00:37 EBP01-Intro-EmilAtTheJail-04-21-20.mp4 00:23 COIN2-ChicagoFlagTriangle-04-21.mp4 03:47 GBA-Clean-SandiPatty-HD720.mp4 01:20 EmilAtTheJail-01-ThePromise-JeffersonAug23.mp4 01:19 EmilAtTheJail-02-ThePromise-LewisJan15.mp4 01:05 EmilAtTheJail-03-FreeAtLast-Jun16.mp4 01:34 EmilAtTheJail-04-Believing-GhandiMay4-0422-2318.mp4 01:24 EmilAtTheJail-05-Believing-FranklinNov13-0423-1146.mp4 01:18 EmilAtTheJail-06-Believing-SweetSep5-0423-1728.mp4 01:27 EmilAtTheJail-07-Believing-FrommApr18-0423-1942.mp4 01:34 EmilAtTheJail-08-FreeAtLast-Apr15-0423-2023.mp4 01:29 EmilAtTheJail-09-Believing-Orwell-Apr17-0424-1343.mp4 01:04 EmilAtTheJail-10-WisdomToKnow-Campbell-Apr17-0424-1452.mp4 01:07 EmilAtTheJail-11-Emerson-Nightlight-Apr17-0424-1851.mp4 01:41 EmilAtTheJail-14-Gibran-ThePromise-Apr24-0425-1016.mp4 01:14 EmilAtTheJail-15-FreeAtLast-Apr17-0425-1237.mp4 02:26 EmilAtTheJail-16-Dungy-Oct29-0425-1326.mp4 01:28 EmilAtTheJail-17-Reflections-Apr17-0425-1358 ----- 26:17 TOTAL 01:22 EmilAtTheJail-12-FreeAtLast-Apr17-0424-1927.mp4 02:09 JEOPARDY-2m9s.mp4 01========================Jefferson Aug23 Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always a result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits. -Thomas Jefferson Opportunities abound each day of our lives for respectful, thoughtful actions toward others. It’s within our power to apply serious effort to any task securing our attention. Being concerned with our physical health and emotional well-being is also a choice. And we discover the level of happiness we attain in this life is in proportion to the considerate attention we give to others, to our personal needs, and to the activities occupying us. The blessing we receive in this life are measurable by those we bestow upon the lives of those with whom we're traveling. There really are no surprises in store for us. We each must assume responsibility for our own happiness and good fortune, and there’s no time like the present for opening our minds to this reality. We sit at the controls today, and our perspective on the situations we experience will make them pleasant, productive, or problematic. The choice is my own. I’ll find happiness and good will if I foster it. END 1 02===================Lewis Jan15 When the most important things in our life happen, we quite often do not know at the moment what is going on. -C.S. Lewis Retrospect offers us what no one moment, in the present, is capable of doing. There is a pattern to the events of our lives, and even what appear as the most inconsequential occurrences are contributing their input to the larger picture that’s developing. There is no question but that every event has meaning. No experience is without its impact. Time will reveal the reason for the baffling or troubling situations that have dogged our paths along the way. Whenever the road feels rocky or we are confused, we need to trust. Our lives are not happenstance. There is a performance being staged. How helpful it is to understand that we are all “players” sharing the same stage. All of us are needed for some acts, and there will be a concluding scene making clear the intricacies of our many earlier scenes. As life progresses, our understanding grows. Our finales are assuredly appropriate to our life plan. Today’s happenings will have their impact. Sometime in some way. All moments, all events are part of my sacred pathway. END 2 03-freeatlast-June16th====================== I WAS IRRESPONSIBLE, so they sent me to a place where I had no responsibilities. I wasn’t a productive member of the community, so they isolated me from the community. I wasn’t positive and constructive, so they put me in a place where we’re degraded and made useless. I wasn’t trustworthy, so they put me where there is no trust. I wasn’t kind, so they placed me where I was subjected to hatred and cruelty. I wasn’t loving, so they put me where there was little love. They wanted me to be nonviolent, so they placed me where there is violence all around. They wanted me to quit being a tough guy, so they placed me where the tough guy is respected. They wanted me to be a winner, so they placed me where all the losers are housed under one roof. They wanted me to quit exploiting people, so they put me where people exploit one another. They wanted me to see myself, and when I looked around, I didn’t like what I saw. I wanted to change what I was. Now they’re helping me to do that… END 3 04==========Ghandi May4 You can’t shake hands with a closed fist. -Indira Gandhi Are you one who keeps a list? Many of us take very careful count of all that has been lost. With the scrupulous exactitude of resentment, we tally up every wrong that was done to us, every privilege or pleasure that we were denied, every hardship or obstacle that blocked our way. Because we make such an effort to record everything, our list grows and grows with each passing year. And the longer it gets, the better we like it. Justifying resentments can be mighty satisfying. The problem is that list, and listmaking, just keeps us fixated at the point of our losses. It nails us to the past, forever victimized, forever on the lookout for more of the same. Resentment closes the hand to a fist. How can a fist reach out in friendship or reconciliation? How can a fist receive love or any other gift? A fist may be fine for clutching a grubby little pencil and slashing away at a