Whoot! It's Winter Solstice!

I really don't know what that means in today's world.   But it apparently held a lot of meaning for humanity long before the invention of the electric light bulb.

I'm still curious about what the ancient peoples thought about their universe, and that perhaps some of the best belief systems such as the Druids might have had more things right, than wrong.

So as I'm web surfing about Solstice,  and take note from a Time Magazine article that the Druids were really interested in the Solstice, and found it quite important. - That gets me to searching about Druids.  Who were these people? It's a funny sounding name to boot.  Druid. sounds like Fluid, but stickier?

So according to http://www.druidry.org/druid-way/druid-beliefs

"One of the most striking characteristics of Druidism is the degree to which it is free of dogma and any fixed set of beliefs or practices."

There's much more to read about it, but it seems to be a pretty loose set of beliefs. And they're not violently trying to convert people to become one of them...   Hmm. I think that the world could use more Druids.  I wouldn't mind them as a neighbor. Not at all.

A Drunk fell into a hole....

...and couldn't get out.

A businessman went by and the drunk called out for help. The businessman threw him some money and told him to buy himself a ladder. But the drunk could not buy a ladder in this hole he was in.

A doctor walked by. The drunk said, "Help! I can't get out!" The doctor gave him some drugs and said, "Take this. It will relieve the pain." The drunk said thanks, but when the pills ran out, he was still in the hole.

A well-known psychiatrist rode by and heard the drunk's cries for help. He stopped and asked, "How did you get there? Were you born there? Did your parents put you there? Tell me about yourself, it will alleviate your sense of loneliness." So the drunk talked with him for an hour, then the psychiatrist had to leave, but he said he'd be back next week. The drunk thanked him, but he was still in the hole.

A priest came by. The drunk called for help. The priest gave him a Bible and said, "I'll say a prayer for you." He got down on his knees and prayed for the drunk, then he left. The drunk was very grateful, he read the Bible, but he was still stuck in the hole.

A recovering drunk happened to be passing by. The drunk cried out, "Hey, help me. I'm stuck in this hole!" Right away the recovering drunk jumped down in the hole with him. The drunk said, "What are you doing? Now we're both stuck here!!" But the recovering drunk said, "Calm down. It's okay. I've been here before. I know how to get out."

-Author Unknown

++++

This little story to me, is what AA is all about.  Someone gave me a helping hand when I desperately needed it. When someone needs one, I MUST, be there to help them. If I don't I stand a good chance of losing my own sobriety.

Helping someone else gets me out of my head, and the issues that rattle around in it, and I'm focused on something better. 

From Sober days and Nights to SoberAgnostic.org

Back to the drawing board?

I've been neglecting this blog for a bit, and thought that maybe I'd give it another whirl with a slight change in direction. One can never be sure where or how our personal journey will progress. Sometimes a little coarse adjustment is order. Rather than only post the "daily thoughts", why not expand on the sober agnostic thought process?

I can say, there's times that I feel like I might be a fraud. - Who am I to say how you should do things?  Who am I to say that your life will get better from this point forward?  In reality, nobody really has that right.  All I can do is share what I'm trying to do, and report on it.  Right?  Why should I assume that someone is actually going to read what I write and they'll do it themselves?  It's become quite clear to me (and I'm not any better than the next person, trust me) that we don't read. I also think that we don't listen.  So why would I expect anyone to read and heed what I write?


With that said. I'm going to try my best to listen others better, and perhaps actually give meditation some more effort. But it's so HARD to meditate, I've got so much else to do.