05/19

DAILY PONDERABLES

Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny

Daily Reflections

GIVING WITHOUT STRINGS

And he well knows that his own life has been made richer, as an extra dividend of giving to another without any demand for a return.

AS BILL SEES IT, p. 69

The concept of giving without strings was hard to understand when I first came into the program. I was suspicious when others wanted to help me. I thought, "What do they want in return?" But I soon learned the joy of helping another alcoholic and I understand why they were there for me in the beginning. My attitudes changed and I wanted to help others. Sometimes I became anxious, as I wanted them to know the joys of sobriety, that life can be beautiful. When my life is full of a loving God of my understanding and I give that love to my fellow alcoholic, I feel a richness that is hard to explain.

From the book Daily Reflections

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought for the Day

Fellowship is a big part of staying sober. The doctors call it group therapy. We never go to an A.A. meeting without taking something out of it. Sometimes we don't feel like going to a meeting and we think of excuses for not going. But we usually end up by going anyway and we always get some lift out of every meeting. Meetings are part of keeping sober. And we get more out of a meeting if we try to contribute something to it. Am I contributing my share at meetings?

Meditation for the Day

"He brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings." The first part, "He brought me up out of a horrible pit," means that by turning to God and putting my problems in His hands, I am able to overcome my sins and temptations. "He set my feet upon a rock" means that when I trust God in all things, I have true security. "He established my goings" means that if I honestly try to live the way God wants me to live, I will have God's guidance in my daily living.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that my feet may be set upon a rock. I pray that I may rely on God to guide my comings and goings.

From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day

NA - Just for Today

A growth inventory

Page 145

"We review our past performance and our present behavior to see what we want to keep and what we want to discard."

Basic Text, p. 29

As each day winds to a close, many of us reflect on the past twenty-four hours and consider how we can live differently in the future. It's easy for our thoughts to remain trapped in the mundane: change the oil in the car, keep the living room clean, or empty the litter box. Sometimes it takes a special effort to jog our thinking out of the daily rut and onto a higher track.

One simple question can put us on the high road: What do we think our Higher Power wants for us tomorrow? Maybe we need to improve our flagging conscious contact with the God of our understanding. Perhaps we've been uncomfortable in our job or our relationship, holding on only out of fear. We might be hiding some troubling defect of character, afraid to share it with our sponsor. The question is, in what parts of our lives do we really want to grow?

As each day ends, we find it beneficial to take some moments to spend time with our Higher Power. We can begin to reflect on what will benefit our program of spiritual growth most in the coming day. We think about the areas in which we have grown recently, and target areas that still require work. What more fitting way to end the day?

Just for Today: I will set aside some time at the end of the day to commune with my Higher Power. I will review the past day, meditating on what stands between me and my Higher Power's will for my life.

From the book Just for Today

Thought for Today

"The best cure for worry, depression, melancholy, brooding, is to go deliberately forth and try to lift with one's sympathy the gloom of somebody else."

--Arnold Bennett

'If I don't change, my sobriety date will'

on wall of The Club in Tampa, FL

I slept and dreamed that life was a joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.

