05/14

DAILY PONDERABLES

Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny

Daily Reflections

IT'S OKAY TO BE ME

Time after time newcomers have tried to keep to themselves certain facts about their lives. . . . they have turned to easier methods. . . . But they had not learned enough humility. . . .

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp. 72-73

Humility sounds so much like humiliation, but it really is the ability to look at myself---and honestly accept what I find. I no longer need to be "smartest" or "dumbest" or any other "est." Finally, it is the okay to be me. It is easier for me to accept myself if I share my whole life. If I cannot share in meetings, then I better have a sponsor---someone with whom I can share those "certain facts" that could lead me back to a drunk, to death. I need to take all the Steps. I need the Fifth Step to learn true humility. Easier methods do not work.

From the book Daily Reflections

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought for the Day

Having gotten over drinking, we have only just begun to enjoy the benefits of A.A. We find new friends, so that we are no longer lonely. We find new relationships with our families, so that we are happy at home. We find release from our troubles and worries through a new way of looking at things. We find an outlet for our energies in helping other people. Am I enjoying these benefits of A.A.?

Meditation for the Day

The kingdom of heaven is within you. God sees, as no one can see, what is within you. He sees you growing more and more like Himself. That is your reason for existence, to grow more and more like God, to develop more and more the spirit of God within you. You can often see in others those qualities and aspirations that you yourself possess. So also can God recognize His own spirit in you. Your motives and aspirations can only be understood by those who have attained the same spiritual level as you have.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may not expect complete understanding from others. I pray that I may only expect this from God, as I try to grow more like Him.

From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day

NA - Just for Today

Oops!

Page 140

"Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results."

Basic Text, p. 23

Mistakes! We all know how it feels to make them. Many of us feel that our entire lives have been a mistake. We often regard our mistakes with shame or guilt-at the very least, with frustration and impatience. We tend to see mistakes as evidence that we are still sick, crazy, stupid, or too damaged to recover.

In truth, mistakes are a very vital and important part of being human. For particularly stubborn people (such as addicts), mistakes are often our best teachers. There is no shame in making mistakes. In fact, making new mistakes often shows our willingness to take risks and grow.

It's helpful, though, if we learn from our mistakes; repeating the same ones may be a sign that we're stuck. And expecting different results from the same old mistakes-well, that's what we call "insanity." It just doesn't work.

Just for Today: Mistakes aren't tragedies. But please, Higher Power, help me learn from them!

From the book Just for Today

Thought for Today

When arguing with a stupid person, be sure that he or she isn't doing the same thing.

My friend suggested what then seemed a novel idea. He said,

"Why don't you choose your own conception of God?"

That statement hit me hard. It melted the icy intellectual

mountain in whose shadow I had lived and shivered many years.

-- Bill’s Story, Alcoholics Anonymous, page 12

Buddha/Zen Thoughts

Bad Habits

In the root and stem of your own psyche there is an accumulation of bad habits, If you cannot see through them and act independently of them, you will unavoidably get bogged down along the way.

Zen Master Yuansou

Native American

"Prayer is the best answer to all of the trials that face us, because without prayer, even if we succeed in accomplishing some great goal in the eyes of men, we have failed in our sacred responsibilities, and thus we have failed in what is truly important."

--Thomas Yellowtail, CROW

What are our sacred responsibilities? One is to be of maximum service to the Creator, and two is to serve the people. In a way, it's like the Great Spirit is the employer and we are the employees. We live each day, do what we do, accomplish our goals, face our difficulties, overcome them all to the Glory of the Creator. We do these things to make Him proud! Even if we work for a company, agency or tribe, they are nor really our employer; the Creator is our employer. Working for the Creator is better than working for a human being, because each night we can talk to the Creator and ask Him, "Well, how did I do today?" He answers back each night, "I'm proud of you, my child; sleep well, and in the morning I'll give you a new set of growing experiences."

Great Spirit, today, let me work for you. You will be my new boss.

Keep It Simple

Make yourself an honest [person], and then you may be sure that there is one rascal less in the world. --- Thomas Carlyle

Honesty does not mean saying all we think or feel. Many of our thoughts and feelings are only with us for a minute. They are not always the truth. For example, saying to someone you love, "I hate you!" in the middle of an argument can destroy things.

Honesty means living by what is true to us. Then we choose when and how to say things to others.

Think of honesty as the air we breathe; it's what keeps us alive, but it can get polluted and kill. It must be treated with respect and care.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me know the power of honesty. Help me speak it with care and respect.

Action for the Day: Before I speak today I'll ask myself: "Is this true? Am I speaking because this needs to be said?"

Big Book

Chapter 5 How It Works (pg 65 & top 66)

We went back through our lives. Nothing counted but thoroughness and honesty. When we were finished we considered it carefully. The first thing apparent was that this world and its people were often quite wrong. To conclude that others were wrong was as far as most of us ever got. The usual outcome was that people continued to wrong us and we stayed sore. Sometimes it was remorse and then we were sore at ourselves. But the more we fought and tried to have our own way, the worse matters got. As in war, the victor only seemed to win. Our moments of triumph were short-lived.