Life Lesson

Think honesty doesn't matter? In July of 2008, the real estate market was tanking and I needed a new source of income so I got a job selling cars. I never told the customer everything like the profit margin or the different ways dealers make money but I never had to lie to them either. By December of that year I was the top salesperson in that dealership. Yesterday a customer from FOUR years ago called me to ask advice on buying his next car even though his current choice is a different brand. Lose your job, search for another one, lose your reputation and there's an almost impossible road back. Just my experience.

Old Cajun Proverb 042512

If your body is the temple of your spirit, you should probably stop crapping in the vestibule.

This one addresses overeating, smoking and all the ways we disrespect our spiritual health by abusing our bodies.

Old Cajun Proverb 041612

I realize everyone that offers advice comes from a place of love and caring, unfortunately that alone does not qualify them.

Old Cajun proverb 041112

Our lives and life decisions are not subject to the approval of others.

Old Cajun proverb 040912

Being right is way overrated while being open minded is beyond value.

Old Cajun Proverb 030212

Wisdom, time and experience are in three different places in the dictionary because they are three different things. You may find all three in a fellow traveler but don't assume wisdom just because they have the other two. Some may have years of experience and some have the same year of experience over and over again.

Old Cajun Proverb 02252012

Praying for others is the least we can do...........and the most!

On faith and proof.....02242012

I am familiar with width, length and height. Those are three dimensions that I can measure and prove to my satisfaction. When I approached spirituality with the same mindset, I believed it didn't exist because it didn't fit the rigid test that I had for the real. When I ceased to look for proof and began to pray for faith, I was rocketed into a fourth dimension. I still can't prove it's existence, but today, I have no need to do that. I have learned that not everything that is real is "proveable". I leave proof to the mathematicians and embrace the joy of living in this "fourth dimension".

Cajun Prayer for clarity....022112

Heavenly Father, help me to remember that as I struggle toward my goals that I am living in a multiple blessing. I have the blessings of a goal, the strength that you give me for the struggle and the knowledge that your will is my guide. May I always walk in your path for me and live the life that you have willed for me.

Note to a fellow procrastinator..............

Wow, Robert, sometimes I think this defect is the hardest to shake. Making my bed every day is critical to the quality of my day and my life. Leaving chores undone is like carrying a backpack full of things I don't need. It slows me down and distracts me from the success of my journey. I must move forward without the weight of the undone.

Note to a sister who relapsed.......

You had over 4300 days of sobriety to practice and learn for TODAY, nothing went down the drain. If we all had to change our sobriety date because of a relapse of spirituality or kindness or God consciousness, we would all have one day. Take what you have learned and the love of those who walk the path with you and recover.

Old Cajun Proverb 010112:2

The same legs on the same path took me to doubt and from there to faith. I won't hate the path or the person who is on it.

Old Cajun Proverb 010112

Ego is giving you my answer, humility is suggesting to you where your answer can be found.

The Old Cajun reflects on sobriety and life in general........

I have seen sober people at every meeting I have attended. Every person there was a living example of the 12 steps at work. If I am burned up, indignant, frustrated over what is shared or how the meeting is run I need to look at myself. If members are not tying everything in their lives back to the 12 steps, is that a bad meeting? Where do I get the ego to criticize others? In my zeal to carry the message, am I distracted from that duty because others are not doing it my way? Every person who studies the book and the steps interprets them differently, that fact is inescapable and undeniable. Every event in my life has shaped, in some way, the words I am typing now. If I find fault with another's approach, interpretation, or practice then humility is only a theory in my life. Judging people by what they say in a meeting is like judging a film by one frame. Thanks to all who post here, ESPECIALLY those who disagree with me. I don't learn anything from those whose methods and beliefs are a mirror of my own. The absence of at least occasional discomfort in sobriety is not my goal, sobriety is not a chair to sit in but a field to be planted, cared for and harvested, over and over again to sustain my life. Sober on, my brothers and sisters, never hesitate to challenge beliefs and practices, especially your own!

The Old Cajun reflects on sobriety and life in general................a

I have seen sober people at every meeting I have attended. Every person there was a living example of the 12 steps at work. If I am burned up, indignant, frustrated over what is shared or how the meeting is run I need to look at myself. If members are not tying everything in their lives back to the 12 steps, is that a bad meeting? Where do I get the ego to criticize others? In my zeal to carry the message, am I distracted from that duty because others are not doing it my way? Every person who studies the book and the steps interprets them differently, that fact is inescapable and undeniable. Every event in my life has shaped, in some way, the words I am typing now. If I find fault with another's approach, interpretation, or practice then humility is only a theory in my life. Judging people by what they say in a meeting is like judging a film by one frame. Thanks to all who post here, ESPECIALLY those who disagree with me. I don't learn anything from those whose methods and beliefs are a mirror of my own. The absence of at least occasional discomfort in sobriety is not my goal, sobriety is not a chair to sit in but a field to be planted, cared for and harvested, over and over again to sustain my life. Sober on, my brothers and sisters, never hesitate to challenge beliefs and practices, especially your own!

The ProgrAAm

Mark 'Cajun' LeBlanc

If I want to pick this program apart, I can and you can. I spent the better part of 50 years trying to prove or disprove the existence of a particular higher power. I stayed drunk. When I reached a level of desperation and revulsion at what my life had become, I prayed for faith. Little by little, I learned that faith was the key, not proof, and faith came to me. We can analyze, examine, criticize and complain, or we can look at the results, ALL the results. Some fail the program, the truth eludes them until it is too late. Does that mean as my friend says, we should stop seeking every day, look for loopholes and fallacies to prepare for failure? Not me, and if you are on that quest of negativity, I will call you on it. I will speak up lest damage be done to someone who is not so far along the path as I. I only wish for all the daily reprieve that I have been granted. I don't live in unhealthy fear anymore but I haven't discarded caution, I am not foolish. I thank God for the people in this program who "call me on my s***", and if you are my brother or sister in this program, I will do the same for you. Sometimes I don't like it and you may not either, but to do less is a betrayal.

Old Cajun Proverb

To whom it may concern: I don't accept your judgement and I don't require your approval. I live my life in atonement for those who forgive and even for those who don't. That is all I can do.----Old Cajun Proverb

Cajun Ramblin'

Ever wonder why we put down coasters to keep the alcohol from taking the finish off the table and then pour it down our throats? I mean, shouldn't the fact that it removes varnish and paint be a HINT?

ON HUMILITY

A friend who died a few years ago summed it up when he said "I always thought cancer only happened to the other guy and then I realized that to everyone else in the world, I AM the other guy".

Old Cajun Proverb

"Love all, like most and do no harm.