02/23

DAILY PONDERABLES

Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny

Daily Reflections

MYSTERIOUS PARADOXES

Such is the paradox of A.A. regeneration: strength arising out of complete defeat and weakness, the loss of one's old life as a condition for finding a new one.

A. A. COMES OF AGE, p. 46

What glorious mysteries paradoxes are! They do not compute, yet when recognized and accepted, they reaffirm something in the universe beyond human logic. When I face a fear, I am given courage; when I support a brother or sister, my capacity to love myself is increased; when I accept pain as part of the growing experience of life, I realize a greater happiness; when I look at my dark side, I am brought into new light; when I accept my vulnerabilities and surrender to a Higher Power, I am graced with unforeseen strength. I stumbled through the doors of A.A. in disgrace, expecting nothing from life, and I have been give hope and dignity. Miraculously, the only way to keep the gifts of the program is to pass them on.

From the book Daily Reflections

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought for the Day

Besides our jobs, our families, our friends, and our sobriety, we have something else that many of us found through A.A. That's faith in a Power greater than ourselves, to which we can turn for help: faith in that Divine Principle in the universe which we call God and which is on our side as long as we do the right thing. There have been many days in the past when, if we had taken an inventory, we'd have found ourselves very much in the red, without sobriety, and therefore without jobs, families, friends, or faith in God. We now have these things because we're sober. Do I make one resolution every day of my life to stay sober?

Meditation for the Day

Love the busy life. It is a joy filled life. Take your fill of joy in the spring. Live outdoors whenever possible. Sun and air are nature's great healing forces. That inward joy changes poisoned blood into a pure, healthy, life giving flow. But never forget that the real healing of the spirit comes from within, from the close, loving contact of your spirit with God's spirit. Keep in close communion with God's spirit day by day.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may learn to live the abundant life. I pray that I may enjoy a close contact with God this day and be glad in it.

From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day

NA - Just for Today

Messages and messengers

Page 55

"Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities."

Tradition Twelve

The Twelfth Tradition reminds us of the importance of putting "principles before personalities." In recovery meetings, this might be paraphrased, "don't shoot the messenger!." We often get the message confused with the messenger, and negate what someone shares at a meeting because we have personality conflicts with the person speaking.

If we are having problems with what certain people have to share at meetings, we might want to seek the guidance of our sponsor. Our sponsor can help us concentrate on what's being said rather than who's saying it. Our sponsor can also help us address the resentments that may be keeping us from acknowledging the value of some particular person's recovery experience. It is surprising how much more we can get out of meetings when we allow ourselves to do as our Twelfth Tradition suggests, focusing on recovery principles rather than personalities.

Just for Today: I will practice the principle of anonymity in today's NA meeting. I will focus on the message of recovery, not the personality of the messenger.

From the book Just for Today

Thought for Today

"If a problem has no solution, it may not be a problem, but a fact - not to be solved, but to be coped with over time."

--Shimon Peres

The man who knows everything can learn nothing

This above all: to thine own self be true,

And it must follow, as the night the day,

Thou canst not then be false to any man.

William Shakespeare - Hamlet

Buddha/Zen Thoughts

How much of your life do you spend looking forward to being somewhere else?

-Matthew Flickstein, "Journey to the Center"

Native American

"We've got to learn what's going on today in the world, and we've got to get an education so we can survive."

--Jimmy Jackson, OJIBWA

Indian people have the ability to adapt. In these modern times, we Native people must walk two roads. We must get educated so our people don't lose. We need lawyers, doctors, nurses, foresters, scientists, educators, carpenters, welders. These skills are needed to help the people. While we are learning we need to remember to keep our culture, learn our dances, sing our songs, learn to speak our own language and maintain our culture for future generations.

Great Spirit, let my education never lack the meaning and value of Indian spirituality.

Keep It Simple

Hitch your wagon to a star. --- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Millions of people are sober and have peace of mind through the Twelve Steps. Like the stars, the Steps are always there. At times, clouds block our view of the stars, but we know they are still there. Let's view the Twelve Steps the same way.

It is said that the stars are the gate to heaven, that we pass through their beauty to get ready to enter heaven. The Twelve Steps are the gate to spirituality here on earth. We travel through their beauty on our way to a spiritual awakening. Hitch your wagon to the Steps, and get ready for the ride of a lifetime.

Prayer for the Day: I pray to remember that the Steps keep me sober. I pray that I will follow where the Steps take me.

Action For the Day: I'll look at the stars tonight. I'll think of them as symbols of my life touched by the Twelve Steps.

Big Book

"Selfishness—self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of

our troubles. Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-

seeking, and self-pity, we step on the toes of our fellows and they

retaliate. Sometimes they hurt us, seemingly without provocation,

but we invariably find that at some time in the past we have made

decisions based on self which later placed us in a position to be

hurt."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 62~

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Not My Problem

My problem was I drank too much, I had to moderate

But every time I tried the test results were not that great

I could not understand just why I always dropped the ball

I reasoned that the problem was not me but alcohol

I heard a member share that he had thought the same as me

Alcohol’s his problem, he felt sure as sure could be

He thought if he stopped drinking everything would be just fine

But what he came to realize was the problem was his mind

His mind had been infected by a horrible disease

It made him think and act in ways that brought him to his knees

When he put down the bottle, although he was not drinking

His actions had not really changed and neither had his thinking

His ego still controlled his life, he had to be the best

The mind told him he's still on top, much better than the rest

So, it was hard to comprehend why he did not feel better

The end to drinking did not bring on peace and joy and pleasure

When first he drank, a teenage kid, he did it for excitement

He liked the way it made him feel, it was a real enticement

The feeling he liked most of all was that it gave him courage

Not insecure, afraid of girls, or new social occurrence

When he thought back upon those days a new idea was born

He realized he drank because he often felt forlorn

And as he grew, each time he faced a problem in his life

He knew a drink or two would help him mask his inner strife

Once drink became a habit, he needed not a rhyme or reason

If times were good or things went bad, his mind demanded pleasing

And pleasure could be quickly found and change the way he felt

By opening the bottle, his discomfort soon to melt

While other people had to cope when life threw them some curves

They did not turn to alcohol to quiet down their nerves

They faced each situation in the best way that they knew

Or asked for help, outside themselves and pray to get them through

When alcohol stopped working, when its glow began to dim

He needed to consider that the problem was with him

It was not just the alcohol that fed his narcissism

The culprit was not booze itself, but his alcoholism

That’s when he knew that abstinence alone was not the answer

He had to treat this strange disease as though it was a cancer

And since he came to know that alcohol was not the problem

He sought out other folks, those who had also reached their bottom

He lives today, a sober man, his drinking days long gone

But alcoholism still exists and patiently hangs on

It’s waiting for another chance to rear its ugly head

And smile with satisfaction when its captor’s finally dead

I know I have the same disease; it haunts me like a goblin

But now I understand that alcohol is not my problem

The way I think, the things I do, I view with optimism

That they’ll improve so long as I will treat my alcoholism

Larry R.