DAILY PONDERABLES
Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny
Daily Reflections
THE GIFT OF LAUGHTER
At this juncture, his A.A. sponsor usually laughs.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 26
Before my recovery from alcoholism began, laughter was one of the most painful sounds I knew. I never laughed and I felt that anyone else's laughter was directed at me! My self-pity and anger denied me the simplest of pleasures or lightness of heart. By the end of my drinking not even alcohol could provoke a drunken giggle in me.
When my A.A. sponsor began to laugh and point out my self-pity and ego-feeding deceptions, I was annoyed and hurt, but it taught me to lighten up and focus on my recovery. I soon learned to laugh at myself and eventually I taught those I sponsor to laugh also. Every day I ask God to help me stop taking myself too seriously.
From the book Daily Reflections
© Copyright 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
Liquor used to be my friend. I used to have a lot of fun drinking. Practically all the fun I had was connected with drinking. But the time came when liquor became my enemy. I don't know just when liquor turned against me and became my enemy, but I know it happened, because I began to get into trouble. And since I realize that liquor is now my enemy, my main business is keeping sober. Making a living or keeping house is no longer my main business. It's secondary to the business of keeping sober. Do I realize that my main business is keeping sober?
Meditation for the Day
I can depend on God to supply me with all the power I need to face any situation, provided that I will sincerely believe in that power and honestly ask for it, at the same time making all my life conform to what I believe God wants me to be. I can come to God as a business manager would come to the owner of the business, knowing that to lay the matter before Him means immediate cooperation, providing the matter has merit.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may believe that God is ready and willing to supply me with all that I need. I pray that I may ask only for faith and strength to meet any situation.
From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day
© Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation
NA - Just for Today
Powerlessness and personal responsibility
Page 52
"Through our inability to accept personal responsibilities, we were actually creating our own problems."
Basic Text, p. 13
When we refuse to take responsibility for our lives, we give away all of our personal power. We need to remember that we are powerless over our addiction, not our personal behavior.
Many of us have misused the concept of powerlessness to avoid making decisions or to hold onto things we had outgrown. We have claimed powerlessness over our own actions. We have blamed others for our circumstances rather than taking positive action to change those circumstances. If we continue to avoid responsibility by claiming that we are "powerless" we set ourselves up for the same despair and misery we experienced in our active addiction. The potential for spending our recovery years feeling like victims is very real.
Instead of living our lives by default, we can learn how to make responsible choices and take risks. We may make mistakes, but we can learn from these mistakes. A heightened awareness of ourselves and an increased willingness to accept personal responsibility gives us the freedom to change, to make choices, and to grow.
Just for Today: My feelings, actions, and choices are mine. I will accept responsibility for them.
From the book Just for Today
© Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought for Today
Steve K. shares 'I was taught: "To take my problems to my sponsor and my solution to the Meeting."'
"Life lived for tomorrow will always be just a day away from being realized."
~Leo Buscaglia (thanks Stu C.)
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
Just as a candle cannot burn without fire,
men cannot live without a spiritual life.
~ Buddha
Even in the case of individuals, there is no possibility to feel happiness through anger. If in a difficult situation one becomes disturbed internally, overwhelmed by mental discomfort, then external things will not help at all. However, if despite external difficulties or problems, internally one's attitude is of love, warmth, and kindheartedness, then problems can be faced and accepted.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Native American
"When a community does something together, that community is very happy, jovial, connected and unified."
--Larry P. Aitken, CHIPPEWA
The Indian People have always been able to adapt. If the hunting changed, we found new hunting grounds. If the earth changed, we moved to a better place. If the river changed course, we followed the river. But with every change, we kept our Indianness and spirituality. Our culture and spirituality have always been our strength. Our culture and spirituality taught us to live in harmony. We must change with the times, but we must maintain our culture and spirituality, always living in harmony.
Great Spirit, You have taught us to survive. Let me always maintain my Indianness.
Keep It Simple
Let Go and Let God. --- Twelve Step slogan
Some days we might ask ourselves, Is it worth it? We feel alone. No one seems to care.