yellowing old score card. But it closes off too many good things. Nobody ever gave anything to a fist. Most of the items on our list may be factual. Some may even be criminal. But what real purpose is served - and what price paid - by compiling a catalog of misery? Wouldn’t it be better to let that stuff go? Bad enough that those things happened at all; worse yet that we’re still keeping them alive. I can’t hang on to the old and reach out for the new at the same time. 05 ============Franklin Nov13 Nothing is more fatal to health than an over care of it. -Benjamin Franklin Modern health care has come a long way. Rather than focusing exclusively on illness, many enlightened practitioners now encourage their patients to focus on wellness, instead. By emphasizing the health of the whole, they are better able to deal with the dysfunctional part. The switch in emphasis makes a profound difference; much like the difference between studying peace and studying war. Mental and emotional health can be approached in the same way. When we’re only interested in what’s wrong, that’s all we’ll find when we go searching for self-knowledge. And what is self-esteem but a positive picture of ourselves? We can actually cause ourselves self-esteem problems by dwelling on the various scars and bruises that life has given us. As if we’re nothing more than the sum total of our injuries. We are far more healthy and whole than we are sick. Of course, it’s important to know what’s wrong and get busy fixing it. But we should never, never define ourselves by our wounds. To do so is to discount our true value and to disclaim the many benefits of health and happiness. By focusing on wellness, I give self-esteem a chance to heal. END 5 06================Sweet Sep5 Worry is a time waster and ulcer maker. -Gail Grenier Sweet Recognizing that we have serious self-esteem issues to deal with may rock us back on our heels. It may take a bit of time to accept the situation and even a little longer to figure out what to do about it. Nothing wrong with that. At this point, the only wrong thing we can do is to worry about it. Worry is a form of wheel spinning. It wastes energy that could better be used to solve the problem we’re worrying about. It wastes the time that could have been invested in the future. It wastes life because worry blankets every spark and flicker of joy. And without joy, what is there to live for? Certainly, we have genuine reasons for concern when we get honest with ourselves. Some of the tasks we face are far from easy, and we realize now that the stakes are too high to avoid them. But concern and worry are very different things. Worry is nonproductive and obsessive. Long after concern has done all it can, worry is still grinding away, wheels spinning in the sand. Worry focuses on the things that I can’t change, rather than the things I can do something about. END6 07==============Fromm Apr18 Free man is by necessity insecure; thinking man by necessity uncertain. -Erich Fromm We hear comments like ”Hang in there!” “Don’t quit now!” “Don’t give up the ship!” When our outlook is gloomy and pessimistic, we should remember we are not in charge and we are not all-knowing. We cannot predict what will be around the next corner. If a difficult problem looms before us, we cannot be sure what help might also be there for us to meet the problem. Our compulsion for control tempts us to quit and give ourselves over to defeat. Then the outcome would be settled and predictable. We no longer would have to live with the insecurity of not knowing the future. When we are tempted to indulge in our addictive ways, or to return to a relationship which isn’t good for us, or to face a painful problem, it helps to recall that change is a basic fact of life. However stressful this moment is, it will change. Not at our command, but it will change. We aren’t in control of our outcomes, but we can choose now to “hang in there” and to give energy only to positive solutions. May I have the serenity to accept the process and the courage to be true to my part. Outcomes I will leave for the future. END 7 08========== Free At Last Apr 15 When I try to figure out exactly what it was that caused me to be so dependent on alcohol, I can sum it up in one word – escape! I have had a lot of time to think lately, and I’ve used this time wisely. I’ve come to realize that I’ve been attempting to escape from almost every aspect of my life. I’ve used alcohol to take away the pain and sorrow I experienced. I realize now that the more I drank, the more pain and sorrow I caused. During my incarceration, I’m learning other, less painful, ways to cope with the events that are thrust upon me. I use the “Serenity Prayer” at least 25 times a day, saying it over and over in my mind when the need arises. I’ve come to understand that I have no control over anyone but myself, and no control over most events. I have learned that acceptance can overtake the desire to escape, and courage can change my entire way of living. Once I began to make the changes I felt were necessary for me, everything else seemed much easier. I try not to dwell on events I have no control over and to accept them with as little irritation as possible. Removing this load of unnecessary baggage gives me more time to concentrate on the things I can improve upon. END 8 09=========Orwell Apr 17 