DAILY PONDERABLES
Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny
Daily Reflections
. . .TO BE OF SERVICE
Our real purpose is to fit ourselves to be of maximum service to God
and the people about us.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 77
It is clear that God's plan for me is expressed through love. God loved
me enough to take me from alleys and jails so that I could be made a
useful participant in His world. My response is to love all of His
children through service and by example. I ask God to help me imitate
His love for me through my love for others.
From the book Daily Reflections
© Copyright 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
We in A.A. must remember that we are offering something intangible. We are offering a psychological and spiritual program. We are not offering a medical program. If people need medical treatment, we call in a doctor. If they need a medical prescription, we let the doctor prescribe for them. If they need hospital treatment, we let the hospital take care of them. Our vital A.A. work begins when a person is physically able to receive it. Am I willing to leave medical care to the doctors?
Meditation for the Day
Each moment of your day which you devote to this new way of life is a gift to God. The gift of the moments. Even when your desire to serve God is sincere, it is not an easy thing to give Him many of these moments: the daily things you had planned to do, given up gladly so that you can perform a good service or say a kind word. If you can see God's purpose in many situations, it will be easier to give Him many moments of your day. Every situation has two interpretations--your own and God's. Try to handle each situation in the way you believe God would have it handled.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may make my day count somewhat for God. I pray that I may not spend it all selfishly.
From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day
© Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation
NA - Just for Today
Trusting people
Page 225
"Most of us would have had nowhere else to go if we could not have trusted NA groups and members."
Basic Text, p. 84
Trusting people is a risk. Human beings are notoriously forgetful, unreliable, and imperfect. Most of us come from backgrounds where betrayal and insensitivity among friends were common occurrences. Even our most reliable friends weren't very reliable. By the time we arrive at the doors of NA, most of us have hundreds of experiences bearing out our conviction that people are untrustworthy. Yet our recovery demands that we trust people. We are faced with this dilemma: People are not always trustworthy, yet we must trust them. How do we do that, given the evidence of our pasts?
First, we remind ourselves that the rules of active addiction don't apply in recovery. Most of our fellow members are doing their level best to live by the spiritual principles we learn in the program. Second, we remind ourselves that we aren't 100% reliable, either. We will surely disappoint someone in our lives, no matter how hard we try not to. Third, and most importantly, we realize that we need to trust our fellow members of NA. Our lives are at stake, and the only way we can stay clean is to trust these well-intentioned folks who, admittedly, aren't perfect.
Just for Today: I will trust my fellow members. Though certainly not perfect, they are my best hope.
From the book Just for Today
© Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought for Today
"Peace is not something you must hope for in the future. Rather, it is a deepening of the present, and unless you look for it in the present you will never find it."
--Thomas Merton
The Garden of Serenity
There is a place I like to travel…
When life becomes too much for me
A mystic place where I unravel…
It's called the Garden of Serenity
This is the place I like to go…
When I'm seeking solitude
To dial it down and take it slow…
To adjust my attitude
No other place like this I know…
To stop and smell the roses
To get away from status quo…
This garden never closes
Close your eyes and drift away…
Free your minds debris
Take a mental holiday…
A moment of reprieve
Here there is no confrontation…
A place you can reflect
A calming, peaceful destination…
A chance to reconnect
In the Garden of Serenity…
There are no butterflies, bugs, or bees…
No flowers, shrubs, or trees
No grass in which to grow…
Not a single blade
No streams or rivers flow…
No water which to wade
It's here I go for meditation…
A place where I find clarity
A tranquil place of contemplation...
The Garden of Serenity
Gordon R.
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
Even in the case of individuals, there is no possibility to feel happiness through anger. If in a difficult situation one becomes disturbed internally, overwhelmed by mental discomfort, then external things will not help at all. However, if despite external difficulties or problems, internally one’s attitude is of love, warmth, and kindheartedness, then problems can be faced and accepted.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Native American
"Always remember you are Indian (human being) - do things to make your people proud."
--Joe Coyhis, STOCKBRIDGE-MUNSEE
All our choices and decisions will reflect on our people. We need to assume the accountability of honoring people. We must remember to conduct ourselves in a sacred way. Sometimes this is hard. But we must remember we have the assistance of the Spirit World, and we have the principles and values by which we should live written in our hearts. The Creator will help us develop into a strong people if we just learn to depend upon Him.
Great Spirit, lead me on the path of the Red Road.
Keep It Simple
Alcoholism isn't a spectator sport. Eventually the whole family gets to play.
--- Joyce Rebeta-Burditt
One of the biggest lies addicts can tell themselves is, "I'm not hurting anyone but myself."
This is just another way we don't see how important we are to others.
During our using, love was a burden. When anyone showed love for us, we turned away. They hurt. And we hurt.
In recovery, when ready, we try and help our families heal. We listen as
they speak of how our illness has hurt them. We comfort them as they tell their stories. Remember, our illness hurt them. Remember, our recovery will help them heal.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me face the pain my illness has brought to others. Let me know their pain. Let it help me stay sober.
Action for the Day: I will list all persons my illness has hurt. I will say a prayer for them, even if they have harmed me.
Big Book
Chapter 11 A Vision For You (pg 150 & top 151)
FOR MOST normal folks, drinking means conviviality, companionship and colorful imagination. It means release from care, boredom and worry. It is joyous intimacy with friends and a feeling that life is good. But not so with us in those last days of heavy drinking. The old pleasures were gone. They were but memories. Never could we recapture the great moments of the past. There was an insistent yearning to enjoy life as we once did and a heartbreaking obsession that some new miracle of control would enable us to do it. There was always one more attempt-and one more failure.
The less people tolerated us, the more we withdrew from society, from life itself. As we became subjects of King Alcohol, shivering denizens of his mad realm, the chilling vapor that is loneliness settled down. It thickened, ever becoming blacker. Some of us sought out sordid places, hoping to find understanding companionship and approval. Momentarily we did-then would come oblivion and the awful awakening to face the hideous Four Horsemen - Terror, Bewilderment, Frustration, Despair. Unhappy drinkers who read this page will understand!
Now and then a serious drinker, being dry at the moment says, "I don’t miss it at all. Feel better. Work better. Having a better time." As ex-problem drinkers, we smile at such a sally. We know our friend is like a boy whistling in the dark to keep up his spirits. He fools himself. Inwardly he would give anything to take half a dozen drinks and get away with them. He will presently try the old game again, for he isn’t happy about his sobriety. He cannot picture life without alcohol. Some day he will be unable to imagine life either with alcohol or without it. Then he will know loneliness such as few do. He will be at the jumping-off place. He will wish for the end.
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