01/18

DAILY PONDERABLES

Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny

Daily Reflections

WOULD A DRINK HELP?

By going back in our own drinking histories, we could show that years before we realized it we were out of control, that our drinking even then was no mere habit, that it was indeed the beginning of a fatal progression.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, up. 23

When I was still drinking, I couldn't respond to any of life's situations the way other, more healthy, people could. The smallest incident triggered a state of mind that believed I had to drink to numb my feelings. But the numbing did not improve the situation, so I sought further escape in the bottle. Today I must be aware of my alcoholism. I cannot afford to believe that I have gained control of my drinking --- or again I will think I have gained control of my life. Such a feeling of control is fatal to my recovery.

From the book Daily Reflections

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought for the Day

The new life can't be built in a day. we have to take the program slowly, a little at a time. Our subconscious minds have to be reeducated. We have to learn to think differently. We have to get used to sober thinking instead of alcoholic thinking. Anyone who tries it knows that the old alcoholic thinking is apt to come back on us when we least expect it. Building a new life is a slow process, but it can be done if we really follow the A.A. program. Am I building a new life on the foundation of sobriety?

Meditation for the Day

I will pray daily for faith, for it is God's gift. On faith alone depends the answer to my prayers. God gives it to me in response to my prayers, because it is a necessary weapon for me to possess for the overcoming of all adverse conditions and the accomplishment of all good in my life. Therefore, I will work at strengthening my faith.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may so think and live as to feed my faith in God. I pray that my faith may grow because with faith God's power becomes available to me.

From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day

NA - Just for Today

The simple inventory

“Continuing to take a personal inventory means that we form a habit of looking at ourselves, our actions, our attitudes, and our relationships on a regular basis.”

Basic Text, p. 42

The daily inventory is a tool we can use to simplify our lives. The most complicated part of taking a regular inventory is deciding how to start. Should we write it out? What should we examine? In how much detail? And how do we know when we’ve finished? In no time, we’ve turned a simple exercise into a major project.

Here’s one simple approach to the daily inventory. We set aside a few minutes at the close of each day to sit quietly and check out our feelings. Is there a knot, big or small, in our gut? Do we feel uncomfortable about the day we’ve just finished? What happened? What was our part in the affair? Do we owe any amends? If we could do it over again, what would we do differently?

We also want to monitor the positive aspects of our lives in our daily inventory. What has given us satisfaction today? Were we productive? Responsible? Kind? Loving? Did we give unselfishly of ourselves? Did we fully experience the love and beauty the day offered us? What did we do today that we would want to do again?

Our daily inventory doesn’t have to be complicated to be effective. It is a very simple tool we can use to keep in daily touch with ourselves.

Just for today: I want to keep in touch with the way I feel in living this life I’ve been given. At the end of this day, I will take a brief, simple inventory.

From the book Just for Today

Thought for Today

"Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission."

--Eleanor Roosevelt

DO not trouble about results, or be anxious as to the future; but be troubled about personal shortcomings, and be anxious to remove them ; for know this simple truth—wrong does not result from right, and a good present cannot give birth to a bad future. You are the custodian of your deeds, but not of the results which flow from them. The deeds of to-day bring the happiness or sorrow of to-morrow. Be therefore concerned about what you think and do, rather than about what may or may not come to you; for he whose deeds are good does not concern himself about results, and is freed from fear of future ill.

~James Allen (thanks Richard C.)

I may not know the next right thing; but I do the next thing right

“If it were not for the ‘we’ of AA, there would be no ‘I.’”

“Tradition One,” New York, New York, November 1969, Best of the Grapevine, Volume 1

Buddha/Zen Thoughts

There is a difference between watching the mind and controlling the mind. Watching the mind with a gentle, open attitude allows the mind to settle down and come to rest. Trying to control the mind, or trying to control the way one's spiritual practice will unfold, just stirs up more agitation and suffering.

-Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, "Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness"

Native American

"Silence is the absolute poise or balance of body, mind and spirit."

--Charles A. Eastman (Ohiyesa), SANTEE SIOUX

Be still and know. All new learnings, all ideas about new things, creativity, daydreaming and mental effectiveness come to those who learn about silence. All warriors know about the power of silence. All Elders know about stillness. Be still and know God. Meditation is about the place of silence. This is the place to hear God's voice. We can find tremendous amounts of knowledge in the place of silence. This is the sacred place of God.

Great Spirit, teach me the power of silence.

Keep It Simple

The reality is that changes are coming....they must come. You must share in bring them. --- John Hersey

Change. It's scary. It's hard. It's needed. Sometimes it feels bad. But one thing is for sure: it keeps on happening. Just when our life seems settled, it changes. We can't stop life. We can't stay this age forever. The world changes. Life moves on. There are always new things to do and learn. Changes means we're always beginners in some ways. We need to ask for wisdom and courage. We get it by listening, by praying, by meditating. When we ask, our Higher Power will teach us to be part of good changes.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me believe that Your plans call for good changes.

Action for the Day: Today I'll think about the changes in my life. I've lived through a lot. I'll be okay when more changes come, with God's help. I can keep on growing.

Big Book

"Lack of power, that was our dilemma. We had to find a power by

which we could live, and it had to be a Power greater than

ourselves. Obviously. But where and how were we to find this Power?

Well, that's exactly what this book is about."

Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, We Agnostics, pg. 45

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The Blacksmith (thanks Kevin G.)

When times are hard and I go through rough changes in my sobriety, I need to remember that my higher power, is very much like a blacksmith, and I am a piece of malleable steel, being worked by Him, for His purposes. And no matter what He may put me through, with his fire and hammer, shaping, and making me into a tool for His use, that he always, always has a very tight grip on me, no matter what, and He never, ever drops His work.