Daily Reflections, April 4th

CRYING FOR THE MOON

"This very real feeling of inferiority is magnified by his childish sensitivity and it is this state of affairs which generates in him that insatiable, abnormal craving for self-approval and success in the eyes of the world. Still a child, he cries for the moon. And the moon, it seems, won't have him.!"

LANGUAGE OF THE HEART, p. 102

While drinking I seemed to vacillate between feeling totally invisible and believing I was the center of the universe. Searching for that elusive balance between the two has become a major part of my recovery. The moon I constantly cried for is, in sobriety, rarely full; it shows me instead its many other phases, and there are lessons in them all. True learning has often followed an eclipse, a time of darkness, but with each cycle of my recovery, the light grows stronger and my vision is clearer.

Twenty-Four Hours A Day, April 4th

A.A. Thought for the Day

When I came into A.A., I found men and women who had been through the same things I had been through. But now they were thinking more about how they could help others than they were about them selves. They were a lot more unselfish than I ever was. By coming to meetings and associating with them, I began to think a little less about myself and a little more about other people. I also learned that I didn't have to depend on myself alone to get out of the mess I was in. I could get a greater strength than my own. Am I now depending less on myself and more on God?

Meditation for the Day

You cannot help others unless you understand the person you are trying to help. To understand the problems and temptations of others, you must have been through them yourself. You must do all you can to understand others. You must study their back grounds, their likes and dislikes, their reactions and their prejudices. When you see their weaknesses, do not confront the person with them. Share your own weaknesses, sins, and temptations and let other people find their own convictions.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may serve as a channel for God's power to come into the lives of others. I pray that I may try to understand them.

NA - Just for Today, April 4th

Guarding our recovery

Page 98

"Remember that we... are ultimately responsible for our recovery and our decisions."

Basic Text, p. 103

Most of us will face choices that challenge our recovery. If we find ourselves in extreme physical pain, for example, we will have to decide whether or not we will take medication. We will have to be very honest with ourselves about the severity of our pain, honest with our doctor about our addiction and our recovery, and honest with our sponsor In the end, however, the decision is ours, for we are the ones who must live with the consequences.

Another common challenge is the choice of attending a party where alcohol will be served. Again, we should consider our own spiritual state. If someone who supports our recovery can attend the event with us, so much the better. However, if we don't feel up to such a challenge, we should probably decline the invitation. Today, we know that preserving our recovery is more important than saving face.

All such decisions are tough ones, requiring not only our careful consideration but the guidance of our sponsor and complete surrender to a Higher Power Using all of these resources, we make the best decision we can. Ultimately, however, the decision is ours. Today, we are responsible for our own recovery.

Just for Today: When faced with a decision that may challenge my recovery I will consult all the resources at my disposal before I make my choice.

Thought for Today, April 4th

"In the province of the mind, what one believes to be true either is true or becomes true."

-John Lilly

God Bless The Alcoholic

by Angela M.

God loves the alcoholic

For who knows mercy like he

A sensitive in this cold, hard world

He drinks spirits to be free

God bless the alcoholic

Shunned by friends and foe

Who can know what drives him

When he himself can’t know

God help the alcoholic

His thorn is his disease

Destroying things he once held dear

Is there a life for these?

God carry the alcoholic

It’s a sliding, slippery slope

Protect and guide his steps until

He finds the rooms of hope.

Angie M.

For Today --

It is a spiritual axiom that every time we are disturbed, no

matter what the cause, there is something wrong with us.

-- Twelve Steps And Twelve Traditions, page 90

***********************************************

Whatever hurt he brings to you, you will make answer with

this very simple single truth. You are doing this to yourself.

Cut it out! You are inflicting pain on yourself in your own

dream and determined to make it real to keep your identity.

For this one answer takes away the cause of every form of

sorrow and of pain.  Don’t you see?

- A Course In Miracles

***********************************************

The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation

but your thoughts about it.

-- Eckhart Tolle

Thanks Bill C.

Buddha/Zen Thoughts, April 4th

Leslie on Yoga & the Breath:

Student: "How is the relationship between the diaphragm and the breath relevant in a yoga class for me, as a student?"

Leslie: "Good question. I'd say that without that relationship, it's not actually a yoga class. It may be stretching or calisthenics, but what makes it yoga is the conscious integration of movement, mind and breath."

Native American, April 4th

"You can pray for whatever you want, but it is always best to pray for others, not for yourself."

