DAILY PONDERABLES
Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny
Daily Reflections
"HOLD YOUR FACE TO THE LIGHT"
Believe more deeply. Hold your face up to the Light, even though for the moment you do not see.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 3
One Sunday in October, during my morning meditation, I glanced out the window at the ash tree in our front yard. At once I was overwhelmed by its magnificent, golden color! As I stared in awe at God's work of art, the leaves began to fall and, within minutes, the branches were bare. Sadness came over me as I thought of the winter months ahead, but just as I was reflecting on autumn's annual process, God's message came through. Like the trees, stripped of their leaves in the fall, sprout new blossoms in the spring, I had had my compulsive, selfish ways removed by God in order for me to blossom into a sober, joyful member of A.A. Thank you God, for the changing seasons and for my ever changing life.
From the book Daily Reflections
© Copyright 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
I no longer refuse to do anything because I cannot do it to perfection. Many of us alcoholics use the excuse of not being able to do something perfectly to enable us to do nothing at all. We pretend to be perfectionists. We are good at telling people how a thing should be done, but when we come to the effort of doing it ourselves, we balk. We say to ourselves: "I might make a mistake so I'd better let the whole thing slide." In A.A. we set our goals high, but that does not prevent us from trying. The mere fact that we will never fully reach these goals does not prevent us from doing the best we can. Have I stopped hiding behind the smoke screen of perfectionism?
Meditation for the Day
"In the world ye shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world." Keep an undaunted spirit. Keep your spirit free and unconquered. You can be undefeated and untouched by failure and all its power, by letting your spirit overcome the world; rise above earth's turmoil into the secret chamber of perfect peace and confidence. When a challenge comes to you, remember you have God's help and nothing can wholly defeat you.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may have confidence and be of good cheer. I pray that I may not fear the power of failure.
From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day
© Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation
NA - Just for Today
God's Will
"The relief of 'letting go and letting God' helps us develop a life that is worth living."
Basic Text pg. 26
In our addiction, we were afraid of what might happen if we didn't control everything around us. Many of us made up elaborate lies to protect our use of drugs. Some of us manipulated everyone around us in a frenzied attempt to get something from them so we could use more drugs. A few of us went to great lengths to keep two people from talking to each other and perhaps discovering our trail of lies. We took pains to maintain an illusion of control over our addiction and our lives. In the process, we kept ourselves from experiencing the serenity that comes with surrender to a Higher Power's will.
In our recovery, it is important to release our illusion of control and surrender to a Higher Power, whose will for us is better than anything we can con, manipulate, or devise for ourselves. If we realize that we are trying to control outcomes and are feeling afraid of the future, there is action we can take to reverse that trend. We go to our Second and Third Steps and look at what we have come to believe about a Higher Power. Do we truly believe that this Power can care for us and restore us to sanity? If so, we can live with all of life's ups and downs - its disappointments, its sorrows, its wonders, and its joys.
Just for today: I will surrender and let a Higher Power's will happen in my life. I will accept the gift of serenity this surrender brings.
pg. 341
From the book Just for Today
© Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought for Today
"Living in the moment means letting go of the past
and not waiting for the future. It means living your life
consciously, aware that each moment you breathe is
a gift." --Oprah Winfrey
Prayer: “Awaken in me the Joy of Just Being Alive.”
"Of all manifestations of power, restraint impresses men most."
~Thucydides
Ignorance is always afraid of change.
~Jawaharial Nehru
"We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them."
~Khalil Gibran (thanks Stu C. RIP)
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
The one who beholds that which has become as become
Passes beyond that becoming
And is released from craving for sensation.
In that which really is, he understands becoming.
Free from longing for birth or death,
He finds the true meaning of the end of becoming.
-Itivuttaka Sutta
Native American
"We're sitting on our blessed Mother Earth from which we get our strength and determination, love and humility-all the beautiful attributes that we've been given. so turn to one another; love one another; respect one another; respect Mother Earth; respect the waters-because that's life itself!"
--Phil Lane, Sr. YANKTON SIOUX
Our entire point of view can be altered by making one change to align with the principles of the Great Spirit. Let's say we decide to become respectful. As we become respectful, our attitude will change. We will automatically draw into our lives knowledge about the other principles of the Great Spirit such as love, appreciation, trust, beauty, peace of mind. By focusing on these principles, we will let go of selfishness, self centeredness, self pity, dishonesty and fear. You focus on respect, you get respect; you focus on love, you get love; you focus on the Red Road, you get peace of mind.
