DAILY PONDERABLES
Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny
Daily Reflections
HITTING BOTTOM
Why all this insistence that every A.A. must hit bottom first? The answer is that few people will sincerely try to practice the A.A. program unless they have hit bottom. For practicing A.A.'s remaining eleven Steps means the adoption of attitudes and actions that almost no alcoholic who is still drinking can dream of taking.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, up. 24
Hitting bottom opened my mind and I became willing to try something different. What I tried was A.A. My new life in the Fellowship was a little like learning how to ride a bike for the first time: A.A. became my training wheels and my supporting hand. It's not that I wanted the help so much at the time; I simply did not want to hurt like that again. My desire to avoid hitting bottom again was more powerful than my desire to drink. In the beginning that was what kept me sober. But after a while I found myself working the Steps to the best of my ability. I soon realized that my attitudes and actions were changing --- if ever so slightly. One Day at a Time, I became comfortable with myself, and others, and my hurting started to heal. Thank God for the training wheels and supporting hand that I choose to call Alcoholics Anonymous.
From the book Daily Reflections
© Copyright 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
The A.A. program is more a way of building a new life than just a way of getting over drinking, because in A.A. we don't just stop drinking. We did that plenty of times in the old days when we "went on the wagon." And, of course, we always started to drink again, because we were only waiting for the time when we could fall off. Once we've gotten sober through the A.A. program, we start going uphill. In our drinking days, we were going downhill, getting worse and worse. We either go down or up. Am I going uphill, getting better and better?
Meditation for the Day
I will try to obey God's will day in and day out, in the wilderness plains as well as on the mountain tops of experience. It is in the daily strivings that perseverance counts. I believe that God is Lord of little things, the Divine Controller of little happenings. I will persevere in this new way of life. I know that nothing in the day is too small to be part of God's scheme.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that the little stones that I put into the mosaic of my life may make a worthwhile pattern. I pray that I may persevere and so find harmony and beauty.
From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day
© Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation
NA - Just for Today
Make that call!
“We feared that if we ever revealed ourselves as we were, we would surely be rejected.... [But] our fellow members do understand us.”
Basic Text, p. 32
We need our fellow NA members—their experience, their friendship, their laughter, their guidance, and much, much more. Yet many of us hesitate to call our sponsor or visit our NA friends. We don’t want to impose on them. We think about phoning someone, but we don’t feel worthy of their time. We fear that if they ever got to know us—really know us—they’d surely reject us.
We forget that our fellow NA members are just like us. There’s nothing we’ve done, no place we’ve been, no feeling we’ve felt that other recovering addicts won’t be able to identify with. The more we let others get to know us, the more we’ll hear, “You’re in the right place. You’re among friends. You belong. Welcome!”
We also forget that, just as we need others, they need us. We’re not the only ones who want to feel like we belong, who want to experience the warmth of friendship, who want someone to share with. If we isolate ourselves from our fellow members, we deprive them of something they need, something only we can give them: our time, our company, our true selves.
In Narcotics Anonymous, recovering addicts care for one another. What waits at the other end of the telephone is not rejection, but the love, warmth, and identification of the NA Fellowship. Make that call!
Just for today: In NA, I am among friends. I will reach out to others, giving and receiving in fellowship
From the book Just for Today
© Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought for Today
"The worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with yourself."
--Mark Twain
"I was Chasing the Feeling of not Feeling" Buffalo Men's Early Morning Zoom
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
"The results of karma cannot be known by thought, and so should not be speculated about. Thus, thinking, one would come to distraction and distress.
"Therefore, Ananda, do not be the judge of people; do not make assumptions about others. A person is destroyed by holding judgments about others."
-Anguttura Nikaya
Native American
"If people are going to get back into balance, one of the things they have to do is seek the truth. They have to start really speaking the truth themselves, and that's a difficult thing to do. The way it is now in the world, we don't mind lying."
--John Peters (Slow Turtle), WAMPANOAG
Well everybody's doing it. Do unto others before they do unto you. If it wasn't for back luck I would have no luck at all. These are excuses and rationalizations for giving up accountability. Be true to yourself. Seek the truth, The Great Spirit is the truth. The truth shall set you free. This is the truth. We cannot be free if we are dishonest nor can we live a balanced life if we are dishonest. As we grow, we need to start taking stands. All warriors take stands. The warrior's belief is constantly being aligned to truth. The warrior will always know where he/she stands.
Great Spirit, help me today to seek Your truth, not my truth.
Keep It Simple
Fair play is primarily not blaming others for anything that is wrong with us.
--- Eric Hoffer
It's tempting to blame others for our problems. Recovery asks us to answer for our actions. Admitting we are powerless over our actions. Admitting we are powerless over our alcohol and other drugs is a start.
Each of the Twelve Steps asks us to answer for our actions in some way. And the program shows us how to do this. Over time, we see that being responsible for our actions is the best way to live. Our self-confidence grows as we become more responsible. We start to see just how much we can do. We have gone from being drunks to being responsible people. If we can do this, then we can do anything!
Prayer for the Day: I pray to remember that I'm responsible for my actions. Blaming puts distance between me and other people. Higher Power, help me to play fair.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll list four times I've blamed someone else for a problem that was really my problem.
Big Book
"Once we have taken this step, withholding nothing, we are delighted.
We can look the world in the eye. We can be alone at perfect peace and
ease. Our fears fall from us. We begin to feel the nearness of our
Creator. We may have had certain spiritual beliefs, but now we begin to
have a spiritual experience."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 75
The Ten Practical Points Of Recovery found in Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th. Edition, Pages 58-60
1)"...thoroughly followed our path." p.58 line 2
2)"...completely give themselves..." p.58 line 3
3)"...developing...rigorous honesty." p.58 line 9
4)"...willing to go to any length..." p.58 line 18
5)"...fearless and thorough..." p.58 line 23
6)"...let go absolutely." p.58 line 25
7)"...asked His protection and care with complete abandon." p.59 line 5
8)"...the steps we took..." p.59 line 7
9)"...Do not be discouraged." p.60 line 7
10)"...willing to grow along spiritual lines." p.60 line 10
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