DAILY PONDERABLES
Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny
Daily Reflections
BEGIN WHERE YOU ARE
We feel that elimination of our drinking is but a beginning. A much more important demonstration of our principles lies before us in our respective homes, occupations and affairs.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, up. 19
It's usually pretty easy for me to be pleasant to the people in an A.A. setting. While I'm working to stay sober, I'm celebrating with my fellow AA's our common release from the hell of drinking. It's often not so hard to spread glad tidings to my old and new friends in the program. At home or at work, though, it can be a different story. It is in situations arising in both of those areas that the little day-to-day frustrations are most evident, and where it can be tough to smile or reach out with a kind word or an attentive ear. It's outside of the A.A. rooms that I face the real test of the effectiveness of my walk through AA's Twelve Steps.
From the book Daily Reflections
© Copyright 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
Have I admitted I am an alcoholic? Have I swallowed my pride and admitted I was different from ordinary drinkers? Have I accepted the fact that I must spend the rest of my life without liquor? Have I any more reservations, any idea in the back of my mind that some day I'll be able to drink safely? Am I absolutely honest with my self and with other people? Have I taken an inventory of myself and admitted the wrong I have done? Have I come clean with my friends? Have I tried to make it up to them for the way I have treated them?
Meditation for the Day
I will believe that fundamentally all is well. Good things will happen to me. I believe that God cares for me and will provide for me. I will not try to plan ahead. I know that the way will unfold, step by step. I will leave tomorrow's burden to God, because He is the great burden-bearer. He only expects me to carry my one-day's share.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may not try to carry the burden of the universe on my shoulders. I pray that I may be satisfied to do my share each day.
From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day
© Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation
NA - Just for Today
The Love of the Fellowship
"Today secure in the love of the fellowship, we can finally look another human being in the eye and be grateful for who we are."
Basic Text p. 89
When we were using, few of us could tolerate looking someone in the eye-we were ashamed of who we were. Our minds were not occupied with anything decent or healthy, and we knew it. Our time, money, and energy weren't spent building loving relationships, sharing with others, or seeking to better our communities. We were trapped in a spiral of obsession and compulsion that went only in one direction: downward.
In recovery, our journey down that spiral path has been cut short. But what is it that has turned us around, drawing us back upward into the open spaces of the wide, free world? The love of the fellowship has done this.
In the company of other addicts, we knew we would not be rejected. By the example of other addicts, we were shown how to begin taking a positive part in the life around us. When we were unsure which way to turn, when we stumbled, when we had to correct a wrong we had done, we knew our fellow members were there to encourage us.
Slowly, we've gotten the feel of our freedom. No longer are we locked up in our disease; we are free to build and grow and share along with everyone else. And when we need support to take our next step, it is there. The security we've found in the love of the fellowship has made our new lives possible.
Just for today: I can look anyone in the eye without shame. I am grateful for the loving support that has made this possible.
pg. 4
From the book Just for Today
© Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought for Today
"Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny."
--Frank Outlaw
"The Floating Golden Nugget"
If we miss a meeting, or are not paying attention, we may miss a bit of pertinent wisdom as valuable as gold.
It may come from an old timer or new comer it just floats around the room and we have to grab it.
(thanks Clardy S.)
Don't watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.
~Sam Levenson (Gene H. RIP)
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
If you knew what I know about the power of giving, you would not let a single meal pass without sharing it in some way.
Native American
"Our circle is timeless, flowing, it is a new life emerging from death-life winning out over death."
--Lame Deer, LAKOTA
When we look at the world in the manner which the Great Spirit designed it, we can see why it makes sense to live in harmony with it: the trees grow and bear fruit, the fruit has seeds, the seeds fall to the ground, the ground grows new trees, old trees die to make way for the young. Any time we think we can interrupt this cycle or change it we will experience turmoil and confusion. The Human Cycle exists as the baby becomes the youth, the youth becomes the adult, the adult has children, the adult becomes the Elder, and the Elder teaches the youth. Elders go on to the Spirit World. Spirit comes into babies to produce new life. Flow into the flow. Be the path of least resistance.
My Creator and my Make, today, teach me to just flow with the river of life.
Keep It Simple
He who is swift to believe is swift to forget. --- Abraham Joshua Heschel
Life is full of questions. Many people tell us they have the answers. We have to be careful of who and what we believe. Other people's ideas may not fit us. The program doesn't tell us much about what to believe. It teaches us how to believe. How well the program works for us depends on what we believe and how well we live it. When we face all the facts, we can really believe. We believe we are powerless over our addiction. We believe we must and can change some things in our lives. We believe we can trust a Higher Power to care for us. When we choose to believe, we want to choose the best beliefs we can. And once we believe, we must not forget.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me know You, and help me know the truth.
Action for the Day: Today I'll think about my First Step. Do I truly believe I'm powerless over my disease?
Big Book
"...we were approached by those in whom the problem had been solved,
there was nothing left for us but to pick up the simple kit of
spiritual tools laid at our feet."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, Page 25
Recovery Stages
Larry R.
Most alcoholics go through many stages to recover
As we progress, we learn by every stage that we discover
Beginning stages test our will, not sure if we can make it
But we proceed, still unsure, sometimes we have to fake it.
Before we entered in the rooms, our stage was one of NEED
We had to have some alcohol to make the shakes recede
Then once we passed those first few days without our morning drink
The need began to melt away and soon began to shrink
The next stage we encountered was the overwhelming URGE
To drink again, just one more time, past thinking to emerge
Sometimes the urge was very strong and we did acquiesce
And only realized later we’d placed recovery in distress
As our recovery starts to find some roots within AA
That overwhelming URGE begins to slowly slip away
It still persists but nowhere near the way it did before
And we’ve learned what to do when it comes knocking at our door
Yet, even though the urge has passed, the outside world exists
We’re shown folks drinking, having fun, but we must still resist
A feeling called DESIRE, that we would like to drink like them
Recall the fun with no harm done, a happy carefree chum
Or when you watch a TV show where family sits to eat
A pleasant group, the wine is passed, a glass before each seat
And we recall the times gone by where we could do the same
Then recollect how things turned out, embarrassment and shame
At last, we reach a comfort zone, the first three phase past
The NEED, the URGE, DESIRE has been lifted, been outcast
But there is still a one that almost never goes away
That one is THOUGHT, it can’t be stopped, it happens straightaway
We see an ad about a new variety of booze
Twisted Tea, Hard Cider, and so many more to choose
We wonder what that might taste like and then we realize
It’s just a THOUGHT, no harm in that, provided we abide
Abide by what we know to do, to push that THOUGHT away
It’s foolish and it’s dangerous, remove without delay
And since our program’s sound and firm, the next THOUGHT takes us back
To where we’re safe, able to laugh, our thinking back on track
Larry R.
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