Life seems hard. Recovery seems hard. This is when we need to slow down and take a look at what's going on. We're feeling this way because we're off our recovery path. We may be back
into wanting people to see things our way. We want control. Remember, all problems are not our problems. All work is not our work. We can't have everything the way we want it. But we can do our part and let go of the rest. Than we can feel better.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me remember my only work today is to do Your will for me. It is not my job to be You.
Action for the Day: I'll talk with my sponsor or a program friend today. I'll talk about how to deal with things that seems to pull me down.
Big Book
"If we are sorry for what we have done, and have the honest desire to
let God take us to better things, we believe we will be forgiven and
will have learned our lesson. If we are not sorry, and our conduct
continues to harm others, we are quite sure to drink. We are not
theorizing. These are facts out of our experience."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 70~
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Editorial: On the 5th Step
AA Grapevine - March 1945 (thanks Ronny H)
Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
This is a tough step and takes courage to do. It is, however, a step that can be done if you make sufficient effort.
It is not new. The Catholic Church uses it in their confessional and the Psychiatrist uses it.
Drinking is caused by inner conflicts and the only way to get rid of these conflicts is to bring them out in the open and destroy them. Wrongs cause conflicts, hence the necessity of this step.
Take the first phrase, "Admitted to God." How do you do this? First learn humility so that you can ask help in a humble manner. If you have difficulty in admitting the actuality of a supreme power, work on the premise that there might be one. Once you get your mind in tune with the infinite it is not difficult to realize that you have no secrets from God.
"Admitted to ourselves:" This can only be done when we are honest with ourselves. In this program it is folly to try to kid yourself. Be ruthless in your soul searching and come clean.
Great care should be taken in choosing "another human being." It must be someone you can trust. Your lawyer, your doctor, your priest or minister, another A.A., or a friend; someone who will act as a sounding board and keep your confidence.
Once you take this step you will be astounded at the relief you feel. The burden of despair will be lifted from your back and you will be free.
It is essential for every A.A. to realize the importance of taking this 5th step. By so doing, all enmities, resentments and wrong thinking may be cast out and we can continue to the next step with a clear conscience.
It is advisable to repeat this step from time to time because it is human to err and even A.A.s are human.
Bert T.
AA Grapevine - March 1945
Every Day Means Every Day
I’d heard it said, so many times, just what I had to do
Show up at meetings, get a sponsor, throw in a prayer or two
I listened since they seemed to practice what they had to say
But I could not yet comprehend when they said,” every day”
I thought that one or twice a week would certainly suffice
To cure me of this malady for which I’d paid a price
The hole that I had dug myself was not as bad I thought
So, they may need it every day but I surely did not
I kept on doing it my way but not with great success
I’d come and go, be in and out, my life was still a mess
I tried to make more meetings, and some weeks three or four
I even tried to meditate, some power to implore
But this went on for quite some time and I did not improve
The urge to drink still haunted me, had not yet been removed
And then one day I heard a man, his story just like mine
The things he said did resonate, my path and his aligned
At meetings end, I sought him out, to find out what he’d done
To finally put the bottle down, and how it had begun
He told me what his sponsor said and that made sense to me
If I had finally had enough, he’d pass it on to me
His sponsor asked him how he drank, a few times every week?
He answered NO, he drank each day, he never broke the streak
So, if you could drink every day, his sponsor said to him
Your program must be worked each day, don’t treat it like a whim
That thought had finally struck a chord, if it worked for that guy
I really had nothing to lose, why not give it a try
At first I had to force myself, it seemed like such a chore
But before long, I saw results, and knew I wanted more
These days I have a set routine, the first thing every day
Get on my knees, then meditate to guide me on my way
To join with all my AA friends at every daily meeting
And know that just by doing so, my malady I’m treating
I’ve come to know that every day means really, every day
If I want to retain this gift, I know I cannot stray
From doing what that fellow said, heard what he had to say
If I want to stay sober, EVERY DAY means EVERY DAY
Larry R.
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