DAILY PONDERABLES
Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny
Daily Reflections
INTO ACTION
A.A. is more than a set of principles; it is a society of alcoholics in action. We must carry the message, else we ourselves can wither and those who haven't been given the truth may die.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 13
I desperately wanted to live, but if I was to succeed, I had to become active in our God-given program. I joined what became my group, where I opened the hall, made coffee, and cleaned up. I had been sober about three months when an old-timer told me I was doing Twelfth Step work. What a satisfying realization that was! I felt I was really accomplishing something. God had given me a second chance, A.A. had shown me the way, and these gifts were not only free --- the were also priceless! Now the joy of seeing newcomers grow reminds me of where I have come from, where I am now, and the limitless possibilities that lie ahead. I need to attend meetings because they recharge my batteries so that I have light when it's needed. I'm still a beginner in service work, but already I am receiving more than I'm giving. I can't keep it unless I give it away. I am responsible when another reaches out for help. I want to be there --- sober.
From the book Daily Reflections
© Copyright 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
If we allow an alcoholic thought to lodge in our minds for any length of time, we are in danger of having a slip. Therefore we must dispel such thoughts at once, by refusing their admittance and by immediately putting constructive thoughts in their place. Remember that alcohol is poison to you. Remember that it is impossible for you to drink normally. Remember that one drink will lead to others and you will eventually be drunk. Remember what happened to you in the past as a result of your drinking. Think of every reason you have learned in A.A. for not taking that drink. Fill your mind with constructive thoughts. Am I keeping my thoughts constructive?
Meditation for the Day
Always seek to set aside the valuations of the world, which seem wrong and try to judge only by those valuations, which seem right to you. Do not seek the praise and notice of the world. Be one of those who, though sometimes scoffed at, have a serenity and peace of mind, which the scoffers never know. Be one of that bands that feel the Divine Principle in the universe, though He be often rejected because He cannot be seen.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may not heed too much the judgment of the world. I pray that I may test things by what seems right to me.
From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day
© Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation
NA - Just for Today
"We know that if we pray for God's will we will receive what is best for us, regardless of what we think."
Basic Text pg. 44
By the time we came to NA, our inner voices had become unreliable and self-destructive. Addiction had warped our desires, our interests, our sense of what was best for ourselves. That's why it's been so important in recovery to develop our belief in a Power greater than ourselves, something that could provide saner, more reliable guidance than our own. We've begun learning how to rely on this Power's care and to trust the inner direction it provides us.
As with all learning processes, it takes practice to "pray only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out." The selfish, ego-driven attitudes we developed in our addiction are not cast off overnight. Those attitudes may affect the way we pray. We may even find ourselves praying something like, "Relieve me of this character defect so I can look good."
The more straightforward we are about our own ideas and desires, the easier it will be to distinguish between our own will and our Higher Power's will. "Just for your information, God;" we might pray, "here's what I want in this situation. Nonetheless, I ask that your will, not mine, be done." Once we do this, we are prepared to recognize and accept our Higher Power's guidance.
Just for today: Higher Power, I've learned to trust your guidance, yet I still have my own ideas about how I want to live my life. Let me share those ideas with you, and then let me clearly understand your will for me. In the end, let your will, not mine, be done.
pg. 354
From the book Just for Today
© Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought for Today
"Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude
toward it, for that determines our success or failure.
The way you think about a fact may defeat you before
you ever do anything about it. You are overcome by
the fact because you think you are." --Norman Vincent Peale
Honest Open Prayerful Enthusiastic
Life lived for tomorrow will always be just a day away from being realized.
~~ Leo Buscaglia
Well I tell the truth.
And I do the next right thing. And I turn the other cheek, I've ceased fighting everything. And I walk a humble path, and I help a Neighbor. And I pick up trash, I do a friend a favor. And I want what I have, so I have what I want, and I try to listen daily, to everything that I've been taught. I pray to God, though I don't understand, and he gives to me everything that he can. One day at a time, make my bed in the morning, talk to my friend God, let him do all the sorting, of the people, the places , and the things that aren't mine, and the angels that lead me through space and through time. And when my day is over, and I've said my last prayer, I have God in my heart and I haven't a care. So that's how I do it, how I make my life shine, how I live in each and every moment ... One Day At A Time.
