DAILY PONDERABLES
Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny
Daily Reflections
CONVINCING "MR. HYDE"
Even then, as we hew away, peace and joy will still elude us. That's the place so many of us A.A. oldsters have come to. And it's a hell of a spot, literally. How shall our unconscious --- from which so many of our fears, compulsions and phony aspirations still stream --- be brought into line with what we actually believe, know and want! How to convince our dumb, raging and hidden "Mr. Hyde" becomes our main task.
THE BEST OF BILL, pp. 42-43
Regular attendance at meetings, serving and helping others is the recipe that many have tried and found to be successful. Whenever I stray from these basic principles, my old habits resurface and my old self also comes back with all its fears and defects. The ultimate goal of each A.A. member is permanent sobriety, achieved One Day at a Time.
From the book Daily Reflections
© Copyright 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
When the morning sun comes up on a nice bright day and we jump out of bed, we're thankful to God that we feel well and happy instead of sick and disgusted. Serenity and happiness have become much more important to us than the excitement of drinking, which lifts us up for a short while, but lets us way down in the end. Of course, all of us alcoholics had a lot of fun with drinking. We might as well admit it. We can look back on a lot of good times, before we became alcoholics. But the time comes for all of us alcoholics when drinking ceases to be fun and becomes trouble. Have I learned that drinking can never again be anything but trouble for me?
Meditation for the Day
I must rely on God. I must trust Him to the limit. I must depend on the Divine Power in all human relationships. I will wait and trust and hope, until God shows me the way. I will wait for guidance on each important decision. I will meet the test of waiting until a thing seems right before I do it. Every work for God must meet this test of time. The guidance will come, if I wait for it.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may meet the test of waiting for God's guidance. I pray that I will not go off on my own.
From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day
© Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation
NA - Just for Today
What is a sponsor?
Page 40
"...an NA sponsor is a member of Narcotics Anonymous, living out program of recovery, who is willing to build a special, supportive, one-on-one relationship with us."
IP No. 11, Sponsorship, Revised
What is a sponsor? You know: That nice person with whom you had coffee after your first meeting. That generous soul who keeps sharing recovery experience free of charge. The one who keeps amazing you with stunning insight regarding your character defects. The one who keeps reminding you to finish your Fourth Step, who listens to your Fifth Step, and who doesn't tell anyone how weird you are.
It's pretty easy to start taking all this stuff for granted once we're used to someone being there for us. We may run wild for a while and tell ourselves, "I'll call my sponsor later, but right now I have to clean the house, go shopping, chase that attractive..." And so we end up in trouble, wondering where we went wrong.
Our sponsor can't read minds. It's up to us to reach out and ask for help. Whether we need help with our steps, a reality check to help us straighten out our screwy thinking, or just a friend, it's our job to make the request.Sponsors are warm, wise, wonderful people, and their experience with recovery is ours - all we have to do is ask.
Just for Today: I'm grateful for the time, the love, and the experience my sponsor has shared with me. Today I will call my sponsor.
From the book Just for Today
© Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought for Today
"If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due
to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have
the power to revoke at any moment."
--Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Just as the body is designed to heal a broken bone, similarly the mind has the ability to heal itself from the trauma's of yesterday and the illusions of them tomorrow.
~ S.C. Klane
Came To
Came to believe, that i have,
For at times You i can see.
The problem is my faith,
Returned to sanity?
I project to the future,
Then my heart sinks with fear.
So i shrink back to the past,
All of sudden shame too near.
God, help me understand
This One day at a time.
Staying in the present,
It's such a problem of mine.
I'll get down on my knees
every morning and pray.
I'll wait patiently,
Though difficult today.
My mind tends to wander,
To the familiar things i know.
Another bottom yet to visit,
Again escape, i Just can't go.
I pray the feelings that i feel
Come to pass and heal my soul.
Staying right here in your peace,
The fill of love and grace the goal.
Thank you for your mercy, Lord,
I know I've stumbled few.
But I'm working on my Faith,
As i wait patiently for You.
Amen
Rea S.
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves.
Buddha
SACRED POSSIBILITIES
Sacred possibilities always exist in our lives. The goodness and the gentleness of the world are always there for us to appreciate. This is not a myth; it is actual fact.
Excerpted from:
“Sacred Outlook: The Practice of Vajrayogini,” in
The Heart of the Buddha: Entering the Tibetan Buddhist Path, page 135.
