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To be content has nothing to do with the outside and everything to do with the inside. We can have all that we want in the world... the operative word being "world" but still be... feel...empty inside. It is something that comes from the inside that shows on the outside. When we live from the "inside out" we become more content where we are... trusting in God for the outside things. We live happier lives because we have what we need for the moment... we trust that God supplies all our needs... and we even get some of our wants...Thank you God!:195:
W.O.W. 101:D |
October 22
Daily Reflections TRUE TOLERANCE Finally, we begin to see that all people, including ourselves, are to some extent emotionally ill as well as frequently wrong, and then we approach true tolerance and see what real love for our fellows actually means. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 92 The thought occurred to me that all people are emotionally ill to some extent. How could we not be? Who among us is spiritually perfect? Who among us is physically perfect? How could any of us be emotionally perfect? Therefore, what else are we to do but bear with one another and treat each other as we would be treated in similar circumstances? That is what love really is. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day I am content to face the rest of my life without alcohol. I have made the great decision once and for all. I have surrendered as gracefully as possible to the inevitable. I hope I have no more reservations. I hope that nothing can happen to me now that would justify my taking a drink. No death of a dear one. No great calamity in any area of my life should justify me in drinking. Even if I were on some desert isle, far from the rest of the world, but not far from God, should I ever feel it right to drink. For me, alcohol is out--period. I will always be safe unless I take that first drink. Am I fully resigned to this fact? Meditation For The Day Day by day we should slowly build up an unshakable faith in a Higher Power in that Power's ability to give us all the help we need. By having these quiet times each morning, we start each day with a renewing of our faith, until it becomes almost a part of us and is a strong habit. We should keep furnishing the quiet places of our souls with all the furniture of faith. We should try to fill our thoughts each day with all that is harmonious and good, beautiful, and enduring. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may build a house in my soul for the spirit of God to dwell in. I pray that I may come at last to an unshakable faith. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Rebellion Or Acceptance, p.293 All of us pass through the times when we can pray only with the greatest exertion. Occasionally we go even further than this. We are seized with a rebellion so sickening that we simply won't pray. When these things happen, we should not think too ill of ourselves. We should simply resume prayer as soon as we can, doing what we know to be good for us. ******************************** A man who persists in prayer finds himself in possession of great gifts. When he has to deal with hard circumstances, he finds he can face them. He can accept himself and the world around him. He can do this because he now accepts a God who is All--and who loves all. When he says, "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name," he deeply and humbly means it. When in good meditation and thus freed from the clamors of the world, he knows that he's in God's hands, that his own ultimate destiny is really secure, here and hereafter, come what may. 1. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 105 2. GRAPEVINE, JUNE 1958 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places When the bath is negative Personal relations A member referred to getting a "negative bath" every day at work. She was talking about her boss's bad disposition and the poor attitudes of several co-workers. How does one deal with this negativity? It's not satisfactory to say that this member created her own "negative bath" by her attitudes toward her boss and others. In fact, in many businesses, the atmosphere is negative... and dealing with it takes more than trite comment. In such situations, we can employ detachment, as practiced in Al-Anon, and accept the things we cannot change, as stated in the Serenity Prayer. The longer-term solution may require making a major change, such as finding a new job, but we must be careful not to exchange one negative situation for another. We will make the right decision if we're careful to avoid resentment and self-pity while being completely honest about our own motives and intentions. I may find myself in a "negative bath" of some kind today, but I can detach from it by avoiding resentment or the tendency to blame others. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Life is what happens to us while we’re making other plans. ---Thomas LaMance What happened to our years of drinking and using other drugs? They seemed to pass so quickly with so little to show for them. We had plans, but we didn’t get where we wanted to go. There was always “tomorrow.” What a difference today! Now we work a program that helps us really live each day. We’re not losing time out of our lives anymore. Now every day is full of life: sights, sounds, people, feelings---those things we used to miss out on. We have the help of a Higher Power who makes every day important. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me do Your will for me today. I place this day in Your care. Action for the Day: Be on the lookout today for signs of life! ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Children awaken you own sense of self when you see them hurting, struggling, testing; when you watch their eyes and listen to their hearts. Children are gifts, if we accept them. --Kathleen Tierney Crilly Children look to us and their world with fresh eyes, uncynical attitudes, open hearts. They react spontaneously to the events in their lives; what they feel is who they are. Close observation of children can help us. See how complex we have made our lives! Their simple honesty can serve us well. To look at the world, once again, with wonder, is a byproduct offered us when we live the principles of this program. So many gifts await us when we accept the program and its principles. We dispense with the baggage of the past. We learn to live this day only. And we come to believe that there is a power greater than ourselves that has everything and us in our lives under control. Children instinctively trust those who take care of them. We can learn to trust, once again, when we apply the Steps of this program to our lives. I will look to this day with wonder and trust. Everything is okay. I am in the care of a power greater. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 5 - HOW IT WORKS We were usually as definite as this example: I'm resentful at: The Cause: Affects my: Mr.Brown His attention to my Sex relations. wife. Self-esteem (fear) Told my wife of my Sex relations. mistress. Self-esteem (fear) Brown may get my Security. job at the office. Self-esteem (fear) Mrs. Jones She's a nut---she Personal Relation- snubbed me. She ship. Self-esteem committed her hus- (fear) band for drinking. He's my friend. She's a gossip. My employer Unreasonable-Unjust Self-esteem (fear) -O v e r b e a r i n g- Security. Threatens to fire me for drinking and padding my ex- pence account. My wife Misunderstands and P r i d e--P e r s o n a l nags. Likes Brown. s e x r e l a t i o n s-- Wants house put in Security (fear) her name. p. 65 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Twelve - "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." When we had taken the opposite tack and had insisted, like infants ourselves, that people protect and take care of us or that the world owed us a living, then the result had been equally unfortunate. This often caused the people we had loved most to push us aside or perhaps desert us entirely. Our disillusionment had been hard to bear. We couldn't imagine people acting that way toward us. We had failed to see that though adult in years we were still behaving childishly, trying to turn everybody--friends, wives, husbands, even the world itself--into protective parents. We had refused to learn the very hard lesson that overdependence upon people is unsuccessful because all people are fallible, and even the best of them will sometimes let us down, especially when our demands for attention become unreasonable. p. 115 ************************************************** ********* With the power of God in my actions and thinking I can do all things with love and kindness. --Shelley "God Loves You - even when you are not looking." He created me to be a light of love and life. Letting go, I allow the light of Him within me to shine forth in my life and out into my world. --unknown Express love through acknowledgment. Notice the good in those around you and freely comment on it. --Mary Manin Morrissey The value of persistent prayer is not that He will hear us, but we will finally hear Him. --William McGill We are not living just to be sober; we are living to learn, to serve, and to love. The express elevator to sobriety doesn't work - please use the Steps. S T E P S = Solutions To Every Problem in Sobriety. *********************************************** Father Leo's Daily Meditation UNITY "This land of ours cannot be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in." -- Richard Nixon My sobriety has given me a comprehensive view of life and my neighbor. Today I believe that we are all connected and if I hurt or am hurt, then everybody at some level is affected. Because we are all children of God, it follows that we are all one big family --- speaking different languages, having different customs, revealing different physical characteristics and complexions, requiring different satisfaction (both sexual and emotional), but we are still one big family under God. This means I have a responsibility to all in the family and I can best exercise that responsibility by having a healthy respect for myself. I should treat people as I would want to be treated, allowing them the freedom and love I require in my life. I am the key to the world's needs. Lord, let me find my neighbor in myself. ************************************************** ********* "Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God." Colossians 1:6 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." Deuteronomy 6:5 For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule generation after generation. The LORD is faithful in all he says; he is gracious in all he does. The LORD helps the fallen and lifts up those bent beneath their loads. All eyes look to you for help; you give them their food as they need it. When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing. Psalm 145:13-16 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Do not take any action until you've prayed and listened and then you will have guidance to reach the understanding necessary to complete the things you need to do. Lord, I know that there is no obstacle for You and ask that You will guide me along the right path. Rejoice and be happy for others when they are blessed. Lord, bless me with the ability to be free of envy so that I can truly share the joy of my neighbors. |
Re: AA Thought for the Day
Content. Am I content to face the rest of my life without alcohol?
