DAILY PONDERABLES
Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny
Daily Reflections
"I WAS AN EXCEPTION"
He [Bill W.] said to me, gently and simply, "Do you think that you are one of us?"
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 413
During my drinking life I was convinced I was an exception. I thought I was beyond petty requirements and had the right to be excused. I never realized that the dark counterbalance of my attitude was the constant feeling that I did not "belong." At first, in A. A., I identified with others only as an alcoholic. What a wonderful awakening for me it has been to realize that, if human beings were doing the best they could, then so was I! All of the pains, confusions and joys they feel are not exceptional, but part of my life, just as much as anybody's.
From the book Daily Reflections
© Copyright 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
Step Twelve is, "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs." Note that the basis of our effectiveness in carrying the message to others is the reality of our own spiritual awakening. If we have not changed, we cannot be used to change others. To keep this program, we must pass it on to others. We cannot hoard it for ourselves. We may lose it unless we give it away. It cannot flow into us and stop; it must continue to flow into us as it flows out to others. Am I always ready to give away what I have learned in A.A.?
Meditation for the Day
"Draw nigh unto God and He will draw nigh unto you." When you are faced with a problem beyond your strength, you must turn to God by an act of faith. It is that turning to God in each trying situation that you must cultivate. The turning may be one of glad thankfulness for God's grace in your life. Or your appeal to God may be a prayerful claiming of His strength to face a situation and finding that you have it when the time comes. Not only the power to face trials, but also the comfort and joy of God's nearness and companionship are yours for the asking.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may try to draw near to God each day in prayer. I pray that I may feel His nearness and His strength in my life.
From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day
© Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation
NA - Just for Today
Dealing With Gossip
"In accordance with the principles of recovery, we try not to judge, stereotype, or moralize with each other."
Basic Text, p.11
Let's face it: In Narcotics Anonymous, we live in a glass house of sorts. Our fellow members know more about our personal lives than anyone has ever known before. They know who we spend our time with, where we work, what step we're on, how many children we have, and so forth. And what our fellow members don't know, they will probably imagine.
We may be unhappy when others gossip about us. But if we withdraw from the fellowship and isolate ourselves to avoid gossip, we also rob ourselves of the love, friendship, and unparalleled experience with recovery that our fellow members have to offer. A better way to deal with gossip is to simply accept the way things are and the way we are, and live our lives according to principles. The more secure we become with our personal program, the decisions we make, and the guidance we receive from a loving God, the less the opinions of others will concern us.
Just for today: I am committed to being involved in the NA Fellowship. The opinions of others will not affect my commitment to recovery.
From the book Just for Today
© Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought for Today
"Think for yourself and let others enjoy the privilege of doing so too."
--Voltaire
Turnaround
When I first started drinking, I drank because it gave me pleasure.
After a while, my drinking became a habit.
And as I drank more and more, it became a necessity!
I first came to Alcoholics Anonymous because it was a necessity.
After a while, going to AA meetings became a habit.
Now sober for a while, going to AA has become a pleasure!
Strange how things work out, isn=t it?
Frank B.
You take the rum out of a fruitcake you still got a fruitcake
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
Intention is the core of all conscious life. It is our intentions that create karma, our intentions that help others, our intentions that lead us away from the delusions of individuality toward the immutable verities of enlightened awareness. Conscious intention colors and moves everything.
-Master Hsing Yun, "Describing the Indescribable"
No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.
~Buddha (thanks Gene H.)
Native American
"When that spirit comes, we don't ever ask questions. If I don't understand, I just hold onto it. Then later down the road, maybe in a couple of years, I understand what that spirit meant."
--Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA
At certain spiritual events or happenings, it is possible for the spirits to come. Sometimes these spirits look like sparklers of light, sometimes you can feel them, sometimes they will look like live human beings. The spirits always come for a reason. When we deal with the spirit world, we need to be patient. The Great Spirit will tell us the meaning of these happenings when He is ready.
Great Spirit, let me be aware of Your presence.
Keep It Simple
. . . he who finds himself loses his misery. Matthew Arnold
We have lost a lot of misery. In it’s place inside us, a spirit grows. . .as love is added.
Especially self-love. In our illness, we came to hate ourselves. It was really our illness we hated. We couldn’t find ourselves. All we saw was what others saw---our illness.
In recovery, we’ve found ourselves again. We’ve found we’re good people. We’ve also come to love the world around us. We see we have something to offer this world---ourselves.
Why? Because we have found ourselves.
Prayer for the Day: I’m so glad to be alive. At times life hurts, but, in living, I found You. Thank-you Higher Power. I pray that we may always be close.
Action for the Day: I will list ten great things I’ve discovered about myself in recovery.
TWELVE STEPS
and
TWELVE TRADITIONS
Step Nine (pgs 83-84)
“Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.”
GOOD judgment, a careful sense of timing, courage, and prudence—these are the qualities we shall need when we take Step Nine.
After we have made the list of people we have harmed, have reflected carefully upon each instance, and have tried to possess ourselves of the right attitude in which to proceed, we will see that the making of direct amends divides those we should approach into several classes. There will be those who ought to be dealt with just as soon as we become reasonably confident that we can maintain our sobriety. There will be those to whom we can make only partial restitution, lest complete disclosures do them or others more harm than good. There will be other cases where action ought to be deferred, and still others in which by the very nature of the situation we shall never be able to make direct personal contact at all.
Most of us begin making certain kinds of direct amends from the day we join Alcoholics Anonymous. The moment we tell our families that we are really going to try the program, the process has begun. In this area there are seldom any questions of timing or caution. We want to come in the door shouting the good news. After coming from our first meeting, or perhaps after we have finished reading the book “Alcoholics Anonymous,” we usually want to sit down with some member of the family and readily admit the damage we have done by our drinking. Almost always we want to go further and admit other defects that have made us hard to live with. This will be a very different occasion, and in sharp contrast with those hangover mornings when we alternated between reviling ourselves and blaming the family (and everyone else) for our troubles. At this first sitting, it is necessary only that we make a general admission of our defects. It may be unwise at this stage to rehash certain harrowing episodes. Good judgment will suggest that we ought to take our time. While we may be quite willing to reveal the very worst, we must be sure to remember that we cannot buy our own peace of mind at the expense of others.
This atmosphere of approval and praise is apt to be so exhilarating as to put us off balance by creating an insatiable appetite for more of the same. Or we may be tipped over in the other direction when, in rare cases, we get a cool and skeptical reception. This will tempt us to argue, or to press our point insistently. Or maybe it will tempt us to discouragement and pessimism. But if we have prepared ourselves well in advance, such reactions will not deflect us from our steady and even purpose.
Big Book
"If circumstances warrant, we ask our wives or friends to join us in
morning meditation. If we belong to a religious denomination which
requires a definite morning devotion, we attend to that also. If not
members of religious bodies, we sometimes select and memorize a few
set prayers which emphasize the principles we have been discussing.
There are many helpful books also."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 87~
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