Great Spirit, let me learn the lessons of respect.
Keep It Simple
Let me listen to me and not to them. --- Gertrude Stein
Often we try to please everyone around us. But this may not make us happy, and so we get angry.
We feel taken advantage of.
We may be kind to others, but first we must love ourselves. How? By learning to listen to ourselves. To our dreams. To our higher power. By doing this we’ll be more happy. And those around us will probably be more happy too.
As our AA medallions say, “To Thine Own Self Be True.”
Prayer for the Day: I pray that I’ll listen to that gentle, loving voice inside me. Higher Power, help me make me make my “conscious contact” with You better.
Action for the Day: I will write down why I need to be true to myself.
The Twelve Traditions
(The Long Form)
(pgs 189-190)
Our A.A. experience has taught us that:
One—Each member of Alcoholics Anonymous is but a small part of a great whole. A.A. must continue to live or most of us will surely die. Hence our common welfare comes first. But individual welfare follows close afterward.
Two—For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority—a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience.
Three—Our membership ought to include all who suffer from alcoholism. Hence we may refuse none who wish to recover. Nor ought A.A. membership ever depend upon money or conformity. Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation.
Four—With respect to its own affairs, each A.A. group should be responsible to no other authority than its own conscience. But when its plans concern the welfare of neighboring groups also, those groups ought to be consulted. And no group, regional committee, or individual should ever take any action that might greatly affect A.A. as a whole without conferring with the trustees of the General Service Board. On such issues our common welfare is paramount.
Five—Each Alcoholics Anonymous group ought to be a spiritual entity having but one primary purpose—that of carrying its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
Six—Problems of money, property, and authority may easily divert us from our primary spiritual aim. We think, therefore, that any considerable property of genuine use to A.A. should be separately incorporated and managed, thus dividing the material from the spiritual. An A.A. group, as such, should never go into business. Secondary aids to A.A., such as clubs or hospitals which require much property or administration, ought to be incorporated and so set apart that, if necessary, they can be freely discarded by the groups. Hence such facilities ought not to use the A.A. name. Their management should be the sole responsibility of those people who financially support them. For clubs, A.A. managers are usually preferred. But hospitals, as well as other places of recuperation, ought to be well outside A.A.—and medically supervised. While an A.A. group may cooperate with anyone, such cooperation ought never to go so far as affiliation or endorsement, actual or implied. An A.A. group can bind itself to no one.
Big Book
"When the spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out mentally
and physically."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 64~
One Drink Away
Getting back a sober life was not an easy task
For years we tried, without success, to put away the flask
We felt remorse, we took an oath, but nothing seemed to work
We’d let our friends and families down, at times we went berserk
Each time we said “I’m sorry” and I won’t do this again
Had worn away all sympathy and trust was at an end
We needed help to save us from this life of gloom and doom
A friend relayed he’d found the answer in an AA room
Fast forward now a year or two, we’d taken his advice
We joined the AA fellowship and life had gotten nice
Our families welcomed what we’d done, still they had to adjust
Forgave us for our past misdeeds, but we had to earn their trust
Regaining trust starts to begin the day we join AA
Yet we still have to earn it back, there is no other way
As we continued showing them that this time it’s for real
Suspicions slowly went away, old wounds began to heal
But all that we accomplished could be lost in just a flash
By taking that first drink and watch that trust begin to crash
It may be even worst this time since they’d come to believe
That we had truly made the change to deal with our disease
And even if we stopped again, we’d done so at a cost
Their hopes were dashed, we’d let them down, belief and trust were lost
This time it would be harder to again regain their trust
It may take several years, and still, we know we really must
Throughout this time, we probably will live under suspicion
But we need to remember we’re the cause of this condition
So, when we’re questioned, ever grilled, about if we’ve been drinking
We need to pause, not get upset, and understand their thinking
They trusted us, we failed their faith, their doubts are justified
Old memories present themselves of how we often lied
Eventually they’ll come around, but they also need time
For wounds to heal, have faith restored, a steady uphill climb
The lesson that we learn from this is DO NOT TAKE THAT DRINK
The goodwill we had built up would be gone in just a blink
We need to keep remembering the cost if we should stray
The trust we gained would all be gone, it’s just one drink away.
Larry R.