DAILY PONDERABLES
Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny
Daily Reflections
"A MEASURE OF HUMILITY"
In every case, pain had been the price of admission into a new life. But this admission price had purchased more than we expected. It brought a measure of humility, which we soon discovered to be a healer of pain.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 75
It was painful to give up trying to control my life, even though success eluded me, and when life got too rough, I drank to escape. Accepting life on life's terms will be mastered through the humility I experience when I turn my will and my life over to the care of God, as I understand Him. With my life in God's care, fear, uncertainty, and anger are no longer my response to those portions of life that I would rather not happen to me. The pain of living through these times will be healed by the knowledge that I have received the spiritual strength to survive.
From the book Daily Reflections
© Copyright 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
We can believe that God is in His heaven and that He has a purpose for our lives, which will eventually work out as long as we try to live the way we believe He wants us to live. It has been said that we should "wear the world like a loose garment." That means nothing should seriously upset us because we have a deep, abiding faith that God will always take care of us. To us that means not to be too upset by the surface wrongness of things, but to feel deeply secure in the fundamental goodness and purpose in the universe. Do I feel deeply secure?
Meditation For The Day
Like the shadow of a great rock in a desert land, God is your refuge from the ills of life. The old hymn says: "Rock of ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee." God can be your shelter from the storm. God's power can protect you from every temptation and defeat. Try to feel His divine power--call on it--accept it--and use it. Armed with that power, you can face anything. Each day, seek safety in God's secret place, in communion with Him. You cannot be wholly touched or seriously harmed there. God can be your refuge.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may find a haven in the thought of God. I pray that I may abide in that Strong Tower, strongly guarded.
From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day
© Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation
NA - Just for Today
Self-esteem
Page 206
"Deep inside, I had feelings of inadequacy and inferiority."
Somewhere along the way, many of us developed strong feelings of inadequacy and inferiority. Deep inside was a voice that continually cried out, "You're worthless!" Many of us learn to recognize this characteristic of low self-esteem very early in our recovery. Some of us may feel that our feelings of inferiority were where all our problems began.
Whether we learn this low self-esteem in our families or through our interactions with others, in NA we learn the tools for reclaiming ourselves. Building up our fractured self-esteem sometimes begins by simply accepting a service position. Or perhaps our phone begins to ring, and for the first time people are calling just to see how we are. They don't want anything from us but to reach out and help.
Next we get a sponsor, someone who teaches us that we are worthwhile and believes in us until we can believe in ourselves. Our sponsor guides us through the Twelve Steps where we learn who we really are, not who we have built ourselves up or down to be.
Low self-esteem doesn't go away overnight. Sometimes it takes years for us to really get in touch with ourselves. But with the help of other members of NA who share our same feelings, and by working the Twelve Steps, we blossom into individuals that others and, most importantly, we ourselves respect.
Just for Today: I will remember that I am deserving of my Higher Power's love. I know that I am a worthy human being.
From the book Just for Today
© Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought for Today
"The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation. "
~Corrie Ten Boom
To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing in the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.
~Gilbert K. Chesterton
Once you become "Fearless"
Your life becomes "Limitless"
Thank you God for another day
Please lead me as I go on my way
On my own I am lost
On my own I know the cost
If there are storms that darken my path
I know trust in you will weaken their wrath
I ask for love and tolerance for all
In this endeavor let me not stall
When I take back the reins as I know I will
Help me to pause and be still
And once again may Your hand guide me along
As my faith in You keeps me strong
Bill D
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
Generosity begins with our recognition of our debt to others.
-Master Hsing Yun, "Describing the Indescribable"
Native American
"Grandfather says...you must not hurt anybody or do harm to anyone. You must not fight. Do right always. It will give you satisfaction in life."
--Wovoka, PAIUTE
The question one should ask themselves is: Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy? If you want to be right, this is a request from your ego. If you want to be happy then this is of the Great Spirit. The only meaning anything has is the meaning we give it. Maybe we should develop a philosophy of: Today is the last day of the rest of my life. If this were true, how easy it would be to let things go - how easy it would be to forgive.
Oh Great Spirit, let me live today as if it was my last. Let me express Your joy and be happy today. Let me see the joy and honor of living on the Red Road.
