everything, it's not your job to
save the world and that you can't teach a pig to sing.
You learn to distinguish between guilt and responsibility and the importance
of setting boundaries and learning to say NO.
Then you learn about love. Romantic love and familial love.
How to love, how much to give in love, when to stop giving and
when to walk away. You learn not to project your needs or your
feelings onto a relationship. You learn that you will not be more
beautiful, more intelligent, more lovable or important because
of the man on your arm or the child that bears your name.
You learn to look at relationships as they really are and not as
you would have them be. You stop trying to control people,
situations and outcomes. You learn that just as people grow and
change so it is with love . . . and you learn that you don't have the
right to demand love on your terms . . . just to make you happy.
And, you learn that alone does not mean lonely . . .
You look in the mirror and come to terms with the fact that
you will never be a size 5 or a perfect 10 and you stop trying
to compete with the image inside your head and agonizing over
how you "stack up".
You also stop working so hard at putting your feelings aside,
smoothing things over and ignoring your needs. You learn that
feelings of entitlement are perfectly OK . . . and that it's your
right to want things and to ask for the things that you want . . .
And that sometimes it is necessary to make demands.
You come to the realization that you deserve to be treated
with love, kindness, sensitivity and respect and you won't
settle for less. And, you allow only the hands of a lover who
cherishes you to glorify you with his touch . . . and in the
process you internalize the meaning of self-respect.
And you learn that your body really is your temple.
And you begin to care for it and treat it with respect.
You begin eating a balanced diet, drinking more water
and taking more time to exercise.
You learn that fatigue diminishes the spirit and
can create doubt and fear. So you take more time to rest.
And, just as food fuels the body, laughter fuels our soul.
So you take more time to laugh and to play.
You learn that, for the most part,
in life you get what you believe you deserve . . .
and that much of life truly is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
You learn that anything worth achieving is worth working
for and that wishing for something to happen is different
from working toward making it happen.
More importantly, you learn that in order to achieve success
you need direction, discipline and perseverance.
You also learn that no one can do it all alone and
that it's OK to risk asking for help.
You learn that the only thing you must truly fear is the
great robber baron of all time . . . FEAR itself.
You learn to step right into and through your fears because
you know that whatever happens you can handle it and to give in
to fear is to give away the right to live life on your terms.
And you learn to fight for your life and not to squander
it living under a cloud of impending doom.
You learn that life isn't always fair, you don't always get
what you think you deserve and that sometimes-bad
things happen to unsuspecting, good people.
On these occasions you learn not to personalize things.
You learn that God isn't punishing you or
failing to answer your prayers. It's just life happening.
And you learn to deal with evil in its most primal state - the ego.
You learn that negative feelings such as anger, envy and
resentment must be understood and redirected
or they will suffocate the life out of you
and poison the universe that surrounds you.
You learn to admit when you are wrong
and to build bridges instead of walls.
You learn to be thankful and to take comfort in many
of the simple things we take for granted,
things that millions of people upon the earth
can only dream about: a full refrigerator,
clean running water, a soft warm bed, a long hot shower.
Slowly, you begin to take responsibility for yourself
by yourself and you make yourself a promise
to never betray yourself and to never ever to settle
for less than your heart's desire.
You hang a wind chime outside your window
so you can listen to the wind.
And you make it a point to keep smiling, to keep trusting,
and to stay open to every wonderful possibility.
Finally, with courage in your heart and with God by your side
you take a stand, you take a deep breath
and you begin to design the life
you want to live as best as you can.

[flick]

hi, i took part of this post to another site and was informed of the following;

This piece “The Awakening” by Sonny Carroll [waketolife.com], is the finalized version of a rough draft that's been copied, circulated and posted on countless websites falsely accrediting another writer; Virginia Marie Swift, as the author. Sonny Carroll contacted Ms. Swift and they have been working together towards contacting the various website registrars to correct the attribution of authorship. Unfortunately, the piece has circulated all over the world, and to date, many copies of "The Awakening" (also known as "A Time Comes In Your Life") still appear as being written by Ms. Swift. Ms. Carroll and Ms. Swift ask that if you should happen to find “The Awakening” (“A Time Comes In Your Life”) on any websites still accrediting anyone other than Sonny Carroll as the author, to please contact alert@waketolife.com with the website address. Thank you.

http://www.planetdeb.net/relationships/atimecomes.htm

I also found it at http://www.barefootsworld.net/awakening.html with lots of emphasis points ...