DAILY PONDERABLES
Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny
Daily Reflections
HAPPINESS IS NOT THE POINT
I don't think happiness or unhappiness is the point. How do we meet the problems we face? How do we best learn from them and transmit what we have learned to others, if they would receive the knowledge?
AS BILL SEE IT, p. 306
In my search "to be happy," I changed jobs, married and divorced, took geographical cures, and ran myself into debt - financially, emotionally and spiritually. In A.A., I'm learning to grow up. Instead of demanding that people, places and things make me happy, I can ask God for self-acceptance. When a problem overwhelms me, A.A.'s Twelve Steps will help me grow through the pain. The knowledge I gain can be a gift to others who suffer with the same problem.. As Bill said, " When pain comes, we are expected to learn form it willingly, and help others to learn. When happiness comes, we accept it as gift, and thank God for it. " (As Bill See It, p. 306)
From the book Daily Reflections
© Copyright 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
The A.A. program is one of submission, release, and action. When were drinking, we're submitting to a power greater than ourselves, liquor. Our own wills are no use against the power of liquor. One drink and we're sunk. in A.A. we stop submitting to the power of liquor. Instead, we submit to a Power, also greater than ourselves, which we call God. Have I submitted myself to that Higher Power?
Meditation for the Day
Ceaseless activity is not God's plan for your life. Times of withdrawal for renewed strength are always necessary. Wait for the faintest tremor of fear and stop all work, everything, and rest before God until you are strong again. Deal in the same way with all tired feelings. Then you need rest of body and renewal of spirit force. Saint Paul said: "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." This does not mean that you are to do all things and then rely on God to find strength. it means that you are to do the things you believe God wants you to do and only then can you rely on His supply of power.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that God's spirit may be my master always. I pray that I may learn how to rest and listen, as well as how to work.
From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day
© Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation
NA - Just for Today
Self-acceptance
Page 120
"The most effective means of achieving self-acceptance is through applying the Twelve Steps of recovery."
IP No. 19, Self-Acceptance
Most of us came to Narcotics Anonymous without much self-acceptance. We looked at the havoc we had wreaked in our active addiction, and we loathed ourselves. We had difficulty accepting our past and the self-image produced by it.
Self-acceptance comes more quickly when we first accept that we have a disease called addiction, because it's easier to accept ourselves as sick people than as bad people. And the easier it is to accept ourselves, the easier it becomes to accept responsibility for ourselves.
We achieve self-acceptance through the process of ongoing recovery. Working the Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous teaches us to accept ourselves and our lives. Spiritual principles like surrender, honesty, faith, and humility help relieve us of the burden of our past mistakes. Our attitude changes with the application of these principles in our daily lives. Self-acceptance grows as we grow in recovery.
Just for Today: Self-acceptance is a process set in motion by the Twelve Steps. Today, I will trust the process, practice the steps, and learn to better accept myself.
From the book Just for Today
© Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought for Today
Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
~ Confucius
"Detachment" is not that you should own "Nothing",
But that "Nothing" should own you. (thanks Stu K.)
The Record for Sobriety is 24 hours. Sober Voices - Raleigh Zoom Meeting
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
If those who are like wanton children
Are by nature prone to injure others,
What point is there in being angry--
Like resenting fire for its heat?
-Bodhicaryavatara
There is an old saying, “nobody buys a drill because they want a drill, they buy one because they want a hole.” It is not always what you want, but what you ultimately need that drives our desires.
Native American
"If those bad words come, I let them come in one ear and go out the other. I never let them come out of my mouth. If a bad word comes in your ear and then comes out of your mouth, it will go someplace and hurt somebody. If I did that, that hurt would come back twice as hard on me."
--Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA
What do we do with temptations when they come? What do we do when we hear gossip? What do we do when we hear bad things? If we hear these things and pass them on we will not only hurt the other person, but we will do harm to ourselves. We must be careful not to hurt others. Whatever we sow we will simultaneously reap for ourselves. We must be accountable for our own actions.
Great Spirit, today, let no words come from my lips that would hurt another.
Keep It Simple
Too many people miss the silver lining because they're expecting gold.
--- Maurice Setter
Silver shines as bright as gold does. So often we forget this. So often we push, push, push. We forget to live for the moment. Trying too hard can be a defect of character. It can be a way we avoid life. Gratitude, being thankful, is key part of recovery. Not just gratitude for getting our self-respect back. Not just gratitude for having a Higher Power. But gratitude for the moment. We're alive again. Let's see each moment as a time to explore life..
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thanks for helping me to enjoy each moment. I have gratitude for being alive.
Action for the Day: I'll list ten gifts of recovery for which I have gratitude.
Big Book
Chapter 4 We Agnostics (pg 46)
Yes, we of agnostic temperament have had these thoughts and experiences. Let us make haste to reassure you. We found that as soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe in a Power greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results, even though it was impossible for any of us to fully define or comprehend that Power, which is God.
Much to our relief, we discovered we did not need to consider another's conception of God. Our own conception, however inadequate, was sufficient to make the approach and to effect a contact with Him. As soon as we admitted the possible existence of a Creative Intelligence, a Spirit of the Universe underlying the totality of things, we began to be possessed of a new sense of power and direction, provided we took other simple steps. We found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him. To us, the Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive; never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek. It is open, we believe, to all men.
INDIFFERENCE
Just when you think you’ve heard it all, you make get a surprise
You hear something you’ve not before; it opens up your eyes
A member shared his thoughts about the two words, love and hate
They’re said to be the opposite, the two do not equate
But he proposed another word that, a substitute for hate
That word he used, indifference, I knew I could relate
While hate’s the first word come to mind, love’s absolute inverse
This other word still fits as love’s emotional reverse
When alcohol consumes our lives, true love is left behind
We gain a new false sense of love, the bottle fills our mind
And when the most important thing is getting that next drink
The feelings that we used to have, like love, begins to sink
Love is about caring for those others in your life
Your friends and blood relations, for your children and your wife
But alcohol destroys all that, the caring starts to wane
It’s self-afflicted misery, alone, despair and pain
We then become indifferent, thinking only of our needs
Not caring what our love ones say, a deaf ear to their pleas
Content to just be left alone, the drink our only friend
We sometimes try to show we care, but really just pretend
A friend has some big problem so he calls us on the phone
We try to act receptive but we have problems of our own
And ours are more important, we’re indifferent to his plight
So, we drink away OUR problems with our liquid parasite
We come into the rooms and think, if only we stop drinking
Those other defects that we have would certainly start shrinking
To some extent they do recede, yet some will still persist
Indifference’s been with us so long it’s harder to resist
The last years of our drinking self-indulgence was guide
A thought to be of service was so quickly put aside
Concern for others welfare was beyond our comprehension
Whatever concerned US now became the thing needing attention
At last, we’re in the AA rooms, convinced we had to change
We got a sponsor, worked the Steps, our life style rearranged
Yet there are times when some old ways attempt to reappear
We say we’re glad to help someone, but we are not sincere
To overcome indifference is, for some, a work in progress
We know to we have to learn to care, to love again, a process
The fellowship and service work can help us on our quest
The program gives us many gifts, regaining love’s the best
Larry R.
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