DAILY PONDERABLES
Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny
Daily Reflections
A GLORIOUS RELEASE
"The minute I stopped arguing, I could begin to see and feel. Right there, Step Two gently and very gradually began to infiltrate my life. I can't say upon what occasion or upon what day I came to believe in a Power Greater than myself, but I certainly have that belief now. To acquire it, I had only to stop fighting and practice the rest of A.A.'s program as enthusiastically as I could."
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 27
After years of indulging in a "self-will run riot," Step Two became for me a glorious release from being all alone. Nothing is so painful or insurmountable in my journey now. Someone is always there to share life's burdens with me. Step Two became a reinforcement with God, and now I realize that my insanity and ego were curiously linked. To rid myself of the former, I must give up the latter to one with far broader shoulders than my own.
From the book Daily Reflections
© Copyright 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
One thing we learn in A.A. is to take a long view of drinking instead of a short view. When we were drinking we thought more about the pleasure or release that a drink would give us than we did about the consequences that would result from our taking that drink. Liquor looks good from the short view. When we look in a package store window, we see liquor dressed up in its best wrappings, with fancy labels and decorations. They look swell. But have I learned that what's inside those beautiful bottles is just plain poison to me?
Meditation for the Day
I believe that life is a school in which I must learn spiritual things. I must trust in God and He will teach me. I must listen to God and He will speak through my mind. I must commune with Him in spite of all opposition and every obstacle. There will be days when I will hear no voice in my mind and when there will come no intimate heart-to-heart communion. But if I persist, and make a life habit of schooling myself in spiritual things, God will reveal Himself to me in many ways.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may regularly go to school in things of the spirit. I pray that I may grow spiritually by making a practice of these things.
From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day
© Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation
NA - Just for Today
Keep coming back!
Page 37
"We are grateful that we were made so welcome at meetings that we felt comfortable."
Basic Text, p. 83
Remember how scared we were when we walked into our first NA meeting? Even if we walked in with a friend, most of us recall how difficult it was to attend that first meeting. What was it that kept us coming back? Most of us have grateful memories of the welcome we were given and how comfortable that made us feel. When we raised our hand as a newcomer, we opened the door for other members to approach us and welcome us.
Sometimes the difference between those addicts who walk back out the door of their first meeting, never to return to NA, and the addicts who stay to seek recovery is the simple hug of an NA member. When we have been clean awhile, it's easy to step back from the procession of newcomers-after all, we've seen so many people come and go. But members with some clean time can make the difference between the addict who doesn't return and the addict who keeps coming back. By offering our phone numbers, a hug, or just a warm welcome, we extend the hand of Narcotics Anonymous to the addict who still suffers.
Just for Today: I remember the welcome I was given when I first came to NA. Today, I will express my gratitude by offering a hug to a newcomer.
From the book Just for Today
© Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought for Today
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
― Marcel Proust
We are in a simple program described in thousands of ways. Sadly, or fortunately, what we describe cannot be explained. An emotion is not a thought. Emotions are our internal compass. The gift of our addiction is that it brings us to a simple instructional outline to follow which changes our self-made “hell on earth” [into] a virtual heaven on earth.
The simple instructional program, when followed as a way of life, yields a solid connection between our emotional self and our thinking self. The result is euphoric if the connection is perfect.
Morning meditations serve as anchors to our emotional reality as our thinking self has been running loose during our sleep. Simple. Each of us emotionally interprets words differently at various times. Therefore, it is helpful to have the simplicity communicated to us in thousands of ways. One of the ways will be more easily understood at a moment in time than another.
~Jim C.
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
Anger or hatred is like a fisherman's hook. It is very important for us to ensure that we are not caught by it.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Native American
"Let the person I serve express his thanks according to his own bringing up and his sense of humor."
--Charles A. Eastman (Ohiyesa), SANTEE SIOUX
"It is better to give than receive." But it doesn't really matter if we are giving or receiving. There is an identical feeling associated with both. We get this feeling every time we receive. We can't control when we receive gifts but we can control when we give gifts. Therefore, the more we give, the better we feel. When we are given gifts, or someone does something for us, it is the Indian way to honor this person.
Great Spirit, let me honor and be respectful to those who are good to me today.
Keep It Simple
Don't bite at the bait of pleasure till you know there is no hook beneath it. --- Thomas Jefferson
Pleasure is important in recovery. But at times we think pleasure is the answer to life's pains. Alcohol and other drugs were what we liked best. We need to watch out so we don't switch to another addiction--such as gambling, food, sex, or work. The real answer to life's pains is in having a strong spiritual center. It is also our best way to avoid another addiction. Recovery lets us turn our pain over to the care of our Higher Power. Our Higher Power can handle any problem we may have. Our program can help us with our problems too. Recovery is a three-way deal. Higher Power, program, and us.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me avoid another addiction. When I have problems, have me come to You and to my program before anything else.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll set aside time and ask the question, "Am I headed for another addiction/" I'll also ask my sponsor what he or she thinks.
Big Book
"When we became alcoholics, crushed by a self-imposed crisis we could
not postpone or evade, we had to fearlessly face the proposition that
either God is everything or else He is nothing. God either is or He
isn't."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, We Agnostics, pg. 53~
No More Fun
When I first joined the fellowship, I had a few concerns
Not knowing much about AA, twas fearful when I learned
That if I wanted what they had, I’d really have to change
And rid myself of my old ways, completely rearrange
The first thing I heard someone say, I did not comprehend
He said that they had found a way to never drink again
Not ever, ever drink again, that’s not why I came here
To get the wife off of my back and moderate my beer
The next thought that caused me to fret, enticing me to run
If I could never drink again, a life with no more fun
Life would be dull, enjoyment gone, the good times never more
For life without my alcohol, I’d turn into a bore
I’d think about the many times where drinking was a part
Those fishing trips and football games, a drink the way to start
Or sitting on my favorite bar and drinking with my friends
I’d miss all that and think of how I wished it would not end
But while I sat and reminisced about those fun filled days
Some other thoughts came in my mind and real concerns were raised
Like when I went to watch a game, some guys I went to meet
When half time came, I looked the fool, passed out there in my seat
I thought about another time, a fun time at the bar
On my way home, I hit a tree and ruined my new car
Police arrived, they checked me out, I new they could not fail
To see that I was very drunk, away I went to jail
It took some time for me to see and finally realize
That what I thought was having fun was trouble in disguise
And at that time, a light came on, and then I understood
My drinking I could not control and knew I never would
Back in the rooms I took to heart what others had to say
Keep coming back, put in the work, get on your knees and pray
And before long, to my surprise, things did begin to change
The stuff that once had baffled me now did not seem so strange
I came to see a different way to live, my life at peace
And with that came a benefit, my troubles start to cease
Now when I’m at a football game or fishing on the sea
I’m there to just enjoy the day, sober, calm and free
When I think back to those first days, I find myself amused
No fun, I thought, but now I laugh, how I was so confused
It’s not the booze that made times great, the good times just begun
Enjoy each day, the things you do, a sober life IS FUN.
Larry R.
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