I sat and stared at that sentence a little extra this morning. Content. Peace of mind. Satisfaction. Fulfillment. Tranquility. Happiness. Well being. Serenity. Peacefulness. Yes, I am content with my sober life. Have a great day! Joe |
October 23
Daily Reflections WHAT WE KNOW BEST "Shoemaker, stick to thy last!" . . . better do one thing supremely well than many badly. That is the central theme of this Tradition [Five]. Around it our Society gathers in unity. The very life of our Fellowship requires the preservation of this principle. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 150 The survival of A.A. depends upon unity. What would happen if a group decided to become an employment agency, a treatment center or a social service agency? Too much specialization leads to no specialization, to frittering of efforts and, finally, to decline. I have the qualifications to share my sufferings and my way of recovery with the newcomer. Conformity to A.A.'s primary purpose insures the safety of the wonderful gift of sobriety, so my responsibility is enormous. The life of millions of alcoholics is closely tied to my competence in "carrying the message to the still-suffering alcoholic." ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day I have learned how to be honest. What a relief! No more ducking or dodging. No more tall tales. No more pretending to be what I am not. My cards are on the table, for all the world to see. "I am what I am," as Popeye used to say in the comics. I have had an unsavory past. I am sorry, yes. But it cannot be changed now. All that is yesterday and is done. But now my life is an open book. Come and look at it, if you want to. I'm trying to do the best I can. I will fail often, but I won't make excuses. I will face things as they are and not run away. Am I really honest? Meditation For The Day Though it may seem a paradox, we must believe in spiritual forces which we cannot see more than in material things which we can see, if we are going to truly live. In the last analysis, the universe consists more of thought or mathematical formulas than it does of matter as we understand it. Between one human being and another only spiritual forces will suffice to keep them in harmony. These spiritual forces we know, because we can see their results although we cannot see them. A changed life--a new personality--results from the power of unseen spiritual forces working in us and through us. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may believe in the Unseen. I pray that I may be convinced by the results of the Unseen which I do see. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Love+Rationality=Growth, p. 294 "It seems to me that the primary object of any human being is to grow, as God intended, that being the nature of all growing things. "Our search must be for what reality we can find, which includes the best definition and feeling of love that we can acquire. If the capability of loving is in the human being, then it must surely be in his Creator. "Theology helps me in that many of its concepts cause me to believe that I live in a rational universe under a loving God, and that my own irrationality can be chipped away, little by little. This is, I suppose, the process of growth for which we are intended." ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places How do we hurt others? Inventory Even while drinking, few of us abused others physically or committed crimes. Yet we did harm others, even when we thought we were hurting only ourselves. One way we harmed others.... and this applies to many alcoholic family relationships.. was by with-holding the love and support they needed. If we had a nasty disposition at times, this poisoned the atmosphere and made others uncomfortable and afraid. Maybe we harmed others by not being productive at work. Our absenteeism, for example, may have put our boss in a bad light with superiors or caused the firm to lose a client. Perhaps the worst harm was in being completely indifferent to what we were doing to others. Any willingness to admit wrong, then, can be a major step toward recovery and self-improvement. Though, I have no intention of harming anyone today, I'll realize that even my attitude can affect others unfavorably. I'll try to maintain an attitude that's uplifting to everyone. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple It’s not dying faith that’s so hard, it’s living up to it.William Makepeace Thackeray We may ask, “Do I have to do an Eighth or Ninth Step?” “Do I really need a sponsor?” “Hmm…can I get by without going to so many meetings?” Having faith means putting our questions aside. So…what do we do? We work the program. We accept that those who’ve gone before us were right. We accept the idea that we need others. Faith is knowing that others love and care for us. Faith is also about action. The main way we know that we have faith is by looking at our behavior. Ask yourself this: “Are my actions those of a person with faith?” Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me remove the questions that get in my way. Help me act like a person with faith. Action for the Day: I’ll list four parts of my program that I have faith in, such as, “I believe honesty is important to my sobriety.” ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning ...words are more powerful than perhaps anyone suspects, and once deeply engraved in a child's mind, they are not easily eradicated. --May Sarton How burdened we became, as little girls, with the labels applied by parents, teachers, even school chums. We believe about ourselves what others teach us to believe. The messages aren't always overt. But even the very subtle ones are etched in our minds, and they remind us of our "shortcomings" long into adulthood. Try as we might to forget the criticisms, the names, they linger in our memories and influence our self-perceptions as adults. The intervening years have done little to erase whatever emotional scars we acquired as children. Our partnership with God will help us understand that we are spiritual beings with a wonderful purpose in this life. And we are as lovely, as capable, as successful as we perceive ourselves to be. Our own thoughts and words, our own labels can become as powerful as those of our youth. It takes practice to believe in ourselves. But we can break the past's hold on us. My higher power will help me know the real me. I am all that I ever needed to be; I am special, and I will come to believe that. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 5 - HOW IT WORKS We were usually as definite as this example: I'm resentful at: Mr. Brown The Cause: His attention to my wife. Affects my: Sex relations. Self-esteem (fear) The Cause: Told my wife of my mistress. Affects my: Sex Relations. Self-esteem (fear) The Cause: Brown may get my job at the office. Affects my: Security. Self-esteem (fear) I'm resentful at: Mrs. Jones The Cause: She's a nut---she snubbed me. She commited her husband for drinking. He's my friend. She's a gossip. Affects my: Personal relationship. Self-esteem (fear) I'm resentful at: My emplorer The Cause: Unreasonable---Unjust---Overbearing---Threatens to fire me for drinking and padding my expense account. Affects my: Self-esteem (fear) Security. I'm resentful at: My wife The Cause: Misunderstands and nags. Likes Brown. Wants house put in her name. Affects my: Pride---Personal sex relations---Security (fear) p. 65 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Twelve - "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." As we made spiritual progress, we saw through these fallacies. It became clear that if we ever were to feel emotionally secure among grown-up people, we would have to put our lives on a give-and-take basis; we would have to develop the sense of being in partnership or brotherhood with all those around us. We saw that we would need to give constantly of ourselves without demands for repayment. When we persistently did this we gradually found that people were attracted to us as never before. And even if they failed us, we could be understanding and not too seriously affected. pp. 115-116 ************************************************** ********* Honesty is something you can't wear out. --Waylon Jennings And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. --Antoine de Saint- [The Little Prince] "Sometimes we need to look hard at a person and remember that he is doing the best he can. He's just trying to find his way. That's all." --Ernest Thompson "God's gift to us is our life. What we do with it, is our gift to God." An error is a positive way to learn provided you make the attempt to correct the mistake. --unknown "It is not what we see and touch or that which others do for us which makes us happy; it is that which we think and feel and do, first for the other fellow and then for ourselves." --Helen Keller *********************************************** Father Leo's Daily Meditation VALUE "A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and value of nothing." -- Oscar Wilde I never knew the value of my life until I looked beyond it. For years I was so self-obsessed that I missed the joy and beauty of this wonderful world. I was so concerned with details and minutia of life that I missed the fun of living. I now see that my behavior had its roots in my childhood. I was the child in a dysfunctional family. I became a parent to my parents. I took charge of everybody's life and I felt responsible and guilty. Everything was work and I did not learn how to play. Today I am working on my recovery. I am "dumping" my feelings of guilt, shame and anger. I am beginning to understand that I am not responsible for my parents and I am beginning to feel free. Today I am learning how to play. Lord of the dance, teach me the steps. ************************************************** ********* "Therefore take careful heed to yourselves, that you love the Lord your God." Joshua 23:11 "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?" Matthew 16:26 "Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler." Psalm 91:3-4 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Start an "I am grateful for..." list and read it when you are feeling low. Lord, help me see things in a new light and understand that with a little effort I can turn my complaints into something positive. We are the only ones who can change how we think or how we act. Lord, help me make positive decisions so that life doesn't just happen to me. |