The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection. -George Orwell The search for greater self-knowledge is much like an archaeological dig. The farther down we go, the more surprises we’re likely to find. Some are more fun than others. Often, one of our less-pleasing discoveries is our skill in using acceptable words to name our unacceptable character flaws. The quality we used to call perseverance, for example, may turn out to be plain old stubbornness once we clean it off and take a good look. Our compassion and generosity may look an awful lot like codependent enabling and our straightforwardness, like crass insensitivity. Of course, we realized we had flaws, but who guessed they would be so serious – or that so many of them would be the so called “virtues” that we were proud of! But we shouldn’t be too discouraged by our character flaws. They’re not evidence of our depravity, but of our humanity. Even the spiritual giants of this world are not perfect. Flawlessness is not a condition that applies to human beings. To identify a character flaw is like naming a disease after the lab results come in. (Sound familiar in these troubling times?) The lab report doesn’t cause the disease - it simply tells what it is, so a remedy can be prescribed. I have to know what’s hurting me if I want to fix it. END 9 10=========== Campbell Apr 17 Discipline is remembering what you want. -David Campbell Not everyone chooses recovery easily. We were attached to our addictions and codependency, even if we didn’t want their consequences. They were not only our masters; we were also loyal to them. They gave us comfort, pleasure, and a high that nothing else could match. So where did we find motivation to change? Somewhere within our souls we longed for something of greater quality. We didn’t want to sacrifice our future for the fleeting pleasures or false escapes. We saw that our actions were ruining our own lives and the lives of our loved ones. We always thought we would change someday, and even when our lives were careening out of control, we promised ourselves to change tomorrow or sometime in the future. It was our greater vision, our longing for a better life, that led us to try the Twelve Step recovery program. Out of wanting something better we found the motivation to enter recovery. Today I know that deep in my soul lies a desire to be a good man. END 10 11==============Emerson - Nightlight Apr17 Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. -Ralph Waldo Emerson Are we living in the present or are we still reliving the past day? If we’re still looking backward, there are no surprises, no new wonders. It’s like viewing a television rerun – we already know the plot, the characters, and the dialogue. Today is done. Whatever mistakes, confusions, disappointments, or problems that occurred are also done. Nothing we do right now can alter the happenings of the day. We can best use our time now by paying attention to the present. Tonight we can look around us at the here and now. We can turn off the reruns in our minds and get set for the new shows to come. We can start fresh and new right now. Can I let go of the events of the day? 12============= FreeAtLast Apr 17 Julian B. Cook County Jail, Illinois Burglary STEP THREE: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God (our Higher Power) as we understand Him. In taking my Third Step, it was important for me to consider my will. In jail, it is easy to say I have turned my will over to God’s care. But what will I do once I’m free from confinement? I know that I have had enough. I don’t want to use again, and I will not use again because the consequences outweigh the high. I want to regain the good pleasurable things of life, including a strong spiritual base on which to stand. The times I have allowed God to care for me, he has faithfully directed my path. After many tries, I have decided to recommit my life over to the care of God. It is not God’s will for men to be prisoners, but he allows certain circumstances in order to perfect his will in our lives. The program saying “thy will, not mine, be done,” always helps me to remember Step Three. 13 ============= Reflections Apr17 Every time we go to an A.A. meeting, every time we say the Lord’s prayer, every time we have a quiet time we’re paying a premium on our insurance against taking that first drink or drug. And every time we help another individual, we’re making a large payment on our addiction insurance. We’re making sure that our policy doesn’t lapse. Am I building up an endowment in serenity, peace, and happiness that will put me on easy street for the rest of my life? Meditation for the Day; I gain faith by my own experience of a Higher Power in my life. The constant recognition of a Higher Power’s spirit in all my personal relationships, the ever-accumulating support of my Higher Power’s guidance, the numberless instances in which seeming chance or wonderful coincidence can be traced to a Higher Power’s purpose in my life. All these things gradually engender a feeling of wonder, humility, and gratitude to this Higher Power. These in turn are followed by a more sure and abiding faith in a Higher Power and its purposes. Prayer for the Day; I pray that my faith may be strengthened every day. I pray that I may find confirmation of my life in the good things that have come into my life. END 13 14 Gibran April 24=============================== I