June 5th

DAILY PONDERABLES

Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny

Daily Reflections

ENTIRELY READY?

"This is the Step that separates the men from the boys." . . . the difference between "the boys and the men" is the difference between striving for a self-determined objective and for the perfect objective which is of God. . . . It is suggested that we ought to become entirely willing to aim toward perfection. . . . The moment we say, "No, never!" our minds close against the grace of God. . . . This is the exact point at which we abandon limited objectives, and move toward God's will for us.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, pp. 63, 68, 69

Am I entirely ready to have God remove these defects of character? Do I know at long last that I cannot save myself? I have come to believe that I cannot. If I am unable, if my best intentions go wrong, if my desires are selfishly motivated and if my knowledge and will are limited---then I am ready to embrace God's will for my life.

From the book Daily Reflections

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought for the Day

We alcoholics are fortunate to be living in a day and age when there is such a thing as Alcoholics Anonymous. Before A.A. came into being, there was very lit- de hope for the alcoholic. A.A. is a great re-builder of human wreckage. It takes men and women whose personality problem expresses itself in alcoholism and offers them a program that, if they are willing to accept it, allows them not only to get sober, but also to find a much better way of living. Have I found a better way of living.

Meditation for the Day

Very quietly God speaks through your thoughts and feelings. Heed the Divine voice of your conscience. Listen for this and you will never be disappointed in the results in your life. Listen for this small, still voice and your tired nerves will become rested. The Divine voice comes to you as strength as well as tenderness, as power as well as restfulness. Your moral strength derives its effectiveness from the power that comes when you listen patiently for the still, small voice.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may listen for the still, small voice of God. I pray that I may obey the leading of my conscience.

From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day

NA - Just for Today

Honest prayer

Page 163

"Although honesty is difficult to practice, it is most rewarding."

Basic Text, p. 96

How difficult we find it to be honest! Many of us come to NA as confused about what really happened in our lives that it sometimes takes months and years to sort it all out. The truth of our history is not always as we have told it. How can we begin to be more truthful?

Many of us find it the easiest to be honest in prayer. With our fellow addicts, we sometimes find that we have a hard time telling the whole truth. We feel certain that we won't be accepted if we let others know us as we really are. It's hard to live up to the "terminally hip and fatally cool" image so many of us portrayed! In prayer, we find an acceptance from our Higher Power that allows us to open our hearts with honesty.

As we practice this honesty with the God of our understanding, we often find that it has a ripple effect in our communications with others. We get in the habit of being honest. We begin to practice honesty when we share at meetings and work with others. In return, we find our lives enriched by deepening friendships. We even find that we can be more honest with ourselves, the most important person to be truthful with!

Honesty is a quality that is developed through practice. It isn't always easy to be totally truthful, but when we begin with our Higher Power, we find it easier to extend our honesty to others.

Just for Today: I will be honest with God, myself, and others.

From the book Just for Today

Thought for Today

Five rules to be happy

1. Free your heart from hatred.

2. Free your mind from worries.

3. Live simply.

4. Give more.

5. Expect less.

--unknown

Cleaning My Hard Drive.

An Excercise In Working The Steps

I was talking to a friend one evening and she shared how she dealt with her resentments. I remember going home happy because I didn’t think I had a resentment problem. I was wrong.

That night my computer wasn’t working properly, I quickly realized that my hard drive was full. To free up space, I used the computer’s uninstall wizard to get rid of unwanted programs. My computer ran much better.

Then it hit me: my brain was full of resentments, and it wasn’t working properly. Years of resentments had clogged my brain and affected my serenity and happiness.

Computer programs have branches that reach into the deepest part of the computer. It’s easy to find and delete a single computer program, but it is almost impossible to find and delete all of the interconnecting programs.

Resentments are very similar to unwanted computer programs. I had accumulated more than 45 years of resentments. My brain has billions of interconnections to my resentments, and I cannot begin to understand how to delete all of them.