--John Fire Lame Deer, LAKOTA

When you are selfish and you pray, you are requesting things to flow only to you. When you are selfless, you are praying for things to flow to others. The old ones say this is the highest form of prayer. Praying this way is according to the Natural Laws.

Great Spirit, today, let my thoughts be about others.

Keep It Simple, April 4th

Pray without resentment in your heart.   

- The Little Red Book

Resentment is anger that we don't want to turn over to our Higher Power.

Sometimes we want to keep our anger. Maybe we want to "get even." it's hard to be spiritual and full of anger at the same time. When we hold on to anger, it turns into self-will. We get angry from time to time. This is normal. But we now have a program to help us let go of anger. We also know that stored-up anger can drive us back to alcohol and other drugs. Instead of trying to "get even," let's work at keeping anger out of our hearts.

Prayer for the Day 

I pray without anger in my heart. Higher Power, I give You my anger. Have me work for justice, instead of acting like a judge.

Action For the Day

I'll list any resentments I now have. I'll talk about them at my next meeting. This is the best way to turn resentments over to my Higher Power.

Big Book, April 4th

Chapter 2 THERE IS A SOLUTION (pg 23 & top 24)

These observations would be academic and pointless if our friend never took the first drink, thereby setting the terrible cycle in motion. Therefore, the main problem of the alcoholic centers in his mind, rather than in his body. If you ask him why he started on that last bender, the chances are he will offer you any one of a hundred alibis. Sometimes these excuses have a certain plausibility, but none of them really makes sense in the light of the havoc an alcoholic's drinking bout creates. They sound like the philosophy of the man who, having a headache, beats himself on the head with a hammer so that he can't feel the ache. If you draw this fallacious reasoning to the attention of an alcoholic, he will laugh it off, or become irritated and refuse to talk.

Once in a while he may tell the truth. And the truth, strange to say, is usually that he has no more idea why he took that first drink than you have. Some drinkers have excuses with which they are satisfied part of the time. But in their hearts they really do not know why they do it. Once this malady has a real hold, they are a baffled lot. There is the obsession that somehow, someday, they will beat the game. But they often suspect they are down for the count.

How true this is, few realize. In a vague way their families and friends sense that these drinkers are abnormal, but everybody hopefully awaits the day when the sufferer will rouse himself from his lethargy and assert his power of will.

The tragic truth is that if the man be a real alcoholic, the happy day may not arrive. He has lost control. At a certain point in the drinking of every alcoholic, he passes into a state where the most powerful desire to stop drinking is of absolutely no avail. This tragic situation has already arrived in practically every case long before it is suspected.

Acceptance vs Tolerance

Larry R.

In AA we are taught, acceptance is the key

That opens up the door, to our sobriety

Accept that we have lost control, not sure if we can mend

But who wants to admit the fact, we fight it to the end?

As we approach our bottom, still holding on to hope

Tomorrow will be different, no more booze, no pills no dope

Then tomorrow comes, nothing has changed, it’s still the same old script

We’re high again, we know despair, it’s got us in its grip

Some of us hard drinkers had a moment when we knew

The gig was up, our cupboard bare, we were the lucky few

Who found the rooms with folks like us, to show what we could be?

If we would just accept this fact, a chance to set us free

Accept we did, we could not keep pretending any more

All hope was gone, we cried out for the life we had before

We made a firm commitment to regain what we had lost

From years of alcohol abuse, ‘twas time to pay the cost

But there were times at meeting when we struggled to accept

What other members had to say, we wanted to protest

Yet, we knew the meeting’s not the place to voice our disapproval

Or try to see them chastised or suggesting their removal

Tolerance for others does not have to mean acceptance

We have the right to disagree, no need for acquiescence

When offended by their actions or the thing they chose to share

Call them aside at meetings end and get your feelings aired

A member called another out for what was on his shirt

A slogan that he did not like, his feelings to exert

A hush descended on the room, most members were unsure

If they should tell this fellow he was acting like a boor

At meetings end a member did approach this other speaker

Explained the meetings not the place to vent like he’s a preacher

Suggested that when he’s upset by someone’s words or actions

Once the meetings done there’s time to convey your reaction

That member in the corner adds his atheistic views

And most the others members feel his thinking is confused

But because he’s staying sober and he keeps on coming back

We tolerate his opinion, just not accept it as a fact

We’re not required to accept all other members say

Yet, we need to practice tolerance, keep our animus at bay

After all we’re only human, with our assets and our flaws

And when someone irritates us, that’s the time to take a pause

Larry R.