DAILY PONDERABLES
Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny
Daily Reflections
NO REGRETS
We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS p. 83
Once I became sober, I began to see how wasteful my life had been and I experienced overwhelming guilt and feelings of regret. The program's Four and Fifth Steps assisted me enormously in healing those troubling regrets. I learned that my self centeredness and dishonesty stemmed largely from my drinking and that I drank because I was an alcoholic. Now I see how even my most distasteful past experiences can turn to gold because, as a sober alcoholic, I can share them to help my fellow alcoholics, particularly newcomers. Sober for several years in A.A., I no longer regret the past; I am simply grateful to be conscious of God's love and of the help I can give to others in the Fellowship.
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 we first came into A.A., a sober life seemed strange. We wondered what life could possibly be like without ever taking a drink. At first, a sober life seemed unnatural. But the longer we're in A.A., the more natural this way of life seems. And now we know that the life we're living in A.A., the sobriety, the fellowship, the faith in God, and the trying to help each other, is the most natural way we could possibly live. Do I believe it's the way God wants me to live?
Meditation for the Day
I will learn to overcome myself, because every blow to selfishness is used to shape the real, eternal, unperishable me. As I overcome myself, I gain that power which God releases in my soul. And I too will be victorious. It is not the difficulties of life that I have to conquer, so much as my own selfishness.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may obey God and walk with Him and listen to Him. I pray that I may strive to overcome my own selfishness.
From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day
© Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation
NA - Just for Today
A loving God
Our understanding of a Higher Power is up to us.... The only suggested guidelines are that this Power be loving, caring, and greater than ourselves.
Basic Text, p. 24
Weve been told that we can believe in any kind of Higher Power we want as long as it is loving and, of course, greater than ourselves. Some of us, however, have trouble with these requirements. We either believe in nothing but ourselves, or we believe that anything that could be called God could only be cold-hearted and unreasonable, sending us bad luck on a whim.
Believing in a loving Power is quite a leap for some of us, for many reasons. The thought of turning our will and lives over to the care of something we think might hurt us is sure to fill us with reluctance. If we come into the program believing that God is judgmental and unforgiving, we must overcome those beliefs before we can be truly comfortable with the Third Step.
Our positive experiences in recovery can help us come to believe in a loving God of our own understanding. We've been given relief from a disease that has afflicted us for a long time. We've found the guidance and support we need to develop a new way of life. We've begun to experience a fullness of spirit where once there was only emptiness. These aspects of our recovery have their source in a loving God, not a harsh, hateful one. And the more we experience recovery, the more well trust that loving Higher Power.
Just for today: I will open my mind and my heart to believe that God is loving, and trust my loving Higher Power to do for me what I cannot do for myself.
From the book Just for Today
© Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought for Today
"We are all angels with only one wing. We can only fly while embracing
each other."
--Luciano De Crescenzo
It's Not About Me
by Ginny A.
All of the years I've suffered from fears and said what in the hell did I do?
The train in my brain spins circles, insane and wonders Hey what's wrong with you?
Numbing the real, not wanting to feel, the emotions that seeth in my gut
Then alcohol came, turned into my game and helped me get out of my rut.
The demon brew, well, it turned on me too and wanted to take me away.
Tried putting it down, the whirlwind I'd found but no matter how wrong it would stay.
Then came the day when battered and frayed the misery had taken its toll.
The demon had won and it was no longer fun and I found I was losing my soul.
It was time to get real, no matter the feel and surrender to that which I knew.
Too admit to myself it had always been me, all those years that I believed it was you.
Self seeking fears, drowning in tears of selfish and ego, I know.
The will, I thought mine had grown selfish with time and I knew that I had to let go.
Surrendering myself, to get something else to comfort and lead me along.
The peace that I get, at times, I don't fret and try to stay honest and strong.
Rigorous honesty I'm told, that it takes and sadly sometimes only few.
Listening to truth that it's not about me, that I need make it all about you.
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
Let each person first direct oneself to what is right;
then let one teach others; thus the wise will not suffer.
If a person makes oneself as one teaches others to be,
then being well-controlled, that one might guide others,
since self-control is difficult.
Native American
"It is a native tradition to sit in a circle and talk-to share what is in your heart."
--John Peters (Slow Turtle), WAMPANOAG
The talking circle is also a listening circle. The talking circle allows one person to talk at a time for as long as they need to talk. So much can be gained by listening. Is it a coincidence that the Creator gave us one mouth and two ears? The power of the circle allows the heart to be shared with each other. What we share with each other also heals each other. When we talk about our pain in the circle, it is distributed to the circle, and we are free of the pain. The talking circle works because when the people form a circle, the Great Mystery is in the center.
My Creator, give me the courage to share, and the courage to listen.
Keep It Simple
If you play with a thing long enough, you will surely break it. --- Anonymous
Some things shouldn't be played with. Our recovery program is one these things. When we play with our program, we're taking a risk. We play with the program by missing meetings. Or by not calling our sponsors. Or by skipping the Steps we think are to hard. It's okay to play. But it's not okay to play with our program, we risk our lives.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me know that I must work this program with care and respect.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll make two list. On one list, I'll write ways I work on my program. On the other list, I'll write ways I play with my program. And I'll put my energy into working the program.
Big Book
"Most of us sense that real tolerance of other people´s shortcomings
and viewpoints and a respect for their opinions are attitudes which
make us more useful to others."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, pg. 19~
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