October 24
Daily Reflections "BY FAITH AND BY WORKS" On anvils of experience, the structure of our Society was hammered out. . . . Thus has it been with A.A. By faith and by works we have been able to build upon the lessons of an incredible experience. They live today in the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous, which - God willing - shall sustain us in unity for so long as He may need us. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 131 God has allowed me the right to be wrong in order for our Fellowship to exist as it does today. If I place God's will first in my life, it is very likely that A.A. as I know it today will remain as it is. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day I have turned to a Power greater than myself. Thank God, I am no longer at the center of the universe. All the world does not revolve around me any longer. I am only one among many. I have a Father in Heaven and I am only one of His children and a small one at that. But I can depend on Him to show me what to do and to give me the strength to do it. I am on the Way and the whole power of the universe is behind me when I do the right thing. I do not have to depend entirely on myself any longer. With God, I can face anything. Is my life in the hands of God? Meditation For The Day The grace of God is an assurance against all evil. It holds out security to the believing soul. The grace of God means safety in the midst of evil. You can be kept unspotted by the world through the power of His grace. You can have a new life of power. But only in close contact with the grace of God is its power realized. In order to realize it and benefit from it, you must have daily quiet communion with God, so that the power of His grace will come unhindered into your soul. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may be kept from evil by the grace of God. I pray that henceforth I will try to keep myself more unspotted by the world. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Praying Rightly, p.295 We thought we had been deeply serious about religious practices. However, upon honest appraisal we found that we had been most superficial. Or sometimes, going to extremes, we had wallowed in emotionalism and had also mistaken this for true religious feeling. In both cases, we had been asking something for nothing. We had not prayed rightly. We had always said, "Grant me my wishes," instead of "Thy will be done." The love of God and man we understood not at all. Therefore, we remained self-deceived, and so incapable of receiving enough grace to restore us to sanity. 12 & 12, p. 32 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Light for Dark corners Honesty Newspaper writers know that there's usually a future story in the "dark side" of any person who is being lavishly praised in the media. That's because almost every person has a "dark side" or secrets that are carefully guarded. We should look for such dark corners in our own lives. Most of us are not public figures fearing exposure, but recovering people seeking to stay sober and healthy. We can begin to illuminate our dark corners by discussing our secrets with others. This does not necessarily eliminate whatever shortcoming is involved, but our honesty is a step in the right direction. False pride may also play a part in keeping dark secrets from others, causing fear that others might see us as we really are. Thus, learning to confront and confess our dark sides can lead to victory over both fear and pride. I'll strive today to be honest about any weaknesses or wrongs that I've been concealing. Under the light of such honesty, my dark secrets can be transformed ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle that fits them all.---Oliver Wendell Homes Lying, above anything else, brings us close to getting crazy again. Lying is what addicts do. In our addiction, our whole life was a lie. Lying creates danger because it creates secrets. Secrets keep us from others. To stay sober, we need to stay close to people. We can't make it on our own. Lying creates danger because it creates shame. A lie, like a drink, may make us feel good for the moment. But in the long run, it creates shame. Do we still lie to deal with the world? Lies are like drinks---one leads to another. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to live today free of lies. Action for the Day: For the next twenty-four hours, I will tell no lies. If I do I’ll go back and do Step Ten. I will remember that lies can lead to relapse. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning The universal human yearning [is] for something permanent, enduring, without shadow of change. --Willa Cather The specter of change builds dread in most of us. We fear the effects on our personal lives. We lack faith that the impending change will benefit us. Only time can assure us of that. And it will, just as every change we've survived up to now has done. Changes are gifts, really. They come as hallmarks to our present attainments. They signify successful growth. How we struggle to understand this, and how quickly we forget it once we have adapted to the change. The struggle is then repeated the next time change visits us. We long for permanence, believing it guarantees security, not realizing the only real security available to us comes with our trust in God, from whom all change comes as a blessing on the growth we've attained. If we were to experience total lack of change, we'd find death. Life is challenge, continued change, always endurable and growth-enhancing. We can reflect on what's gone before, and trust that which faces us now. Change means I am progressing, on course. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 5 - HOW IT WORKS We went back through our lives. Nothing counted but thoroughness and honesty. When we were finished we considered it carefully. The first thing apparent was that this world and its people were often quite wrong. To conclude that others were wrong was as far as most of us ever got. The usual outcome was that people continued to wrong us and we stayed sore. Sometimes it was remorse and then we were sore at ourselves. But the more we fought and tried to have our own way, the worse matters got. As in war, the victor only Seemed to win. Our moments of triumph were short-lived. pp. 65-66 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Twelve - "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." When we developed still more, we discovered the best possible source of emotional stability to be God Himself. We found that dependence upon His perfect justice, forgiveness, and love was healthy, and that it would work where nothing else would. If we really depended upon God, we couldn't very well play God to our fellows nor would we feel the urge wholly to rely on human protection and care. These were the new attitudes that finally brought many of us an inner strength and peace that could not be deeply shaken by the shortcomings of others or by any calamity not of our own making. p. 116 ************************************************** ********* "Every moment is an opportunity for those who are ready to seize it." --unknown Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. --Leo Buscaglia Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant. --Robert Louis Stevenson It is easy to sit up and take notice. What is difficult is getting up and taking action. --Al Batt Nature gave men two ends - one to sit on and one to think with. Ever since then man's success or failure has been dependent on the one he used most. --George R. Kirkpatrick "Worry drives us to prayer and prayer drives away the worry." --Eliz McJunkin A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour. Contentment comes from making the most of what you have and going with it. --unknown *********************************************** Father Leo's Daily Meditation CYNICS "A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin." -- H. L. Mencken There was a time when I always felt that life was out to get me. I always looked on the "black" side of life. I was forever being negative and pessimistic I would always be surrounded by sick and destructive human beings. Whenever people offered hope or tried to help me, I turned away and rejected them. For years I created the pain and misery in my life. Then a close friend forced himself into my life and gave me a dose of "tough love". He made me see that I was wallowing in self-pity. He cared enough to intervene and tell me what I did not want to hear. Today I have some years of recovery from alcoholism and I carry the message. I pray that I may always love myself and others enough to take a risk. ************************************************** ********* "For we walk by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7 The LORD is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness. The LORD is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him sincerely. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them. The LORD protects all those who love him, but he destroys the wicked. I will praise the LORD, and everyone on earth will bless his holy name forever and forever. Psalm 145:17-21 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:18 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Do not be discouraged if it seems that there is no response to your prayers at this time. God always responds. Lord, Your wisdom always responds to my needs with unceasing peace and love and when I listen and give thanks I am blessed with results that bring goodness to me in better ways than I expect. Through the power of God within me, I am stronger than any of my circumstances. Lord, I seek, I knock and I ask and You are always there and ready to give me the miracles that I need. |
October 25
