DAILY PONDERABLES
Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny
Daily Reflections
A NEW LIFE
Yes there is a substitute and it is vastly more than that. It is a fellowship in Alcoholics Anonymous. . . . Life will mean something at last.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 152
Life is better without alcohol. A.A. and the presence of a Higher Power keeps me sober, but the grace of God does even better; it brings service into my life. Contact with the A.A. program teaches me a new and greater understanding of what Alcoholics Anonymous is and what it does, but most importantly, it helps to show me who I am: an alcoholic who needs the constant experience of the Alcoholics Anonymous program so that I may live a life given to me by my Higher Power.
From the book Daily Reflections
© Copyright 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
"We all realize that we know only a little. God will constantly disclose more to all of us. Ask Him in your morning meditations what you can do today for the person who is still sick. The answers will come, if your own house is in order. See to it that your relationship with God is right and great events will come to pass for you and countless others. Give freely of what you find in A.A. But obviously, you cannot transmit something that you haven't got. So make a life study of A.A." Am I always looking for ways of presenting the AA. program?
Meditation for the Day
"In quietness and confidence shall be your strength." Confidence means to have faith in something. We could not live without confidence in others. When you have confidence in God's grace, you can face whatever comes. When you have confidence in God's love, you can be serene and at peace. You can rest in the faith that God will take care of you. Try to rest in God's presence until His life-power flows through you. Be still and in that stillness the still, small Voice will come. It speaks in quietness to the human mind that is attuned to its influence.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may find strength today in quietness. I pray that I may be content today that God will take care of me.
From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day
© Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation
NA - Just for Today
Filling the emptiness
Page 269
"...we think that if we can just get enough food, enough sex, or enough money, we'll be satisfied and everything will be alright."
Basic Text, p.80
In our addiction, we could never get enough drugs, or money, or sex, or anything else. Even too much was never enough! There was a spiritual emptiness inside us. Though we tried as hard as we could to fill that emptiness ourselves, we never succeeded. In the end, we realized that we lacked the power to fill it; it would take a Power greater than ourselves to do that.
So we stopped using, and we stopped trying to fill the emptiness in our gut with things. We turned to our Higher Power, asking for its care, strength, and direction. We surrendered and made way for that Power to begin the process of filling our inner void. We stopped grabbing things and started receiving the free gift of love our Higher Power had for us. Slowly, our inner emptiness was being filled.
Now that we've been given our Higher Power's gift of love, what do we do with it? If we clasp that gift tightly to ourselves, we will smother it. We must remember that love grows only when it is shared. We can only keep this gift by freely giving it away. The world of addiction is a world of taking and being taken; the world of recovery is a world of giving and being given. In which world do we choose to live?
Just for Today: I choose to live in the fullness of recovery. I will celebrate my conscious contact with the God of my understanding by freely sharing with others that which has been freely shared with me.
From the book Just for Today
© Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought for Today
We find that the difference between adventure and disaster usually boils down to attitude. It's like the glass half full or half empty. Is it a problem or an opportunity; an obstruction or a challenge for growth? The way you choose to see it makes all the difference.
I don't see things as they are; I see things as I am.
The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.
- Leo Tolstoy
Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.
~Coco Chanel
Intelligence is not what I know but what I do when I don't know
(thanks James B.)
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
Leave the mind in its natural, undisturbed state. Don't follow thoughts of "This is a problem, that is a problem!"
Without labeling difficulties as problems, leave your mind in its natural state. In this way, you will stop seeing miserable conditions as problems.
-Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Transforming Problems Into Happiness
. “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.”
― Philip K. Dick (thanks Stan F.)
Native American
"Knowledge is a beautiful thing, but the using of knowledge in a good way is what makes for wisdom. Learning how to use knowledge in a sacred manner, that's wisdom to me. And to me, that's what a true Elder is."
--Sun Bear, CHIPPEWA
We grow in wisdom by developing ourselves according to the four directions of the Medicine Wheel - emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually. Let's say we started drinking and drugging in our teenage years. Our emotional development will stop, but we will grow older physically. We could then develop into an immature adult. As adults we might be acting like we were teenagers. Once we stop drinking or drugging, our emotional development will begin again. We need to grow and nurture ourselves in all four directions. We need to involve the Great Spirit's guidance in our development. That's the only way we become wise individuals and live our lives in harmony and in a sacred way.
Oh Great Spirit, guide my thinking today. Let me walk in a sacred way on the Red Road. Let me be a learner of lessons and give me Your greatest gift - wisdom!
Keep It Simple
Often the test of courage is not to die but to live. --- Vittorio Alfiert
What brave people we are! We have chosen life. Okay, maybe we had a little push, maybe a big push from our family, police, or the pain of our disease. But still, we’ve chosen recovery. We choose daily to let our Higher Power run our lives. What trust! What faith! What courage!
We work hard at recovery. We do our meditate. We look for ways to serve others. Each one of us is building a miracle. We can be proud of this.
Prayer for the Day: I pray that I’ll have the courage to love myself. High Power, teach me to pat myself on the back when I deserve it.
Action for the Day: I will list three ways I am brave in recovery and share them with my group.
TWELVE STEPS
and
TWELVE TRADITIONS
Step Six (pgs 68-69
Many will at once ask, “How can we accept the entire implication of Step Six? Why—that is perfection!” This sounds like a hard question, but practically speaking, it isn’t. Only Step One, where we made the 100 percent admission we were powerless over alcohol, can be practiced with absolute perfection. The remaining eleven Steps state perfect ideals. They are goals toward which we look, and the measuring sticks by which we estimate our progress. Seen in this light, Step Six is still difficult, but not at all impossible. The only urgent thing is that we make a beginning, and keep trying.
If we would gain any real advantage in the use of this Step on problems other than alcohol, we shall need to make a brand new venture into open-mindedness. We shall need to raise our eyes toward perfection, and be ready to walk in that direction. It will seldom matter how haltingly we walk. The only question will be “Are we ready?”
Looking again at those defects we are still unwilling to give up, we ought to erase the hard-and-fast lines that we have drawn. Perhaps we shall be obliged in some cases still to say, “This I cannot give up yet…,” but we should not say to ourselves, “This I will never give up!”
Let’s dispose of what appears to be a hazardous open end we have left. It is suggested that we ought to become entirely willing to aim toward perfection. We note that some delay, however, might be pardoned. That word, in the mind of a rationalizing alcoholic, could certainly be given a long-term meaning. He could say, “How very easy! Sure, I’ll head toward perfection, but I’m certainly not going to hurry any. Maybe I can postpone dealing with some of my problems indefinitely.” Of course, this won’t do. Such a bluffing of oneself will have to go the way of many another pleasant rationalization. At the very least, we shall have to come to grips with some of our worst character defects and take action toward their removal as quickly as we can.
The moment we say, “No, never!” our minds close against the grace of God. Delay is dangerous, and rebellion may be fatal. This is the exact point at which we abandon limited objectives, and move toward God’s will for us.
Big Book
"As we go through the day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and
ask for the right thought or action."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 87~