Keep It Simple
We can't all be heroes because someone has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by. --- Will Rogers
Humility is being thankful for the chance to watch the parade. There were days we thought that all that counted were the heroes. But our program has no heroes. It has many fine, spiritual people. . . but no heroes.
When someone is needed to make coffee or pick up after a meeting, we can be willing to do those things. Let's look at doing these little jobs as our way of looking for a good spot on the curb. . . .to watch the parade! The floats are so colorful, and the bands play so loud!
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me be proud of who I am, instead of always putting myself down because I'm not who I "should" be.
Action for the Day: I will look and help someone today. Service to others is service to my Higher Power.
Big Book
Chapter 9 The Family Afterwards (pg 132 & top 133)
We have been speaking to you of serious, sometimes tragic things. We have been dealing with alcohol in its worst aspect. But we aren’t a glum lot. If newcomers could see no joy or fun in our existence, they wouldn’t want it. We absolutely insist on enjoying life. We try not to indulge in cynicism over the state of the nations, nor do we carry the world’s troubles on our shoulders. When we see a man sinking into the mire that is alcoholism, we give him first aid and place what we have at his disposal. For his sake, we do recount and almost relive the horrors of our past. But those of us who have tried to shoulder the entire burden and trouble of others find we are soon overcome by them. (emphasis supplied)
So we think cheerfulness and laughter make for usefulness. Outsiders are sometimes shocked when we bust into merriment over a seemingly tragic experience out of the past. But why shouldn’t we laugh? We have recovered, and have been given the power to help others.
Everybody know that those in bad health, and those who seldom play, do not laugh much. So let each family play together or separately as much as their circumstances warrant. We are sure God wants us to be happy, joyous, and free. We cannot subscribe to the belief that this life is a vale of tears, though it once was just that for many of us. But it is clear that we made our own misery. God didn’t do it. Avoid then, the deliberate manufacture of misery, but if trouble comes, cheerfully capitalize it as an opportunity to demonstrate His omnipotence.
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FUN or JOY
by Larry R.
I heard a fellow mentioned fun as he began to speak
He said that when he joined AA his thoughts of fun were bleak
He had not known what fun was like since drinking took its grip
But he was told, “keep coming back”, you’ll soon enjoy this trip
I understood what he had said, my story much the same
The fun that drinking once had brought had turned to grief and shame
What started as a pleasant way to make me feel at ease
Had now become my master, one required to appease
For several years I searched for fun in many different ways
At football games and fishing trips or festive holidays
But every time, before I went, I felt compelled to drink
The fun would be much better then, to start the day in sync
I lied and told myself this way of having fun was fine
Besides, I could control myself and never cross the line
But cross I did, not in a walk, but head long in a race
I’d left behind the fun I’d had for anguish and disgrace
Those drinking days are in the past, my life’s been resurrected
No more the bottle has control, my conscience mind protected
Yet, when I heard that speaker talk of fun, I started thinking
Another word popped in my head, related to NOT drinking
The word was JOY, a word I had no concept of before
Twas something angels sang about, a feeling to ignore
But since that time, I’ve come to learn the meaning of that word
And how the things I thought were fun were really quite absurd
I still have fun from time to time, but I have come to know
That fun is not something that lasts, it’s there and then it goes
But JOY, for me, has been a gift, one I am glad I found
It’s there for us once we have finally turned our lives around
I find JOY in the little things that happen every day
To watch the sunrise from the beach and clear the night away
Or when we come back from a trip and see our island home
So grateful this is where we live, near sand and sea and foam
I find JOY by our swimming pool when grandkids come to call
And we see them enjoy themselves, they really have a ball
Or when our daughter welcomes us for any holiday
To her home, we have passed the torch, life’s cycle on display
Our dog can be a source of JOY each time I walk inside
I’m greeted like a long-lost friend, our bond’s been ratified
And even when I reminisce on how our kids have grown
I take JOY when I see how they had made it on their own
So, FUN or JOY, I like them both, but in a different way
Fun is still that fishing trip or football on game day
But JOY is the intangibles, the things we take for granted
Like family, nature and our homes, these gifts firmly implanted
Larry R.
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