Daily Reflections A.A.'s HEARTBEAT Without unity, the heart of A.A. would cease to beat; . . . . AS BILL SEES IT, p. 125 Without unity I would be unable to recover in A.A. on a daily basis. By practicing unity within my group, with other A.A. members and at all levels of this great Fellowship, I receive a pronounced feeling of knowing that I am a part of a miracle that was divinely inspired. The ability of Bill W. and Dr. Bob, working together and passing it on to other members, tells me that to give it away is to keep it. Unity is oneness and yet the whole Fellowship is for all of us. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Fifth, I have learned to live one day at a time. I have finally realized the great fact that all I have is now. This sweeps away all vain regret and it makes my thoughts of the future free of fear. Now is mine. I can do what I want with it. I own it, for better or worse. What I do now, in this present moment, is what makes up my life. My whole life is only a succession of nows. I will take this moment, which has been given to me by the grace of God, and I will do something with it. What I do with each now, will make me or break me. Am I living in the now? Meditation For The Day We should work at overcoming ourselves, our selfish desires and our self-centeredness. This can never be fully accomplished. We can never become entirely unselfish. But we can come to realize that we are not at the center of the universe and that everything does not revolve around us at the center. I am only one cell in a vast network of human cells. I can at least make the effort to conquer the self-life and seek daily to obtain more and more of this self-conquest. "He that overcomes himself is greater than he who conquers a city." Prayer For The Day I pray that I may strive to overcome my selfishness. I pray that I may achieve the right perspective of my position in the world. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Daily Inventory, p. 296 Often, as we review each day, only the closest scrutiny will reveal what our true motives were. There are cases where our ancient enemy rationalization has stepped in and has justified conduct which was really wrong. The temptation here is to imagine that we had good motives and reasons when we really hadn't. We "constructively criticized" someone who needed it, when our real motive was to win a useless argument. Or, the person concerned not being present, we thought we were helping others to understand him, when in actuality our true motive was to feel superior by pulling him down. We hurt those we loved because they needed to be "taught a lesson," but we really wanted to punish. We were depressed and complained we felt bad, when in fact we were mainly asking for sympathy and attention. 12 & 12, p. 94 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Different routes to alcoholism Understanding powerlessness While alcoholics have much in common, the personal stories heard at AA open meetings show that we took different routes to alcoholism. Some became out-of-control drinkers almost from the beginning. Others lost control slowly after years of seemingly moderate drinking. These differences are underscored by the fact that we also differ in physical and emotional traits. Some alcoholics, for example, were so emotionally disturbed that they became problem drinkers from the very start. Some appeared to "have it all together," yet became alcoholics after retirement or some other change in life patterns. Whatever the route taken, we share in common our individual powerlessness at the time we knocked on AA's door. And the solution for each of us was the same: sobriety in AA. The risk in listening to such different personal accounts is that some of us twist these differences into "proof" that we are not alcoholics. The reward of such sharing , however, is learning that we do have a common problem and that there is a solution that fits everyone, in spite of our diffences. I'll remember today that I came to AA because I was powerless over alcohol. That has not changed. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Love thy neighbor as thyself, but choose your neighbor.---Louise Beal In our program, we learn a lot about loving ourselves. Then we start to see how this helps us love our neighbors. We learn to love ourselves honestly, seeing our strengths and our weaknesses. We learn to see others honestly . We learn how much to trust ourselves and when to get extra help. We learn how much to trust others too. We learn to love ourselves with a love that’s honest and challenging. We learn to love others this way too. We learn to care about others without losing our common sense. We learn to protect our spirits from harm. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me see others clearly. Help me love them. But help me choose carefully who I trust. Action for the Day: Today, I’ll list three people I trust the most, and I’ll write down why. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Love has the quality of informing almost everything--even one's work. --Sylvia Ashton-Warner We are changed through loving and being loved. Our attitudes are profoundly and positively affected by the presence of love in our lives. Each time we offer a loving response to a friend, co-worker, even a stranger, we powerfully influence the dynamics of the interaction between us. Every response we make to someone changes us while it informs him or her. When we treat others with disdain, we invite the same. When we express only criticism of others, our self-assessment is equally negative. The beauty of a loving posture is that it calls forth love in response. The more love we give away, the more we receive. Any task before us is lessened when we carry love in our hearts. Love is more powerful than fear. Love helps to open the channel to God, assuring us of the strength, the understanding, and the patience needed to complete any assignment confronting us. God loves me, unconditionally. And I will experience the reality of that love the more I give it away. Love wants to change me--and it can. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 5 - HOW IT WORKS It is plain that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. To the precise extent that we permit these, do we squander the hours that might have been worth while. But with the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave. We found that it is fatal. For when harboring such feeling we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit. The insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to die. p. 66 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Twelve - "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." This new outlook was, we learned, something especially necessary to us alcoholics. For alcoholism had been a lonely business, even though we had been surrounded by people who loved us. But when self-will had driven everybody away and our isolation had become complete, it caused us to play the big shot in cheap barrooms and then fare forth alone on the street to depend upon the charity of passersby. We were still trying to find emotional security by being dominating or dependent upon others. Even when our fortunes had not ebbed that much and we nevertheless found ourselves alone in the world, we still vainly tried to be secure by some unhealthy kind of domination or dependence. For those of us who were like that, A.A. had a very special meaning. Through it we begin to learn right relations with people who understand us; we don't have to be alone any more. pp. 116-117 ************************************************** ********* "Be the change you want to see in the world." --Mohandas Ghandi Who has never tasted what is bitter does not know what is sweet. --German Proverb It doesn't take a lot of effort to know the needs of another person. By helping others you are helping yourself. --unknown Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. --Abraham Lincoln In just two days, tomorrow will be yesterday. --unknown Learn to enjoy little things; there are so many of them! --unknown *********************************************** Father Leo's Daily Meditation FLEXIBILITY "Better bend than break." -- Scottish Proverb Dis-ease: to be controlling, stiff, uncomfortable and unbending. Sobriety: being relaxed, comfortable and flexible in my personal life and my interaction with others. Life: not a race but an experience; it is not an exercise but an adventure. Before I accepted my alcoholism, I went through periods of "dryness" --- when I was rigid, stiff and unbending. It was awful! Everything became a test, a job, a premeditated act behind a mask of cheerfulness. I was angry, resentful and in pain. My problem was that I stopped drinking to please other people, rather than accept the true nature of my disease. Dryness is controlled denial. Today the sobriety I have gained from an acceptance of self has overflowed into an acceptance of life on life's terms --- and I am happy. Let the wind of experience continue to bend me in the knowledge of Your love. ************************************************** ********* "From the rising of the sun to its going down the Lord's name is to be praised." Psalms 113:3 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. 1 Corinthians 3:7-9 "Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:3-4 The LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts the burdens of those bent beneath their loads. The LORD loves the righteous. The LORD protects the foreigners among us. He cares for the orphans and widows, but he frustrates the plans of the wicked. The LORD will reign forever. Psalm 146:8-10 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Treat your family as you would treat a best friend. Lord, help me to treasure my family with all of their imperfections as well as my own and cherish the time we have together. There is no real happiness without God and no peace when we separate ourselves from Him. Lord, You said, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you". I give you my troubled heart. |
I TRUST THE WISDOM OF GOD TO LEAD ME IN RIGHT WAYS.