The simplicity of spirit belies our ability to realize it is us.
As my awareness of serenity, love, and gratitude grow in my consciousness; then all become the reality in which I live.
This beauty is available for all, if only we are enlightened enough to see it. (thanks Clardy S.)
Native American
"No individual or group can block another individual's path or change it against what fits his nature and his purpose. It might be done for a time, but in the end it won't work out."
--Rolling Thunder, CHEROKEE
Every person is born for a purpose. We may know our purpose very early in our lives, or it may take us some time. Very often we need to experience many things before our purpose is clear to us. Sometimes we pick our goals to please others. Sometimes others pick our goals to make themselves happy. Often this makes us unhappy. We need to pray to the Creator and ask Him what our purpose is. When we live outside our purpose, our path is full of obstacles. When we live inside our purpose, our path is smooth. When we are aligned to our purpose, we are happy and content.
Great Spirit, whisper to me, in terms I can understand, what You would have me do and I will do it.
Keep It Simple
You must find the ideas that have some promise in them...it's not enough to just have ideas. ... George E. Woodberry
Each day we're flooded with ideas. Everyone seems to have found the truth, and now they want to share it. We may feel loaded down with all these ideas. Who and what do we believe? We've fallen on a set of ideas that hold great promise: The Twelve Steps. The ideas of the program have much promise because they're simple. They ask nothing that isn't good for us. They have been proven to work. Now we're people with more than ideas that work. We're people with good ideas that work. When we find ourselves wondering how to live, all we need to do is look to the Steps.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to put my energy into working the Steps.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll list what is right about the Steps for me. What promises do the Steps hold for me?
Big Book
"The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost
the power of choice in drink. Our so-called will power becomes
practically nonexistent. We are unable, at certain times, to bring
into our consciousness with sufficient force the memory of the
suffering and humiliation of even a week or a month ago. We are
without defense against the first drink."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, pg. 24~
-----------------------------------------
Who's Saving The Seat For The Newcomer?
-- AA Grapevine August 2006
Comfort in a greeting and relief in an invitation
I feel nervous walking into this meeting. I have never been here before, and I feel like I might not fit in. The notion that I'm disconnected from the entire world has raced back into my sober self, and it makes me want to turn around and leave. I try to talk myself out of this by musing, "Maybe I don't need a meeting tonight." Then I curse myself for being a coward and know I will surely drink and die if I don't stay. I force myself to walk through the darkened parking lot, toward the smokers standing around laughing outside the church doors. Inside, the light vaguely warms their faces, but I recognize none of them. Oh God, I wish my best friend were here with me.
I take a deep breath and walk through the gauntlet of happy friends chattering around me. Nibbling on brownies and drinking bad coffee, I look toward the cushioned chairs set in rows facing the speaker. Having compromised hearing, I search out a seat close to the speaker. But as I get closer, I see keys, chips, lighters, and books saving seats. I see a row of empty seats and sit down, still close enough to see the speaker's lips.
I'm tapped on the shoulder by a smiling woman my age. "Excuse me," she says. "These seats are saved." Yes, of course they are. Saved for all the friends who want to sit together--rows and rows of them. Saved for the regulars who come each week and stick together. How wonderful for them to have close relationships in AA. I'm reminded of how I felt in high school, when I didn't know which group to sit next to because no one invited me to join them. I feel excluded, physically and emotionally.
I do stay through the meeting, and I'm glad. I've heard a wonderful chairperson, who I feel God picked out just for me. I feel close to my Higher Power and rejuvenated once again. Thank God for Alcoholics Anonymous.
I have seventeen years of sobriety, and this is an experience I've encountered recently and frequently since I've moved to a new area. It's an experience that I can share with newcomers because I know how disconnected they feel. So I re-double my efforts to speak to the new woman and give her my phone number. I offer her a seat next to me. "I saved this seat for you," I say in my heart.
Can you imagine what would happen if God picked out who we sat with? While I enjoy sitting next to a friend or two, I don't think we have to inhabit an entire zip code every time we're together. After all, aren't we having meetings to reach out to people we don't know, especially the newcomer who may feel excluded and different?
Sharon C.
Santa Rosa, California
To subscribe click the link below:
https://app.getresponse.com/site/dailyponderables/webform.html?wid=108246