DAILY PONDERABLES
Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny
Daily Reflections
THINKING OF OTHERS
Our very lives, as ex-problem drinkers, depend upon our constant thought of others and how we may help meet their needs.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 20
Thinking of others has never come easily to me. Even when I try to work the A.A. program, I'm prone to thinking, "How do I feel today. Am I happy, joyous and free?"
The program tells me that my thoughts must reach out to those around me: "Would that newcomer welcome someone to talk to?" "That person looks a little unhappy today, maybe I could cheer him up." It is only when I forget my problems, and reach out to contribute something to others that I can begin to attain the serenity and God-consciousness I seek.
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 come now to A.A. fellowship. It is partly group therapy. It is partly spiritual fellowship. But it is even more. it is based on a common illness, a common failure, a common problem. It goes deep down into our personal lives and our personal needs. it requires a full opening up to each other of our inmost thoughts and most secret problems. All barriers between us are swept aside. They have to be. Then we try to help each other get well. The A.A. fellowship is based on a sincere desire to help each other get well. The A.A. fellowship is based on a sincere desire to help the other person. In A.A. we can be sure of sympathy, understanding, and real help. These things make the A.A. fellowship the best that we know. Do I fully appreciate the depth of the A.A. fellowship?
Meditation for the Day
The Higher Power can guide us to the right decisions if we pray about them. We can believe that many details of our lives are planned by God and planned with a wealth of forgiving love for the mistakes we have made. We can pray today to be shown the right way. We can choose the good, and when we choose it, we can feel that the whole power of the universe is behind us. We can achieve a real harmony with God's purpose for our lives.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may choose aright today. I pray that I may be shown the right way to live today.
From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day
© Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation
NA - Just for Today
Membership
"There is only one requirement for membership, the desire to stop using."
Basic Text pg. 9
We all know people who could benefit from Narcotics Anonymous. Many people we encounter from all walks of life - our family members, old friends, and co-workers - could really use a program of recovery in their lives. Sadly, those who need us don't always find their way to our rooms.
NA is a program of attraction, not promotion. We are only members when we say we are. We can bring our friends and loved ones to a meeting if they are willing, but we cannot force them to embrace the way of life that has given us freedom from active addiction.
Membership in Narcotics Anonymous is a highly personal decision. The choice to become a member is made in the heart of each individual addict. In the long run, coerced meeting attendance doesn't keep too many addicts in our rooms. Only addicts who are still suffering, if given the opportunity, can decide if they are powerless over their addiction. We can carry the message, but we can't carry the addict.
Just for today: I am grateful for my decision to become a member of Narcotics Anonymous.
pg. 363
From the book Just for Today
© Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought for Today
“The gift is to the giver, and comes back most to him – it cannot fail.”
— Walt Whitman
You can only see what you can't see when you can see it ... Chuck C.
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
The problem is not materialism as such. Rather, it is the underlying assumption that full satisfaction can arise from gratifying the senses alone. Unlike animals whose quest for happiness is restricted to survival and to the immediate gratification of sensory desires, we human beings have the capacity to experience happiness at a deeper level which, when achieved, can overwhelm unhappy experiences.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Native American
"In our language there is no word to say inferior or superiority or equality because we are equal; it's a known fact. But life has become very complicated since the newcomers came here. And how does your spirit react to it?. It's painful. You have to be strong to walk through the storm. I know I'm a bridge between two worlds. All I ask is for people to wash their feet before they try to walk on me."
--Alanis Obomsawin, ABENAKI
For native people who speak their language, English can be very confusing. Many times you cannot express in English the true meaning of Indian words. When we hear something in English we sometimes react or our spirit reacts. Sometimes we need to use English words out of order to express our true meanings. We need to be patient and pray. Living in two worlds can be difficult. Life is painful sometimes. The pain of life is where the lessons are learned.
Creator, let me learn the lessons You have taught my people.
Keep It Simple
Live and Let Live --- AA slogan
In our addiction, we didn't care. We didn't care about other people, even though we wanted to. We just didn't come through for them in ways that mattered. We didn't care for ourselves. We let bad things happen to us. We didn't care about living. We set no goals, had no fun, smelled no flowers.
In our recovery, we do care. We care about others, ourselves, and life. Our spirits are on the move again.
There's life in our hearts. Our bodies are getting well. And we're daring to dream. We're living!
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, put some life and energy into me today. Help me love my new life.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll focus on being alive. As I breathe in, I'll gather more and more life energy from nature.
Big Book
"How dark it is before the dawn! In reality that was the beginning of
my last debauch. I was soon to be catapulted into what I like to call
the fourth dimension of existence. I was to know happiness, peace, and
usefulness, in a way of life that is incredibly more wonderful as time
passes."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Bill's Story, pg. 8
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