Stewing over a challenging situation can cause me unnecessary worry and concern. I may fill my mind with worst-case scenarios and “what ifs” until I wear myself out. Over thinking a problem can often expend more energy than simply letting go and trusting God. Instead of forcing solutions, I turn to God within. Taking a deep breath, I relax my mind and body. I say a simple “Thank You.” I give thanks that there is a higher power at work in my life, guiding me in right ways, and helping me achieve my goals. I give thanks that I am a partner with God in every experience. I relax, let go, and trust Divine Wisdom to bless and guide me. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6 Words of wisdom 101:D |
As my friend in Michigan, who I met online use to say, "Put it out to the Universe and see what you get back."
No matter who you believe your God to be or who you believe He/She is not, their is a force working in our life. As my Service Sponsor said to me about 17 years ago, I don't care who your God is as long as it isn't you. Sometimes it is those little things that add up to show me my God is working for me, doing for me, what I couldn't not do for myself. It isn't just about alcohol and drugs, it is about all aspects of my life. When I try to control, it is already out of control. It is me, playing god with my life. |
October 26
Daily Reflections ONE ULTIMATE AUTHORITY For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority—a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 132 When I am chosen to carry some small responsibility for my fellows, I ask that God grant me the patience, open-mindedness, and willingness to listen to those I would lead. I must remind myself that I am the trusted servant of others, not their "governor," "teacher," or "instructor." God guides my words and my actions, and my responsibility is to heed His suggestions. Trust is my watchword, I trust others who lead. In the Fellowship of A.A., I entrust God with the ultimate authority of "running the show." ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Sixth, I have A.A. meetings to go to, thank God. Where would I go without them? Where would I be without them? Where would I find the sympathy, the understanding, the fellowship, the companionship? Nowhere else in the world. I have come home. I have found the place where I belong. I no longer wander alone over the face of the earth. I am at peace and at rest. What a great gift has been given me by A.A.! I do not deserve it. But it is nevertheless mine. I have a home at last. I am content. Do I thank God everyday for the A.A. Fellowship? Meditation For The Day Walk all the way with another person and with God. Do not go part of the way and then stop. Do not push God so far into the background that He has no effect on your life. Walk all the way with Him. Make a good companion of God, by praying to Him often during the day. Do not let your contact with Him be broken for too long a period. Work all the way with God and with other people, along the path of life, wherever it may lead you. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may walk in companionship with God along the way. I pray that I may keep my feet upon the path that leads upward. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It A VISION OF THE WHOLE, p. 297 "Though many of us have had to struggle for sobriety, never yet has this Fellowship had to struggle for lost unity. Consequently, we sometimes take this one great gift for granted. We forget that, should we lose our unity, the millions of alcoholics who still 'do not know' might never get their chance. ******************************** "We used to be skeptical about large A.A. gatherings like conventions, thinking they might prove too exhibitionistic. But, on balance, their benefit is huge. While each A.A.'s interest should center principally in those about him and upon his own group, it is both necessary and desirable that we all get a larger vision of the whole. "The General Service Conference in New York also produces this effect upon those who attend. It is a vision-stretching process." 1. Letter, 1949 2. Letter, 1956 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Who is an Alcoholic? AA's mission Though AA's avowed mission is to carry its message to alcoholics, the fellowship does not really have a one-size-fits-all definition of alcoholism. This has created some confusion when nonalcoholics inadvertently show up at meetings that are supposed to be for alcoholics only, or when people with other addictions seek AA's help. A few groups even insist that people must declare themselves alcoholics in order to participate in a "closed" meeting. But who is an alcoholic? The AA pioneers were not insistent that people should immediately declare themselves alcoholics in order to receive help. Newcomers were invited to attend meetings and then decide for themselves if they were alcoholics and needed the program. In today's environment, we have the added factor that troubled people might be addicted to both drugs and alcohol. Such cross-addiction, in fact, seems to be a strong trend. We also know that any alcoholic can easily become cross-addicted if he or she uses other drugs. Our best course is to keep the door open for any person who comes to AA sincerely desiring help. If people find their answer in AA, they probably belong in the fellowship. I'll be grateful today that I was able to admit that I had a problem and needed AA's help. I'll accept others just as I was accepted. To stay sober and grow in the program. I do not need to define alcoholism for anybody other myself. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Nobody give you freedom. Malcolm X We were not free. We were prisoners of our illness. What our illness wanted, we give itour dignity, our self-respect, even our families. Our prison walls were made of denial, false pride, and self-will run riot. Now we know that brick walls don’t have to stop us. We don’t have to bang our heads on them. Slowly, we’re learning about freedom. We’re learning that freedom. We’re learning that freedom comes from within. It comes when we think clearly and make our own choices. It comes when we follow a better way of life. It comes when we take care of ourselves. It comes when we take responsibility. The key to freedom is in loving our Higher Power. Do you choose freedom? Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, show me how to walk away from a wall or go around it. But teach me to stop and think when I get to a wall. Maybe it’s there for my safety. Today’s Action: Today I’ll think about all the freedom I have given myself by living a sober way of life. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue, an everlasting vision of the ever-changing view. --Carole King Every event of our lives is contributing a rich thread to our personal tapestry. Each of us is weaving one unique to ourselves, but all of our tapestries are complementary. We need others' rich designs in order to create our own. We seldom have the foresight to understand the worth, the ultimate value of a particular circumstance at its beginning. But hindsight offers us clarity. It's good to reflect on the many circumstances that failed to thrill us; in all cases we can now see why we needed them. As our trust in God and the goodness of all experiences grows, we'll more quickly respond with gladness when situations are fresh. No experience is meant for harm. We are coming to understand that, even though on occasion we forget. Practicing gratitude will help us more fully appreciate what has been offered us. Being grateful influences our attitude; it softens our harsh exterior and takes the threat out of most new situations. If I greet the day, glad to be alive, I will be gladdened by all the experiences in store for me. Each is making a necessary contribution to my wholeness. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 5 - HOW IT WORKS If we were to live, we had to be free of anger. The grouch and the brainstorm were not for us. They may be the dubious luxury of normal men, but for alcoholics these things are poison. p. 66 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Twelve - "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." Most married folks in A.A. have very happy homes. To a surprising extent, A.A. has offset the damage to family life brought about by years of alcoholism. But just like all other societies, we do have sex and marital problems, and sometimes they are distressingly acute. Permanent marriage breakups and separations, however, are unusual in A.A. Our main problem is not how we are to stay married; it is how to be more happily married by eliminating the severe emotional twists that have so often stemmed from alcoholism. p. 117 ************************************************** ********* "Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time." --Rabbinical Saying It's amazing how well I feel when I'm not thinking about myself. --Bob Y "Appreciate people. Nothing gives more joy than appreciation." --Ruth Smeltzer "When someone does something well, applaud! You will make two people happy." --Samuel Goldwyn And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb. --Kahlil Gibran ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation KINDNESS "Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love." -- Lao-tzu It costs me nothing to say "hello" and yet it might make all the difference to my neighbor. It costs me nothing to give a hug and yet that hug might make all the difference to a friend. It costs me nothing to listen to anothers pain and yet the listening might make all the difference to another person. Love is to be found in the small, ordinary acts of kindness as well as in the extravagant gesture. I need to seek God in the everyday happenings of life alongside the "religious". Spirituality is in the smile that is real! Today I know that I give only what I received --- and I received a great deal. People loved me enough to be patient, they cared enough to telephone, they encouraged me with the gentle word of hope: I am in the flow. Lord, You have created this wondrous patterned fabric of life --- may I find You in its smallest detail. ************************************************** ********* Pleasant words are a honeycomb sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Proverbs 16:24 “Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God..." Ephesians 2:8 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration You have the choice to do or not to do and realizing this allows you to accomplish more than you thought possible. Lord, help me make wise decisions with my time and not allow the pressures of life to drain my effectiveness. Often times that which we find difficult is that which teaches. Lord, may I always be able to see the good that comes from even my trials. |