~Rabindranath Tagore

Fruits Or Roots

When most folks see an orange tree, the fruit is what they see

They notice the nice colors, Mother Nature’s apogee

What started as a tiny seed that most folks had not seen

Has now become Earth’s bounty with its glossy leaves of green

But what will go un-noticed are the roots that help it grow

Providing needed nourishment that let its branches flow

And help the fruit develop with its juices held with in

Ready to be taken, then the process starts again

When someone comes into the rooms, amazed at what they see

A group of folks who demonstrate a real serenity

With laughter and good fellowship, prepared to lend a hand

To those who come in all alone, adrift without a plan

When members share about the way their old life’s been replaced

From one of fear and misery, their self-worth been debased

To one of peace and gratitude, for waking each new day

A clean and sober member, free from self-loathing and dismay

But what they may not see is how they worked to gain respect

The hours spent at meetings, time with sponsors on the Steps

Importance of the fellowship, a whole new group of friends

The time to look inside themselves, the need to make amends

The meetings are a seedling, they’re the way to get you started

On a journey to a better life, a path that others charted

But for these seeds to flourish and to grow the way they ought

They’ll need roots to support them or their planting comes to naught

The same holds true for people when they come into AA

The only see the benefits, the fruit is on display

What’s missing is the things it took to get the fruit to bloom

It’s all the work that went on every day outside the rooms

Starting a routine that you adhere to every day

Prayer and meditation help to fortify the way

A breakfast after meetings with a group of AA friends

Create a strong foundation that will soon pay dividends

All these things are needed to insure we stay on track

The freedom that we gained assures we keep on coming back

The work we’ve done has made us grow, we relish in the fruit

But all of this possible because we have strong roots

The Orange is a pretty sight, in there among the leaves

It’s easy to forget about the help it has received

The seed begin the process which develops into fruit

But it could have come undone without reliance on the roots

Larry R.

Buddha/Zen Thoughts

Don't be afraid of doing good. It's another name for happiness, for all that is dear and delightful--this phrase "doing good." Whoever would live well, Long lasting, bringing bliss-- Let him be generous, be calm, And cultivate the doing of good. By practicing these three, These three bliss-bringing things, The wise one lives without regret His world infused with happiness.

- Itivuttaka Sutta

Native American

"To be able to greet the sun with the sounds from all of Nature is a great blessing, and it helps us to remember Who is the real provider of all of our benefits."

--Thomas Yellowtail, CROW

The Elders say we should pray to the East every morning. Just try it! Get up early in the morning, watch the sun and listen to the morning sounds, the birds, the winds; smell the air, feel the breeze and the warmth of the sun. Your mind will expand and you will experience oneness with the Great Spirit. You'll realize who is really in charge. You'll realize an interconnectedness. You'll realize how much the Creator loves you! Just try it!

Great Spirit, today, let me feel the Earth, the Father Sun and your presence.

Keep It Simple

The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing. --- Marcus Aurelius

The struggles of life teach us a lot. They challenge our beliefs. As we struggle, we come to believe that our friends, family, and Higher Power will be there for us in hard times. But we must do our part. We need to call and honestly let people know how we are doing. We need to pray and ask our Higher Power for help. If we do these things, we'll come to respect and learn from hard times.

Prayer for the Day: I pray for the wisdom to see that struggles are part of live. Higher Power, I pray for Your help in not taking struggles too personally.

Action for the Day: I'll list four times I've struggled and what I learned from each struggle. I'll share this with a friend.

Big Book

Chapter 5 How It Works (pg 70 & 71)

Suppose we fall short of the chosen ideal and stumble? Does this mean we are going to get drunk. Some people tell us so. But this is only a half-truth. It depends on us and on our motives. If we are sorry for what we have done, and have the honest desire to let God take us to better things, we believe we will be forgiven and will have learned our lesson. If we are not sorry, and our conduct continues to harm others, we are quite sure to drink. We are not theorizing. These are facts out of our experience.

To sum up about sex: We earnestly pray for the right ideal, for guidance in each questionable situation, for sanity, and for the strength to do the right thing. If sex is very troublesome, we throw ourselves the harder into helping others. We think of their needs and work for them. This takes us out of ourselves. It quiets the imperious urge, when to yield would mean heartache.

If we have been thorough about our personal inventory, we have written down a lot. We have listed and analyzed our resentments. We have begun to comprehend their futility and their fatality. We have commenced to see their terrible destructiveness. We have begun to learn tolerance, patience and good will toward all men, even our enemies, for we look on them as sick people. We have listed the people we have hurt by our conduct, and are willing to straighten out the past if we can.

In this book you read again and again that faith did for us what we could not do for ourselves. We hope you are convinced now that God can remove whatever self-will has blocked you off from Him. If you have already made a decision, and an inventory of your grosser handicaps, you have made a good beginning. That being so you have swallowed and digested some big chunks of truth about yourself.