06/02

DAILY PONDERABLES

Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny

Daily Reflections

THE UPWARD PATH

Here are the steps we took. . . .

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 59

These are the words that lead into the Twelve Steps. In their direct simplicity they sweep aside all psychological and philosophical considerations about the rightness of the Steps. They describe what I did: I took the Steps and sobriety was the result. These words do not imply that I should walk the well-trodden path of those who went before, but rather that there is a way for me to become sober and that it is a way I shall have to find. It is a new path, one that leads to infinite light at the top of the mountain. The Steps advise me about the footholds that are safe and about chasms to avoid. They provide me with the tools I need during the many parts of the solitary journey of my soul. When I speak of this journey, I share my experience, strength and hope with others.

From the book Daily Reflections

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought for the Day

Some more things I do not miss since becoming dry: wondering if the car is in the garage and how I got home; struggling to remember where I was and what I did since my last conscious moment; trying to delay getting off to work, and wondering how I will look when I get there; dreading the day ahead of me. I'm quite sure that I don't miss these things, am I not?

Meditation for the Day

You cannot believe in God and keep your selfish ways. The old self shrivels up and dies, and upon the reborn soul God's image becomes stamped. The gradual elimination of selfishness in the growth of love for God and your fellow human beings is the goal of life. At first, you have only a faint likeness to the Divine, but the picture grows and takes on more and more of the likeness of God until those who see you can see in you some of the power of God's grace at work in a human life.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may develop that faint likeness I have to the Divine. I pray that others may see in me some of the power of God's grace at work.

From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day

NA - Just for Today

Sick and tired

Page 160

"We wanted an easy way out...When we did seek help, we were only looking for the absence of pain."

Basic Text, p.5

Something's not working. In fact, something's been wrong for a long time, causing us pain and complicating our lives. The problem is that, at any given moment, it always appears easier to continuing bearing the pain of our defects than to submit to the total upheaval involved in changing the way we live. We may long to be free of pain, but only rarely are we willing to do what's truly necessary to remove the source of pain from our lives.

Most of us didn't begin seeking recovery from addiction until we were "sick and tired of being tired and sick." The same is true of the lingering character defects we've carried through our lives. Only when we can't bear our shortcomings one moment longer, only when we know that the pain of change can't be as bad as the pain we're in today, are most of us willing to try something different.

Thankfully, the steps are always there, no matter what we're sick and tired of. The irony is that, as soon as we make the decision to begin the Twelve Step process, we realize our fears of change were groundless. The steps offer a gentle program of change, one step at a time. No single step is so frightening that we can't work it, by itself. As we apply the steps to our lives, we experience a change that frees us.

Just for Today: No matter what prevents me from living a full, happy life, I know the program can help me change, a step at a time. I need not be afraid of the Twelve Steps.

From the book Just for Today

Thought for Today

"How things look on the outside of us depends on how things are on

the inside of us."

--Park Cousins

"Some people see the glass half empty, some people see the glass half full, on my days of struggle i just try to be thankful i still have a cup."

Steps 1,2,3

We admitted we were powerless…

But this was plain to see

This disease we have devoured us…

and dropped us to our knees

Our lives had become unmanageable…

We were spiraling out of control

It was all so

incomprehensible…

Our malady has taken it's toll

We believe in a power greater than ourselves…

would restore our sanity

Release us from the bondage of self…

That one day we shall be free

Upon investigation…

We learn more than alcohol was to blame

We needed restoration…

Our thinking was insane

And now is the time to make a decision…

We must turn it over to Him

We're given a choice of the God we envision…

Our Spiritual Journey was about to begin

Our will and our lives now under His care…

What safer place to be

Down on our knees as we say the Lords Prayer…

Thank God for Steps 1, 2, and 3

Gordon R.

Buddha/Zen Thoughts

When you try to stop activity to achieve quietude,

your very effort fills you with activity.

As long as you remain attached to one extreme or another

you will never know Oneness.

Those who do not live in the Single Way

cannot be free in either activity or quietude,

in assertion or denial.

Native American

"You have to have a lot of patience to hear those old people talk, because when they talk, they talk about motivation, the feeling, the unsound that is around the universe. They explain everything to one understanding. They bring it all together, and when they finish, just one word comes out. Just one word. They might talk all day, and just one word comes out."

--Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA

We need to be careful about judging the old ones when we talk. At first they may not make sense to us. Maybe we'll say they're old fashioned and don't understand. But the old ones do understand! When they speak, listen very carefully. Often it will take weeks or maybe even years before we understand what they are really saying. This is the way of Wisdom. We need to listen, listen, listen.

Great Spirit, today, open my ears so I can hear the Elders.

Keep It Simple

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. --- Eleanor Roosevelt

Most of us want to be happy. We just don't know how. We aren't sure what happiness is. We've learned the hard way that some things we wanted didn't make us happy. We're learning that happiness comes when we live the way our Higher Power wants us to live. That's when we’re honest. When we do our best work. When we are a true friend. We make happiness; we don't find it. Sometimes we don't even know we're happy. We're too busy with our work, our recovery program, our friends and family. We need to slow down and know that when we do what we need to, happiness comes.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me know that I'm most happy when I listen to You and do Your will. You know better than I do what makes me happy.

Action for the Day: What parts of my program am I most happy about? Today I'll think of these and enjoy myself.

Big Book

Chapter 6 Into Action (pg 85 & top 86)

It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe. We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God’s will into all of our activities. “How can I best serve Thee-Thy will (not mine) be done.” These are thoughts which must go with us constantly. We can exercise our will power along this line all we wish. It is the proper use of the will.

Much has already been said about receiving strength, inspiration, and direction from Him who has all knowledge and power. If we have carefully followed directions, we have begun to sense the flow of His Spirit into us. To some extent we have become God-conscious. We have begun to develop this vital sixth sense. But we must go further and that means more action.

Step Eleven suggests prayer and meditation. We shouldn’t be shy on this matter of prayer. Better men than we are using it constantly. It works, if we have the proper attitude and work at it. It would be easy to be vague about this matter. Yet, we believe we can make some definite and valuable suggestions.