October 27
Daily Reflections GLOBAL SHARING 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. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 151 The strength of Alcoholics Anonymous lies in the desire of each member and of each group around the world to share with other alcoholics their suffering and the steps taken to gain, and maintain, recovery. By keeping a conscious contact with my Higher Power, I make sure that I always nurture my desire to help other alcoholics, thus insuring the continuity of the wonderful fraternity of Alcoholics Anonymous. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Seventh, I can help other alcoholics. I am of some use in the world. I have a purpose in life. I am worth something at last. My life has a direction and a meaning. All that feeling of futility is gone. I can do something worthwhile. God has given me a new lease on life so that I can help other alcoholics. He has let me live through all the hazards of my alcoholic life to bring me at last to a place of real usefulness in the world. He has let me live for this. This is my opportunity and my destiny. I am worth something! Will I give as much of my life as I can to A.A.? Meditation For The Day All of us have our own battle to win, the battle between the material view of life and the spiritual view. Something must guide our lives. Will it be wealth, pride, selfishness, greed or will it be faith, honesty, purity, unselfishness, love and service? Each one has a choice. We can choose good or evil. We cannot choose both. Are we going to keep striving until we win the battle? If we win the victory, we can believe that even God in His heaven will rejoice. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may choose the good and resist the evil. I pray that I will not be a loser in the battle for righteousness. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It A Mighty Beginning, p. 298 Even the newest of newcomers find undreamed rewards as he tries to help his brother alcoholic, the one who is even blinder than he. This is indeed the kind of giving that actually demands nothing. He does not expect his brother sufferer to pay him, or even to love him. And then he discovers that through the divine paradox of this kind of giving he has found his own reward, whether or not his brother has yet received anything. His own character may still be gravely defective, but he somehow knows that God has enabled him to make a mighty beginning, and he senses that he stands at the edge of new mysteries, joys, and experiences of which he had never before dreamed. 12 & 12, pp. 109-110 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Is your opinion of me important? Inventory A statement that is often quoted at AA meetings is Your opinion of me is not important. The purpose of this saying, apparently, is to wean us away from being people pleasers. But the truth is that we all have legitimate interest in the opinions others hold of us. They may like or dislike us for the wrong reasons, but it is helpful for us to know this and accept it. More important, the opinions of others can be useful in helping us take personal inventory and correct wrong behavior and attitudes. There may be a good reason why someone has a low opinion of us, and we should become aware of it. It is true, however, that our opinions count the most in shaping our lives. If we're thinking badly about others, that can be more damaging to us than to them. Surprisingly, they may think better of us as we change our opinions about them. I doubt that I can go through the day without being affected by other people's opinions of me. However, my main work will be in seeing that my own opinions aren't being destructive in my life. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple An excuse is worst and more terrible than a lie.---Alexander Pope Excuses. They’re lies. We use excuses to hide from ourselves. Maybe we don’t want to be honest about our anger. So we say someone else made us angry. Maybe we don’t want to admit how mean we can be. So we pretend we have no part in what happens. Excuses keep us from ourselves. They keep us from our High Power. A lot of our program is about looking at ourselves. Steps Four, Five, and Ten tell us to be honest about our excuses. We can be honest because we are good people. We are loved. Prayer for the day: Today, I’ll say the serenity Prayer: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Action for the Day: I’ll list my five most often excuses. Then, I’ll share them with my friends, family, and sponsor. I’ll ask them to tell me when I make excuses. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Problems have only the size and the power that you give them. --S. H. We will not be free from all difficulties today, or during any period of our lives. But we have the personal power to eliminate the threat, the sting of any challenge. But it's our vision of circumstances that gives them their interpretation. At this moment, we are defining our experience. We are labeling events good or bad, valuable or meaningless. And our growth, particularly this day, is greatly influenced by the value judgments we attach to our experiences. As we grow stronger emotionally and spiritually, we learn that all difficulties are truly opportunities for exceptional growth and increased awareness of the truth of existence. All experiences can be taken in stride if we are trustful of their intended blessing. We are sharing this life, every moment of it, with a power greater than ourselves. We need not worry about any circumstance. Always we are watched over. We never need struggle alone. We can let go of our problems. It's ourselves and that attitude we have cultivated that makes any situation a problem. We can turn it loose and therein discover the solution. I will not make mountains out of the molehills of my life. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 5 - HOW IT WORKS We turned back to the list, for it held the key to the future. We were prepared to look for it from an entirely different angle. We began to see that the world and its people really dominated us. In that state, the wrong-doing of others, fancied or real, had power to actually kill. How could we escape? We saw that these resentments must be mastered, but how? We could not wish them away any more than alcohol. p. 66 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Twelve - "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." When the distortion has been great, however, a long period of patient striving may be necessary. After the husband joins A.A., the wife may become discontented, even highly resentful that Alcoholics Anonymous has done the very thing that all her years of devotion had failed to do. Her husband may become so wrapped up in A.A. and his new friends that he is inconsiderately away from home more than when he drank. Seeing her unhappiness, he recommends A.A.'s Twelve Steps and tries to teach her how to live. She naturally feels that for years she has made a far better job of living than he has. Both of them blame each other and ask when their marriage is ever going to be happy again. They may even begin to suspect it had never been any good in the first place. pp. 118-119 ************************************************** ********* Real joy comes not from ease or riches or from the praise of others, but from doing something worthwhile. --Wilfred Grenfell If you can hold someone's hand, hug them or even touch them on the shoulder...you are blessed because you can offer healing touch. --unknown "Never let yesterday use up today." --Richard H. Nelson LETTING GO I feel so scared Let go I am so worried Just let go I am so angry Please let go My insanity keeps growing I beseech thee to just let go I am so peaceful Thank you, you let it go --Deborah Ann Smith Forgiveness means letting go of the past. --Gerald Jampolsky *********************************************** Father Leo's Daily Meditation JUSTICE "Justice is truth in action." Benjamin Disraeli It is not enough for me to believe that a thing is true, it is important for me to live out my beliefs. For too long I had a thousand beliefs that only kept me silent. A fear of displeasing others played a large part in my silence. Today I understand justice to be part of what I mean by spirituality: I need to be seen to walk as I talk! I am comfortable when I remain silent in the face of injustice. As a recovering alcoholic, this uncomfortability is dangerous because it can so easily lead to low self-esteem, anger, resentments and relapse. Today I know I can have a slip without taking a drink. I slip from where I want to be in my life. My personal integrity combines a justice that can be seen in my lifestyle. O God of justice, teach me never again to hide in the lie of silence. ************************************************** ********* "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17 "Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place." Ephesians 4:14 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration It is the little bits of kindness and love that make this world happy. Lord, may I do my part to make today happy for someone. There is no personal problem that you cannot solve. Lord, Your presence within me is all power. You are my help in every need. |
October 28
