August 14th

DAILY PONDERABLES

Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny

Daily Reflections

REPAIRING THE DAMAGE

We attempt to sweep away the debris which has accumulated out of our effort to live on self-will and run the show ourselves. If we haven't the will to do this, we ask until it comes. Remember it was agreed at the beginning we would go to any lengths for victory over alcohol.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 76

Making a list of people I had harmed was not a particularly difficult thing to do. They had showed up in my Fourth Step inventory: people towards whom I had resentments, real or imagined, and whom I had hurt by acts of retaliation. For my recovery to be thorough, I believed it was not important for those who had legitimately harmed me to make amends to me. What is important in my relationship with God is that I stand before Him, knowing that I have done what I can to repair the damage I have done.

From the book Daily Reflections

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought for the Day

"None of us like to think that we are bodily and mentally different from others. Our drinking careers have been characterized by countless vain attempts to prove that we could drink like other people. This delusion that we are like other people has to be smashed. It has been definitely proved that no real alcoholic has ever recovered control. Over any considerable period we get worse, never better. There is no such thing as making a normal drinker out of an alcoholic." Am I convinced that I can never drink again normally?

Meditation for the Day

We should have life and have it more abundantly--spiritual, mental, physical, abundant life--joyous, powerful life. These we can have if we follow the right way. Not all people will accept from God the gift of an abundant life, a gift held out free to all. Not all people care to stretch out a hand and take it. God's gift, the richest He has to offer, is the precious gift of abundant life. People often turn away from it, reject it, and will have none of it. Do not let this be true of you.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may hasten to accept the gift of abundant spiritual life. I pray that I may live the good life to the best of my ability.

From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day

NA - Just for Today

Letting go of our limitations

Page 236

"We don't have to settle for the limitations of the past. We can examine and reexamine our old ideas."

Basic Text, p. 11

Most of us come to the program with a multitude of self-imposed limitations that prevent us from realizing our full potential, limitations that impede our attempts to find the values that lie at the core of our being. We place limitations on our ability to be true to ourselves, limitations on our ability to function at work, limitations on the risks we're willing to take-the list seems endless. If our parents or teachers told us we would never succeed, and we believed them, chances are we didn't achieve much. If our socialization taught us not to stand up for ourselves, we didn't, even if everything inside us was screaming to do so.

In Narcotics Anonymous, we are given a process by which we can recognize these false limitations for what they are. Through our Fourth Step, we'll discover that we don't want to keep all the rules we've been taught. We don't have to be the life-long victims of past experiences. We are free to discard the ideas that inhibit our growth. We are capable of stretching our boundaries to encompass new ideas and new experiences. We are free to laugh, to cry, and, above all, to enjoy our recovery.

Just for Today: I will let go of my self-imposed limitations and open my mind to new ideas.

From the book Just for Today

Thought for Today

"Spiritually is the relationship an individual has directly with God; and Religion created by man, is the dogma between God and the individual."

~ Clardy S.

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."

-- Albert Einstein

Searching inside for the soul to be free,

Grasping the light, of the Source within me.

Having fought all this time to control out of fear,

Discomfort, emotions have always been here.

Dreams of success and wealth gleen my mind,

To love and to trust, contempt so unkind.

Follow the path to my destiny, fight,

Steer clear of the dark and draw close to the light.

I am that I am with all the above,

To find and console out of patience and love.

Accept and surrender, forgive all the pain,

Being stuck in the darkness, to remain the insane.

Reminded by those who figured out how,

To just give up the past and to live in what's now.

Ginny A. (thanks Ginny)

Buddha/Zen Thoughts

He who treads the Path in earnest Sees not the mistakes of the world; If we find fault with others We ourselves are also in the wrong.

- The Sutra of Hui Neng

Native American

"It's time Indians tell the world what we know... about nature and about God. So I'm going to tell you what I know and who I am. You guys better listen. You got a lot to learn.

--Mathew King, LAKOTA

A long time ago the Creator came to Turtle Island and said to the Red People - "You will be the keepers of the Mother Earth. Among you I will give the wisdom about nature, about the interconnectedness of all things, about balance and about living in harmony. You Red People will see the secrets of nature. You will live in hardship and the blessing of this is you will stay close to the Creator. The day will come when you will need to share the secrets with the other people of the earth because they will stray from their spiritual ways. The time to start sharing is today."

Oh Great Spirit, today I am ready for You to use me as a channel of Your peace. Let my walk today be visible so the people will say "There goes a Man of God." I want to know what He knows. If they ask, I will tell them to go out into the wilderness and pray for You to guide them.

Keep It Simple

The best side of a saloon is outside. --- Anonymous

We need to stay away from places where we used to drink or use other drugs. Sometimes we need to stay away from our old using friends. But some days it's hard to stay away. We remember the fun times. Or we want a quick fix for our problems. When we feel like this, we know something is wrong. We can call our sponsor and talk about it. And get to a meeting. We need to remember how much better our lives are now. We don't want our old lives back.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me stay away from trouble. Thanks for keeping me sober today.

Action for the Day: Today, I'll make a list of places that mean trouble for me---places I need to stay away from.

Big Book

Chapter 11 A Vision For You(pg 162 & top 163)

Every few days this doctor suggests our approach to one of his patients. Understanding our work, he can do this with an eye to selecting those who are willing and able to recover on a spiritual basis. Many of us, former patients, go there to help. Then, in this eastern city, there are informal meetings such as we have described to you, where you may now see scores of members. There are the same fast friendships, there is the same helpfulness to one another as you find among our western friends. There is a good bit or travel between East and West and we foresee a great increase in this helpful interchange.

Some day we hope that every alcoholic who journeys will find a Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous at his destination. To some extent this is already true. Some of us are salesmen and go about. Little clusters of twos and threes and fives of us have sprung up in other communities, through contact with our two larger centers. Those of us who travel drop in as often as we can. This practice enables us to lend a hand, at the same time avoiding certain alluring distractions of the road, about which any traveling man can inform you.

Thus we grow. And so can you, though you be but one man with this book in your hand. We believe and hope it contains all you will need to begin.