My computer’s uninstall wizard uses four steps that simplify finding and deleting unwanted programs and their connections. In the first steps, I search the hard drive to identify any unwanted programs. I then discuss with a systems administrator the exact nature of the unwanted program to determine if it should be removed. The wizard then asks if I am entirely ready to delete the program. By selecting the finish button, I ask my computer to remove the unwanted program and the process of seeking out and eliminating the unwanted program and all of its connections begins.

I needed an uninstall wizard for my resentments. I found one with Steps Four, Five, Six, and Seven. These Steps, used with other program tools, help eliminate and prevent resentments.

With Step Four, I take a fearless and searching moral inventory. I can identify and list resentments that were not previously visible. It allows me to see my part in my resentments.

I take the Fifth Step to verify, validate, and sort out the exact nature of my resentments by sharing with myself or another person. In the Sixth Step I realize what character defects are not good for me. Once I realize that resentments make me angry, obsessive, and only hurt me, I am entirely ready to remove them.

The Seventh Step is the finish button that allows my Higher Power to do His job. I humbly ask Him to remove my resentments. This request starts a process where my Higher Power finds and eliminates the remainders of my resentments. After taking the Seventh Step, I need to be patient. My computer works in near real time, but the Seventh Step works on God’s time. Computers are attacked daily by viruses and spy ware. Antivirus programs protect the computer by constantly taking inventories. When a malicious program is found, the software promptly deletes it.

I am attacked by everyday life events. I have trigger points that can instantly reinstate my resentments. The Tenth Step maintains and protects my serenity. I use it to prevent new and old resentments from developing by continuing to take my inventory and promptly admitting when I am wrong.

Firewalls protect computers from destructive viruses and unauthorized users. How can I prevent resentments? I’ve learned that by setting boundaries and detaching with love, most of my resentments can be avoided.

Buddha/Zen Thoughts

Changes that seem to occur in the empty world

we make real only because of our ignorance.

Native American

"It is not through the great skill of the hunter himself that success is achieved, but through the hunter's awareness of his place in Creation and his relationship to all things."

--Thomas Yellowtail, CROW

If only the human being could understand the power of proper relationships, the need for power and control could be abandoned. It's not what is going on that matters, but how we look at what is going on. It's our relationship to it that counts. Nothing in the world has any meaning except the meaning we give to it. To be more effective at this, we need to consider our relationship with the Creator. Our relationship to the Great Spirit determines how we will perceive the meanings we put to places, people, institutions and things. We need to let the Creator tell us and guide our thoughts about these relationships. Any relationship that we have that is causing problems means we need to pray for a new point of view.

Creator, let me see the world and the people through your eyes.

Keep It Simple

Life is only this place, this time, and these people right here and now.

--- Vincent Collins

Staying in the present can be hard. This busy world pulls our focus from the present. We often wonder if the future will bring good times or bad times.

Life is right before us. Look around. Life is happening---now! The more we live in the moment, the better we feel. Why? Because we can do something about the present. We can't do anything about the future. We have choices in the present, and we can do something with our lives. Addiction ran our lives before. Now with the help of others and our Higher Power, we run our lives again. This give us peace of mind.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thank-you for giving back my life. Teach me how to run my life. Have me seek others when I need help. It's okay to ask for it.

Action for the Day: Today, I'll list five things I do well. Then I'll list three things I don't do well. I'll think of people who can help me, and I'll call them.

Big Book

Chapter 7 Working With Others (pg 89)

PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics. It works when other activities fail. This is our twelfth suggestion: Carry this message to other alcoholics! You can help when no one else can. You can secure their confidence when other fail. Remember they are very ill.

Life will take on new meaning. To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends-this is an experience you must not miss. We know you will not want to miss it. Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our lives.

Perhaps you are not acquainted with any drinkers who want to recover. You can easily find some by asking a few doctors, ministers, priests or hospitals. They will be only too glad to assist you. Don’t start out as an evangelist or reformer. Unfortunately a lot of prejudice exists. You will be handicapped if you arouse it. Ministers and doctors are competent and you can learn much from them if you wish, but it happens that because of your own drinking experience you can be uniquely useful to other alcoholics. So cooperate; never criticize. To be helpful is our only aim.