Daily Reflections AN UNBROKEN TRADITION We conceive the survival and spread of Alcoholics Anonymous to be something of far greater importance than the weight we could collectively throw back of any other cause. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 177 How much it means to me that an unbroken tradition of more than half a century is a thread that connects me to Bill W. and Dr. Bob. How much more grounded I feel to be in a Fellowship whose aims are constant and unflagging. I am grateful that the energies of A.A. have never been scattered, but focused instead on our members and on individual sobriety. My beliefs are what make me human; I am free to hold any opinion, but A.A.'s purpose -- so clearly stated fifty years ago -- is for me to keep sober. That purpose has promoted round-the-clock meeting schedules, and the thousands of intergroup and central service offices, with their thousands of volunteers. Like the sun focused through a magnifying glass, A.A.'s single vision has lit a fire of faith in sobriety in millions of hearts, including mine. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day What other rewards have come to me as a result of my new way of living? Each one of us can answer this question in many ways. My relationship with my husband or my wife is on an entirely new plane. The total selfishness is gone and more cooperation has taken its place. My home is a home again. Understanding has taken the place of misunderstanding recriminations, bickering, and resentment. A new companionship has developed which bodes well for the future. "There are homes where fires burn and there is bread, lamps are lit and prayers are said. Though people falter through the dark and nations grope, with God Himself back of these little homes, we still can hope." Have I come home? Meditation For The Day We can bow to God's will in anticipation of the thing happening which will, in the long run, be the best for all concerned. It may not always seem the best thing at the present time, but we cannot see as far ahead as God can. We do not know how His plans are laid, we only need to believe that if we trust Him and accept whatever happens as His will in a spirit of faith, everything will work out for the best in the end. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may not ask to see the distant scene. I pray that one step may be enough for me. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Anonymity and Sobriety, p. 299 As the A.A. groups multiplied, so did anonymity problems. Enthusiastic over the spectacular recovery of a brother alcoholic, we'd sometimes discuss those intimate and harrowing aspects of his case meant for his sponsor's ear alone. The aggrieved victim would then rightly declare that his trust had been broken. When such stories got into circulation outside of A.A., the loss of confidence in our anonymity promise was severe. It frequently turned people from us. Clearly, every A.A. member's name--and story, too--had to be confidential, if he wished. << << << >> >> >> We now fully realize that 100 per cent personal anonymity before the public is just as vital to the life of A.A. as 100 per cent sobriety is to the life of each and every member. This is not counsel of fear; it is the prudent voice of long experience. 1. 12 & 12, p. 185 2. A.A. Comes Of Age, p. 293 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places The new problems in sobriety Fortitude Sometimes sobriety turns up problems that were never apparent during one's drinking days. Some people, for example, encounter marriage problems that lead to divorce. It almost appears that some things were better when we were drinking. But there are good reasons why sobriety brings new problems. One is that we become aware of problems that were there all the time, although not acknowledged. It's possible, too, that sobriety brings more responsibility, along with risks of failure. At the same time, we might be more sensitive to the real problems of living. We should never use such problems as an excuse for drinking. It is true, as many people say, that drinking can only make matters worse. Nothing can be improved by a return to drinking. I must remember today that sobriety means living on a new basis. This includes facing problems and dealing with them... not running from them as I did in the past. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple I wish you the courage to be warm when the world would prefer you to be cool.Robert A. Ward Our program and the Steps have warmed us from the inside out. Just as a bonfire warms those who stand around it, the Steps take away the chill we have felt for so long. At Times, we’ll be tempted to move away from the Steps. At times, we’ll get tired of looking at our behavior and attitudes. We are by nature, controlling people. We’ll want to “prove our point” about something when our program tells us to let it go. We need to stay close to the Steps and the warmth they hold. Remember the chill of our disease. Prayer for the Day: I need to member that the Steps and the fellowship of the program keep me sober, not me alone. Action for the Day: Today, I’ll thank about what the Steps have done for me. I will think of how they have kept me warm. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning The most elusive knowledge of all is self-knowledge. --Mirra Komarovsky Discovering who we are is an adventure, one that will thrill and sometimes trouble us and will frequently occupy our thoughtful reflections. We are growing and changing as a result of our commitment to the program. And it's that process of commitment that heightens our self-awareness. We learn who we are by listening to others, by sensing their perceptions of us, by taking an honest, careful inventory of our own behavior. The inner conversations that haunt us while we're interacting with others are poignant guidelines to self-knowledge, self-definition. Just when we think we've figured out who we are and how to handle our flaws, a new challenge will enter our realm of experiences, shaking up all the understandings that have given us guidance heretofore. It is not an easy task to discover who we really are. It's an even harder job to love and accept the woman we discover. But too many years went by while we avoided or denied or, worse yet, denounced the only person we knew how to be. The program offers us the way to learn about and love fully the person within. Nor will we find the way easy every day. But there's time enough to let the process ease our investigation. I will be soft and deliberate today as I listen to others and myself. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 5 - HOW IT WORKS This was our course: We realized that the people who wronged us were perhaps spiritually sick. Though we did not like their symptoms and the way these disturbed us, they, like ourselves, were sick too. We asked God to help us show them the same tolerance, pity, and patience that we would cheerfully grant a sick friend. When a person offended we said to ourselves, “This is a sick man. How can I be helpful to him? God save me from being angry. Thy will be done.” p. 66-67 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Twelve - "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." Compatibility, of course, can be so impossibly damaged that a separation may be necessary. But those cases are the unusual ones. The alcoholic, realizing what his wife has endured, and now fully understanding how much he himself did to damage her and his children, nearly always takes up his marriage responsibilities with a willingness to repair what he can and to accept what he can't. He persistently tries all of A.A.'s Twelve Steps in his home, often with fine results. At this point he firmly but lovingly commences to behave like a partner instead of like a bad boy. And above all he is finally convinced that reckless romancing is not a way of life for him. p. 119 ************************************************** ********* As long as a man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way. --Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 -1882) Although we have been made to believe that if we let go we will end up with nothing, life itself reveals again and again the opposite; that letting go is the path to real freedom. --Sogyai Rinpoche This above all else: to your own self be true. --unknown Outstanding leaders go out of the way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can accomplish. --Sam Walton The deeds you do today may be the only sermon some people will hear today. --St. Francis of Assisi Make big decisions in the calm. --Dwight D. Eisenhower *********************************************** Father Leo's Daily Meditation ORATORY "The finest eloquence is that which get things done." -- David Lloyd George I know how to talk. I know how to sound good. I know how to convince a person of my good intentions --- indeed that was part of my manipulation for years. Today I try to walk the talk. I try to demonstrate what I say in the behavior I exhibit. The bottom line is action. Talking never stopped me from drinking --- my physical refusal of the first drink was the start of my recovery. God is to be discovered not merely in pious sentiments, as attractive as they may sound, but rather in the small steps of altered behavior. Am I doing what I am saying? Lord give me the courage to live my words. ************************************************** ********* God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. James 1:12 Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart. Psalm 86:11 "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you." Ephesians 4:31-32 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration It is usually easier to start a project than to finish it. Lord, help me spend less time thinking about what I want to do, so that I can have the time to feel the gratification of completing what I started. Pray even when your heart has no words rather than to pray words with no heart. Lord, You faithfully answer all prayers. I will trust in Your answers and never take Your love for granted. |
Happiness is contagious. If I smile so will others.