Thomas F.
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
Before you begin meditation take several slow, deep breaths. Hold your body erect, allowing your breathing to become normal again. Many thoughts will crowd into your mind, ignore them, letting them go. If they persist be aware of them with the awareness, which does not think. In other words, think non-thinking.
-Zen Master Dogen, "Fukanzazengi"
Native American
"In the end I tell my children, there's no way I can tell you how to be an Acoma, how to be an Indian. You have to experience it."
--Stanley Paytiamo, ACOMA PUEBLO
Each person must make their own journey. It is like every human is given a life canoe. The canoe has one seat and one paddle. In order to get anything out of life we must be in the canoe and we must paddle down the river of life. Now, I can share with you how my journey has been, but I cannot paddle your canoe. You must paddle your own. Good luck!
Creator, I'm so glad I have You to guide my path.
Walk In Dry Places
The Lure of Greener Pastures
Gratitude
One of our old-timers spent a great deal of time trying to find a new job but never succeeding. When he finally retired, on a good pension, it became clear that the job he had kept was probably better and provided more benefits than any job he had been seeking. He was fortunate that none of his proposed job searches ever worked out.
The fantasy of finding "greener pastures" is something many of us face, in both drinking and sobriety.
We may be very well off where we are, yet feel that something rich and exciting is over in the next meadow. We can feel this way about our jobs, our lifestyles, and our locations.
The answer to this greener-pastures obsession is to feel more gratitude for what we have here and now. We might also focus more upon today's activities and less upon impossible dreams of other places.
There may be greener pastures somewhere, but I'll first look for the opportunities and benefits of my own life and surroundings. I may be richly blessed without knowing it.
Big Book
" When we saw others solve their problems by a simple reliance upon the
Spirit of the Universe, we had to stop doubting the power of God. Our
ideas did not work. But the God idea did."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, We Agnostics, Page 52~
Why Hope Needs Help
We hear it said at meetings as a member starts to share
About how they were desperate, how they felt that no one cared
They’d lost all hope that they could ever put away the drink
Alone upon a ship that’s taking water, soon to sink
But as the bow began to dip beneath the raging sea
A life boat came to rescue them, an answer to their plea
The boat’s crew knew that feeling well and that is why they came
To give them hope, a final chance to their old self reclaim
A lot of us come to AA, unsure of what we’ll find
A shabby room, its residents, the lowest of mankind
To our surprise the place was nice, the people seemed okay
They didn’t act the way we felt, their smiles gave that away
Some told of how they’d lost it all, how drinking pulled them down
The spouse had left, the job was lost, old friends won’t come around
Yet, somehow they had found a way to climb out of their mire
A last-ditch chance to save themselves, an obsession rectifier
And as we listened, feelings stirred, perhaps there is still hope
That we too could get clean at last, away from booze and dope
We wanted what these others had, do what we had to do
To recover from what we’d become, begin our lives anew
We hoped that it would work for us and started out committed
Attend a meeting every day or when out time permitted
To call our sponsor daily or sometimes just leave a message
Why bother them, they’re bust too, no need to be excessive
Some months have passed without a drink, we think we’re doing fine
We skip a meeting for a week, no booze, no drugs no crime
We start to think we may have over played how bad we were
We now could surely handle just one drink, should we prefer
And so it starts, that one drink reignites those old desires
In no time we are back to where we started, hope expires
But some of us do make it back, to try it once again
Ashamed to face our fellows, yet we’re welcomed as a friend
They tell us to keep coming back, don’t quit, there still is hope
To find the peace that we have found, a way to help us cope
But hoping just won’t do the trick, it still will need some help
By doing what’s suggested, not for us, but for yourself
Just hoping for an outcome is a path to disappointment
Unless you’re set to do the work, the hoping part is pointless
It’s hope that gets us started towards a better way to live
So help it out and work the Steps, they have so much to give.
Larry R.
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