DAILY PONDERABLES
Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny
Daily Reflections
AVOIDING CONTROVERSY
All history affords us the spectacle of striving nations and groups finally torn asunder because they were designed for, or tempted into, controversy. Others fell apart because of sheer self-righteousness while trying to enforce upon the rest of mankind some millennium of their own specification.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 176
As an A.A. member and sponsor, I know I can cause real damage if I yield to temptation and give opinions and advice on another's medical, marital, or religious problems. I am not a doctor, counselor, or lawyer. I cannot tell anyone how he or she should live; however, I can share how I came through similar situations without drinking, and how A.A.'s Steps and traditions help me in dealing with my 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 have more peace and contentment. Life has fallen into place. The pieces of the jigsaw puzzle have found their correct position. Life is whole, all of one piece. I am not cast hither and yon on every wind of circumstance or fancy. I am no longer a dry leaf cast up and away by the breeze. I have found my place of rest, my place where I belong. I am content. I do not vainly wish for things I cannot have. I have "the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference." Have I found contentment in A.A.?
Meditation for the Day
In all of us there is an inner consciousness that tells of God, an inner voice that speaks to our hearts. It is a voice that speaks to us intimately, personally, in a time of quiet meditation. It is like a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. We can reach out into the darkness and figuratively touch the hand of God. As the Big Book puts it: "Deep down in every man, woman, and child is the fundamental idea of God. We can find the Great Reality deep down within us. And when we find it, it changes our whole attitude toward life."
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may follow the leading of the inner voice. I pray that I may not turn a deaf ear to the urging of my conscience.
From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day
© Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation
NA - Just for Today
Our Relationship With A Higher Power
"Ongoing recovery is dependent on our relationship with a loving God who cares for us and will do for us what we find impossible to do for ourselves."
Basic Text, p.96
Working the Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous gives us a fresh start in life and some guidance for living in the world. But the steps are more than a fresh start. When we do our best to work the steps, we develop a relationship with our personal Higher Power.
In the Third Step, we decide to allow a loving God to influence our lives. Much of the courage, trust, and willingness we need to continue through the succeeding steps comes from this decision. In the Seventh Step, we go even further by asking this Higher Power to change our lives. The Eleventh Step is a way for us to improve the relationship.
Recovery is a process of growth and change in which our lives are renewed. The Twelve Steps are the roadmap, the specific directions we take in order to continue in recovery. But the support we need to proceed with each step comes from our faith in a Higher Power, the belief that all will be well. Faith gives us courage to act. Each step we work is supported by our relationship with a loving God.
Just for today: I will remember that the source of my courage and willingness is my relationship with my Higher Power.
pg. 317
From the book Just for Today
© Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought for Today
The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.
--William Arthur Ward
It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.
~Henry David Thoreau
Man is born broken. He lives by mending. The grace of God is glue.
~Eugene O'Neill (thanks Gene H.)
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
Don’t cling to your own understanding. Even if you do understand something, you should ask yourself if there might be something you have not fully resolved, or if there may be some higher meaning yet.
-Dogen
Native American
"One is not born a Tewa but rather one is made a Tewa... once made, one has to work hard continuously throughout one's life to remain a Tewa."
--Alfonso Ortiz, SAN JUAN PUEBLO
Being Indian is being spiritual. It is not the color of our skin. Being Indian is how we think. We need to learn our culture, our language, our dances, our traditions, and customs. It is one thing to know these things, but another to live them. We need to spend time with the Elders and get their guidance. We need to go to the mountains, woods, and desert to pray. Being spiritual is the way for us to think right. Walking the Red Road and thinking right is the greatest gift we can give to our children.
Grandfather, help me to Walk the Talk.
Keep It Simple
A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it is committing another mistake. --- Confucius
Step Ten tell us that when we are wrong, we must “promptly” admit it. We aren’t used to admitting our mistakes. We defend ourselves and blame others. This is call denial.
Denial is bad for two reasons. First, it keeps from learning from our mistakes, so we keep making them. Second, we don’t listen to others, so we close ourselves and become lonely.
What a relief it is to admit our wrongs! We don’t have to keep trying to do things the hard way. We can learn new way to think and act that will work better for us. We can let other people be our teachers.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me out of denial, so I can see the changes I need to make.
Action for the Day: Today, If I disagree with someone, I’ll promptly admit when I’m wrong. If I’m right, I’ll be gentle. I don’t have to prove anything.
********************************
Walk in Dry Places
No Conditional Sobriety
Admission of Powerlessness - Sobriety in AA is unconditional. This means that there’s never been a reason for drinking, no matter how bad our circumstances may become. As the AA pioneers were fond of saying "There’s nothing that drinking won’t make worse."
How do we know if we’re setting conditions on sobriety? It is revealed to us in our own thinking.
If we believe, for example, that a certain setback such as the ending of a relationship is just cause for drinking, we have made our sobriety conditional.
