Part of it has to do with prioritising but I believe that this is where prayer and meditation can be of enormous benefit. I remember when I first started meditating - things changed for me, so maybe try it and see what happens!

Good idea, thank you serentiy :) And yes, I need to get my priorities straight! I put school first a lot but I know without AA, I will not have school, or a future for that matter!

First things....first. Its one of those endless AA sayings that works for me.
That and just trusting that my God will have enough time in the day for me to get what I need to get done, done. What I don't get done, didnt need to be done. So I jus let it go and trust. Doesnt mean I don't have a daily plan, I do. I have 3 kids, school and kid activities, a huge career, friends, AA commitments, and so on. But once I have the plan I turn it over and try to let go of my expectations for the outcome.

AA is not on my list at all so I am not sure how it might displace some of what I make sure I have in my life to be at peace:

-- family/relationships
-- exercise
-- meditation
-- mindful breathing
-- yoga (this is also exercise, meditation and mindful breathing)
-- getting "stuff" done (much more at peace when I don't have shit hanging over my head.)

Hello Ash
Mediation wasn't a great help for me just to much going on in my head for that I cant sit still for to long but that's just me. I think my peace came in the form of gratitude.

Firstly in the form of a gratitude list my first sponsor told me to write out.I said what have I to be grateful for ,he said for starters you still have your family in your life you have a roof over your head ,you have both your feet arms eye,s so on so on.

It was to get me to look at what was positive in my life.All the rest I could work on because I was sober.

In time for me it was in the gratitude I had that brings me peace and puts a smile on my dial I sometimes mentally giveaway all I have my family wife children these days grandchildren house, car, health,friends ,iPhone (lol) and then as I take them back one at a time the gratitude comes and so does that smile and peace of mind.Life is always going to be like this ^^^^^^^^ up and down when it,s like this it's to late ---------------- So I take care of what I can and enjoy what I have .A sober life Thankyou God Thankyou AA.

Take what you need from the relpys There's a bigger picture waiting for you.

God Bless...

Lionel

I'd say you run down the list.and put them in order wiith respect to each other. I guarantee today without God I'm nothing. Without my sobriety, the rest will be a total failure. The things that fall within His will and direction for me I get done first. The rest get to wait a bit - with no connotation of failure involved. You aren't failing at anything else by insuring that you get the more important parts of your life taken care of first. That includes your emotional health...

Dennis

Just maintaining my sobriety gave me peace of mind. I wasn't waking up all anxious about what I did the night before!
I had to learn how to say "no," as in, "no, I can't bake an extra dozen cookies, or chaperone a school trip, or pick up that shift nobody else wants...you get the idea...and NOT feel guilty about it. I also had to learn to ask for help and accept it when it was offered, not just as it pertained to staying sober, but in life in general.

I agree with Sticky about turning it over and then letting go of the outcomes. I just do what's in front of me and let my best be good enough. Just stick with it...after awhile you might find yourself wondering what all the fuss was about in the first place!

I agree with the outcome dealie my experience has been of the educational variety and the easy thing for me to do was to go inward and see what it was that higher self was trying to explain to me ,about my make up and how to at least come to peace with the reality of how I operate sober and change i, of course if it is still causing me a conflict , preferably before it causes me to make that final sacrifice as the book talks about and give in to my old ideas again about , well you know - self medicating as a option again.

Just go with your intuition but please don't doddle around with it - its that in-between spot that always gets me:)
Billy

I hear you Ash as I have all what you have going on and I have realised that I get anxiety too. When there are too many of my juggling balls in the air I am way off balance and that has resulted in my stress lately too so I hear you.

I allocate time as soon as I can to do the Uni work and then when I hand an assignment in, I reward myself with a day/weekend off (I have to hand one in every 2 to 3 weeks yet have sussed I can not go at them 24/7).

I now go to therapy once a week and that is helping me hugely. My therapist said something I loved...'lookin back on this, what will be the funny thing about the situation?'. Now I try to remember this as it is easy for me to take myself (and life) too serious.

The other thing I do, drive along in the car in silence...helps me to get in touch with HP and process things :)

Your last question 'how do you all do it'.......you are doing it :) May not be ideal, yet you are. School won't be for ever....a day at a time, right?

What I read is a challenge with working and paying bills. There are some foundational aspects of life that need to be met.

In my mind, I can sit in meetings all day but that doesn't find me a job, pay the bills and then expect peace to happen. Don't mishear me...Im not suggesting that AA isn't important. Just know that if you spend all your time in AA meetings, you wont have any time for school, work...I think you get the idea

"On awakening..." read the passage: BB p86, Fourth Edition.

Don't you worry. You live a sober life. Busy? Too many problems? Be grateful for every single problem, for every failure (so what? might even more interesting, then success....) - you deal with life as a recovering, sober alcoholic, day by day. You seem to be doing fine. YOU ARE SOBER.
The crusade for finding peace might be not so very important from a distance...

Hi Ashley, in my experience it's the disciplines of Steps 10, 11 and 12 that are my fast track back to peace of mind if something is not sitting right with me. Do I owe an amends? Am I procrastinating with a task I don't fancy doing? Personally I love my prayer and meditation time, that brings me a lovely serenity but if I hold back on necessary action that I know I need to take, that is not enough.

I love in the Big Book where it says "The spiritual life is not a theory, we have to live it." and "Faith without works is dead." these are two of my mantras to keep me healthy and happy.

For me sobriety comes first before family, friends and everything else, under that I prioritise everything else. It can only work that way for me. I have to fit myself to life, I can only give my best effort, God expects no more.