have learned silence from the talkative; tolerance from the intolerant and kindness from the unkind. I should not be ungrateful to those teachers. -Kahlil Gibran Every situation we experience, every individual we encounter offers us valuable insights about living life more fully. We learn what we appreciate in people by confronting what disturbs us. We are certain to learn more about ourselves when we acknowledge that which displeases us in the experiences that enjoy our attention. It’s all too easy to label “of no value” experiences that, on the surface, bore us. We also discount persons whose life experiences are different than our own. It takes a decision followed by a concentrated effort to recognize the value of every moment. Each one is serving us a lesson that deserves our full attention, and it’s frequently true that the lessons most helpful are the ones least appreciated and understood in the present. I can be certain that whatever situations disturb me today are also guaranteed to offer me unexpected growth… END 14 15======================== (This will replace 12-FreeatLast-April17th) Julian B. Cook County Jail, Illinois Burglary STEP THREE Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God (our Higher Power) as we understand Him. In taking my Third Step, it was important for me to consider my will. In jail, it is easy to say I have turned my will over to God’s care. But what will I do once I’m free from confinement? I know that I have had enough. I don’t want to use again, and I will not use again because the consequences outweigh the high. I want to regain the good pleasurable things of life, including a strong spiritual base on which to stand. The times I have allowed God to care for me, he has faithfully directed my path. After many tries, I have decided to recommit my life over to the care of God. It is not God’s will for men to be prisoners, but he allows certain circumstances in order to perfect his will in our lives. The program saying “thy will, not mine, be done,” always helps me to remember Step Three. END 15 16===========Uncommon Life Dungy Oct29 (From the book “The One Year Uncommon Life-Daily Challenge”- by Tony Dungy) Albert Camus once said “Integrity has no need of rules.” Think about that. Rules are designed to keep behavior in order. If someone has strong character and lives with integrity, the rules are unnecessary. That person will act consistently with his or her values. That’s one reason I never had many team rules for our players. (We looked for players who had high integrity, who held themselves to a high standard.) They knew where I stood and what I expected of them. As a leader – of both my football team and my family – I realize that people have to grow into their values and learn to be accountable not to me but to their own character. It’s important to give people a certain amount of freedom, as well as the responsibilities that go with it, to allow them to grow. If they develop an inner life committed to honor and integrity, they have no need of my rules or anyone else’s. They live from the core of who they have become. That applies not only to people we lead but to ourselves. We need to live with both freedom and responsibility. We need to decide what our true values are – things like inner courage, wisdom, a sense of duty, a commitment to something larger than ourselves – and grow into those values. The character that results is ultimately what assures success for us and for our relationships. That’s the glue that holds individuals together in a bond of trust and accountability. Companies often put a higher priority on character than on competence because they know someone who functions from their integrity will be free to focus on the overall mission without character issues getting in the way. Instead of spending time correcting behavior, they will be able to move forward toward the common goal. Strong character creates trust within any group of people – a team – a business – a family – and develops an uncommon bond. UNCOMMON KEY> Don’t focus on keeping the rules. Focus on becoming the kind of person who is so strong in character that the rules aren’t even necessary. 17 ======== this will replace 13-EmilattheJail-Reflections Every time we go to an A.A. meeting, every time we say the Lord’s prayer, every time we have a quiet time, we’re paying a premium on our insurance against taking that first drink or drug. And every time we help another individual, we’re making a large payment on our addiction insurance. We’re making sure that our policy doesn’t lapse. Am I building up an endowment in serenity, peace, and happiness that will put me on easy street for the rest of my life? MEDITATION FOR THE DAY I gain faith by my own experience of God's power in my life. The constant persistent recognition of God's spirit in all my personal relationships, the ever-accumulating support of my God's guidance, the numberless instances in which seeming chance or wonderful coincidence can be traced to God's purpose in my life. All these things gradually engender a feeling of wonder, humility, and gratitude towards the Big Guy. These in turn are followed by a more sure and abiding faith in God and its purposes. PRAYER FOR THE DAY I pray that my faith may be strengthened every day. I pray that I may find confirmation of my life in the good things that have come into my life.