In such cases what we need to do is clear up our own thinking on the subject.
Maybe further inventory is needed, or perhaps we should let ourselves learn from the experience of others. Self-honesty is important in getting priorities in order.
The decision to choose unconditional sobriety brings additional benefits in helping us to organize our lives.
Once we completely understand that sobriety is all important, it becomes easier to make other decisions that bear on keeping sober. We find ourselves choosing the ideas and activities that enhance sobriety, while rejecting other things that could threaten it.
Above all else I must remember that there is nothing bad going on in my life that a drink won’t make worse and conversely nothing good that a drink won’t totally destroy.
I’ll never waiver in a moment from my belief that I must continue to seek sobriety - unconditionally. There is nothing that could ever justify my taking a drink.
TWELVESTEPS
and
TWELVE TRADITIONS
Tradition Five (pgs 150-151)
“Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.”
“SHOEMAKER, stick to thy last!” …better do one thing supremely well than many badly. That is the central theme of this Tradition. Around it our Society gathers in unity. The very life of our Fellowship requires the preservation of this principle.
Alcoholics Anonymous can be likened to a group of physicians who might find a cure for cancer, and upon whose concerted work would depend the answer for sufferers of this disease. True, each physician in such a group might have his own specialty. Every doctor concerned would at times wish he could devote himself to his chosen field rather than work only with the group. But once these men had hit upon a cure, once it became apparent that only by their united effort could this be accomplished, then all of them would feel bound to devote themselves solely to the relief of cancer. In the radiance of such a miraculous discovery, any doctor would set his other ambitions aside, at whatever personal cost.
Just as firmly bound by obligation are the members of Alcoholics Anonymous, who have demonstrated that they can help problem drinkers as others seldom can. The unique ability of each A.A. to identify himself with, and bring recovery to, the newcomer in no way depends upon his learning, eloquence, or on any special individual skills. The only thing that matters is that he is an alcoholic who has found a key to sobriety. These legacies of suffering and of recovery are easily passed among alcoholics, one to the other. This is our gift from God, and its bestowal upon others like us is the one aim that today animates A.A.’s all around the globe.
There is another reason for this singleness of purpose. It is the great paradox of A.A. that we know we can seldom keep the precious gift of sobriety unless we give it away. If a group of doctors possessed a cancer cure, they might be conscience-stricken if they failed their mission through self-seeking. Yet such a failure wouldn’t jeopardize their personal survival. For us, if we neglect those who are still sick, there is unremitting danger to our own lives and sanity. Under these compulsions of self-preservation, duty, and love, it is not strange that our Society has concluded that it has but one high mission—to carry the A.A. message to those who don’t know there’s a way out.
Big Book
"Since the home has suffered more than anything else, it is well that
a man exert himself there. He is not likely to get far in any
direction if he fails to show unselfishness and love under his own
roof. We know there are difficult wives and families, but the man
who is getting over alcoholism must remember he did much to make them
so."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, The Family Afterward, pg. 127~
You Can’t Rush Trust
His wife had been away on a four-day business trip
She’d done the same thing many times and each time he would slip
Alone the bottle called to him and he’d answer the call
Buy this time he resisted, ‘twas determined not to fall
He had not had a drink for almost 30 hard fought days
And in his mind his abstinence would surely bring him praise
He told his wife that he stayed dry the whole time she was gone
Instead of praise, she doubted him, accused him of a con
She said you’ve lied so many times, I really can’t believe
A thing you say, heard it before, the many tales you’ve weaved
No matter how he tried to say “this time it’s really true”
She shook her head, went off to bed, and left him feeling blue
He shared this at a meeting, still hurting from its sting
Deep down he knew he’d earned her wrath, results his drinking brings
He sought advise from some of us, to get her to believe
That this time he was serious, afraid that she might leave
His story’s not uncommon, we’ve all known our share of doubt
From those who care the most for us, who try to figure out
If we had reached THE bottom, were committed to AA
Not just attend the meetings, really live the AA way
Recovery from alcohol takes time and dedication
We start out beat, alone, confused, estranged from our relations
But our program is a process, not an overnight repair
The same holds true for those we love, the ones that really care
Time takes time, the saying goes, and for us that holds true
We can’t expect our families not to doubt the things we do
They’ve heard us promise many times that this will be the last
They try and wish that it is true, then get their wishes smashed
Our words cannot convince them to believe that we have changed
Only time and how we act can show we’re not the same
As what we used to be when alcohol controlled our being
Talk is cheap, to gain their trust, the proof is in the seeing
Forgiveness comes more quickly; trust is something we must earn
Skeptical relations fear they someday may get burned
It’s up to us to show we’ve changed, for some it may take years
All we can do is stay the course, alleviate those fears
Once we KNOW that we’re all in, our drinking days are through
We let the program be our guide, good actions to accrue
And as they see us living free their thinking will adjust
Be patient, it will come to pass, you just cannot rush trust.
Larry R.
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