DAILY PONDERABLES
Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny
Daily Reflections
SHORTCOMINGS REMOVED
But now the words "Of myself I am nothing, the Father doeth the works" began to carry bright promise and meaning.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 75
When I put the Seventh Step into action I must remember that there are no blanks to fill in. It doesn't say, "Humbly asked Him to (fill in the blank) remove our shortcomings." For years I filled in the imaginary blank with "Help me!" "Give me the courage to," and "Give me the strength," etc. The Step says simply that God will remove my shortcomings. The only footwork I must do is "humbly ask," which for me means asking with the knowledge that of myself I am nothing, the father within "doeth the works."
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 must be loyal to the group and to each member of it. We must never accuse members behind their backs or even to their faces. It's up to them to tell us themselves if anything is wrong. More than that, we must try not to think bad things about any members, because if we do, we're consciously or unconsciously hurting that person. We must be loyal to each other if A.A. is going to be successful. While we're in this lifeboat, trying to save each other and ourselves from alcoholism, we must be truly and sincerely helpful to each other. Am I a loyal member of my group?
Meditation for the Day
Carry out God's guidance as best you can. Leave the results to Him. Do this obediently and faithfully with no question that if the working out of the guidance is left in God's hands, the results will be all right. Believe that the guidance God gives you has already been worked out by God to produce the required results according to your case and in your circumstances. So follow God's guidance according to your conscience. God has knowledge of your individual life and character, your capabilities and your weaknesses.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may live according to the dictates of my conscience. I pray that I may leave the results to God.
From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day
© Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation
NA - Just for Today
Step One
Page 210
"We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable."
Step One
The First Step begins with "we," and there's a reason for that. There is great strength in making a verbal admission of our powerlessness. And when we go to meetings and make this admission, we gain more than personal strength. We become members, part of a collective "we" that allows us, together, to recover from our addiction. With membership in NA comes a wealth of experience: the experience of other addicts who have found a way to recover from their disease.
No longer must we try to solve the puzzle of our addiction on our own. When we honestly admit our powerlessness over our addiction, we can begin the search for a better way to live. We won't be searching alone-we're in good company.
Just for Today: I will start the day with an admission of my powerlessness over my addiction. I will remind myself that the First Step starts with "we," and know that I never had to be alone with my disease again.
From the book Just for Today
© Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought for Today
The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness.
~Eric Hoffer
“Change is disruptive, painful and difficult; not changing is worse.”
~~ Lloyd Dobbins
Miracles start to happen when you give as much energy to the "Living in the Moment" as you do your "Fears". ~ Anonymous
NUGGETS
by Larry R.
We’ve heard it say so many times, a fact that we hold dear
Just when you down you’ll often hear just what you need to hear
A member shares what’s taking place that has them so distressed
And you relate, you understand, the feelings they expressed
It helps you know you’re not alone with what you’re going through
Some other folks have been through worse but they knew what to do
So, open up and share with them, you may find by your candor
That someone else has felt the same and may possess an answer
At other times you’ll hear something that cause you to consider
A thought you have not had before, a new idea emitter
A nugget’s what I call these bits of useful information
To guide me through my program with a new found realization
Members often talk about the how great life has become
Beyond their wildest dreams since drinking had been overcome
I did not feel that way and thought there’s something wrong with me
My wildest dreams were fantasies, a rock star wannabee
One day a fellow shared that he had often felt the same
He’d worked his program, best he could, yet sometimes felt ashamed
He wanted what those others had until he understood
That GREAT might take some time, but now, not feeling bad was GOOD
Another time a member made an obvious remark
Concerning the relationship between daylight and dark
He said in order to feel good when he arose each morning
He had to go to sleep with pride on how he’d been performing
Each man had shared a thing he learned from being in AA
Neither were all that profound, a common sense souffle
Some nuggets from a meeting that inspired me to think
A good night’s sleep, not feeling bad, much better than a drink.
So, when you’re at a meeting and you hear a speaker say
A word or two that makes you think, something to take away
Bring it home and use it when your mind feels ill at ease
Just helpful hints that other use to combat their disease
Larry R.
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
Think not of the faults of others, of what they have done or not done. Think rather of your own sins, of the things you have done or not done.
- Buddha
Native American
"When you begin a great work you can't expect to finish it all at once; therefore, do you and your brothers press on and let nothing discourage you until you have entirely finished what you have begun."
--Teedyuschung, DELAWARE
All things have their seasons. All thoughts are real. We must think to cause action and each action creates results. Big visions require many thoughts. It takes a series of thoughts to create a series of actions. A series of actions creates a series of results. These results are what makes vision become real. If we are here to serve the Creator then we can expect to be accomplishing big visions. How do we do this: One step at a time.
Let me focus on what needs to be done today. Give me clear thoughts to accomplish the results that you, my Creator, would have me accomplish.
Keep It Simple
Living so fully. I can't image what any drug would do for me. --- Joan Baez
When we were using alcohol and other drugs, our lives kept getting emptier. We tired to keep new things out of our lives. We were scared and tired. We saw feelings as bad. So we got high instead of feeling them.
Now we can live fully every day. We don't want to block our feelings. We aren't afraid to opening up to new things and people.
And the more we open up, the happier we are. Our feelings are free. They bounce around. They don't get stuck. We feel alive. Sure, we feel pain and fear sometimes. But we feel joy, love, and laughter too. And, more and more often, we feel alive.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, please help me live fully today. Help me notice my feelings.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll list five things I've enjoyed in the last twenty-four hours.
Big Book
Chapter 10 To Employers (pg 136 & top 137)
AMONG MANY employers nowadays, we think of one member who has spent much of his life in the world of big business. He has hired and fired hundreds of men. He knows the alcoholic as the employer sees him. His present views ought to prove exceptionally useful to business men everywhere.
But let him tell you:
I was at one time assistant manager of a corporation department employing sixty-six hundred men. One day my secretary came in saying Mr. B- insisted on speaking with me. I told her to say that I was not interested. I had warned him several times that he had but one more chance. Not long afterward he had called me from Hartford on two successive days, so drunk he could hardly speak. I told him he was through-finally and forever.
My secretary returned to say that it was Mr. B- on the phone; it was Mr. B-’s brother, and he wished to give me a message. I still expected a plea for clemency, but these words came through the receiver: “I just wanted to tell you Paul jumped from a hotel window in Hartford last Saturday. He left us a note saying you were the best boss he ever had, and that you were not to blame in any way.”
Another time, as I opened a letter which lay on my desk, a newspaper clipping fell out. It was the obituary of one of the best salesmen I ever had. After two weeks of drinking, he had placed his toe on the trigger of a loaded shotgun-the barrel was in his mouth. I had discharged him for drinking six weeks before.
*****************************************
The Hospital Window
Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room.
One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs.
His bed was next to the room's only window.
The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.
The men talked for hours on end.
They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation..
Every afternoon, when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.
The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.
The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake.
Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.
As the man by the window described all this in exquisite details, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine this picturesque scene.
One warm afternoon, the man by the window described a parade passing by.
Although the other man could not hear the band - he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.
Days, weeks and months passed.
One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep.
She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.
As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.
Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside.
He strained to slowly turn to look out the window besides the bed.
It faced a blank wall.
The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window.
The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.
She said, 'Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.'
Epilogue:
There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations.
Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled.
If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can't buy.
'Today is a gift, that is why it is called The Present .'
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