A happy heart leads to another. Domino effect:56: W.O.W 101:170: |
October 29
Daily Reflections OUR SURVIVAL Since recovery from alcoholism is life itself to us, it is imperative that we preserve in full strength our means of survival. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 177 The honesty expressed by the members of A.A. in meetings has the power to open my mind. Nothing can block the flow of energy that honesty carries with it. The only obstacle to this flow of energy is inebriation, but even then, no one will find a closed door if he or she has left and chooses to return. Once he or she has received the gift of sobriety, each A.A. member is challenged on a daily basis to accept a program of honesty. My Higher Power created me for a purpose in life. I ask him to accept my honest efforts to continue on my journey in the spiritual way of life. I call on Him for strength to know and seek His will. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day My relationships with my children have greatly improved. Those children who saw me drunk and were ashamed, those children who turned away in fear and even loathing have seen me sober and like me, have turned to me in confidence and trust and have forgotten the past as best they could. They have given me a chance for companionship that I had completely missed. I am their father or their mother now. Not just "that person the Mom or Dad married and God knows why." I am a part of my home now. Have I found something that I had lost? Meditation For The Day Our true measure of success in life is the measure of spiritual progress that we have revealed in our lives. Others should be able to see a demonstration of God's will in our lives. The measure of His will that those around us have seen worked out in our daily living is the measure of our true success. We can do our best to be a demonstration each day of the power of God in human lives, and example of the working out of the grace of God in the hearts of men and women. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may so live that others will see in me something of the working out of the will of God. I pray that my life may be a demonstration of what the grace of God can do. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It People Of Faith, p. 300 We who have traveled a path through agnosticism or atheism beg you to lay aside prejudice, even against organized religion. We have learned that, whatever the human frailties of various faiths may be, those faiths have given purpose and direction to millions. People of faith have a rational idea of what life is all about. Actually, we used to have no reasonable conception whatever. We used to amuse ourselves by cynically dissecting spiritual beliefs and practices, when we might have seen that many spiritually-minded persons of all races, colors, and creeds were demonstrating a degree of stability, happiness, and usefulness that we should have sought for ourselves. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 49 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Diminishing returns are still beneficial Getting better. There's a "Cloud nine" effect that some of us had when we first found sobriety. Some call it the honeymoon stage. It includes a feeling of great joy and relief over having found, at last, an answer to drinking. This gradually fades away, as it should under normal conditions. We then feel as though we're in stages of diminishing returns, where the benefits The experience we have in getting sober is like that of people who recovery from a terrible physical illness. At first, they feel remarkably better for the first time. But then their recovery becomes taken for granted, and "feeling better" isn't as remarkable as it was when they first recovered. We should not expect it to be. Instead, we can focus on the contentment and well-being that living sober and steady improvement give us. I may not have anything today like the excitement that accompanied early recovery. I'll be satisfied with the normal blessings of good living. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Each morning puts a man on trail and each evening passes judgment. Ray L. Smith In many ways, the Tenth Step is very natural. We continue to take a personal inventory. And when we’re wrong, we promptly admit it. At the end of each day we ask ourselves, “How did my day go?” As we think about our day, we bring order to our life. The Tenth Step teaches us about order. It also teaches us how to correct mistakes. We do this by admitting our wrongs. This way, we have no backlog of guilt. It’s good to start each day fresh, free from quilt. Admitting our wrongs is a loving thing to do. It’s another way the program teaches us to love ourselves. Prayer for the Day: Today, I’ll face many choices. Higher Power, be with me as I choose. When the day is done, remind me to think about how I lived today. This will help me learn. Action for the Day: Tonight, I’ll list three choices I made today. Would I make the same choices again? ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Let your tears come. Let them water your soul. --Eileen Mayhew Letting down our guard, releasing the tension that keeps us taut, often invites our tears, tears that soften us, melt our resistance, reveal our vulnerability, which reminds us that we are only human. So often we need reminding that we are only human. Perfectionism may be our bane, as it is for so many of us in this program. We've learned to push, push harder, and even harder yet, not only ourselves but also those around us. We must be better, we think, and we tighten our hold on life. The program can teach us to loosen our grip, if we'll let it. The magic is that when we loosen our grip on this day, this activity, this person, we get carried gently along and find that which we struggled to control happening smoothly and naturally. Life is a series of ironies. We should not hide from our tears. We can trust their need to be present. Perhaps they need to be present for someone else, as well as ourselves. Tears encourage compassion; maybe our assignment in life, today, is to help someone else experience compassion. My tears will heal. And the wounded are everywhere. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 5 - HOW IT WORKS We avoid retaliation or argument. We wouldn’t treat sick people that way. If we do, we destroy our chance of being helpful. We cannot be helpful to all people, but at least God will show us how to take a kindly and tolerant view of each and every one. p. 67 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Twelve - "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." A.A. has many single alcoholics who wish to marry and are in a position to do so. Some marry fellow A.A.'s. How do they come out? On the whole these marriages are very good ones. Their common suffering as drinkers, their common interest in A.A. and spiritual things, often enhance such unions. It is only where "boy meets girl on A.A. campus," and love follows at first sight, that difficulties may develop. The prospective partners need to be solid A.A.'s and long enough acquainted to know that their compatibility at spiritual, mental, and emotional levels is a fact and not wishful thinking. They need to be as sure as possible that no deep-lying emotional handicap in either will be likely to rise up under later pressures to cripple them. The considerations are equally true and important for the A.A.'s who marry "outside" A.A. With clear understanding and right, grown-up attitudes, very happy results do follow. pp. 119-120 ************************************************** ********* "Living just for today relieves the burden of the past and the fear of the future." --unknown You can be your best friend or your worst enemy. This is all determined by how you treat yourself. Do you harshly judge yourself, or do you find yourself without any conviction? --unknown Perhaps the reason a person gets upset over a situation is simply because they have preordained things in their own mind. --unknown "Love alone is capable of uniting living beings in such a way as to complete and fulfill them, for it alone takes them and joins them by what is deepest in themselves." --Pierre T. De Chardin "Your past is always going to be the way it was. Stop trying to change it." --Anonymous "When thinking won't cure fear, action will." --W. Clement Stone A B C = Acceptance, Belief, Change. AA is not something you join, it's a way of life. *********************************************** Father Leo's Daily Meditation RACISM "I want to be the white man's brother not his brother-in-law." -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Addiction is always about separation, ego, isolation and prejudice. The disease makes us feel different, "less than" and we cover those feelings with false humility or we assume an arrogant and bombastic manner. Pride and feelings of inferiority put us on the defensive. It is not unusual for us to seek a scapegoat for our anger. Drinking alcoholics can be vindictive and prejudicial in their attitude towards minorities: Blacks, gays and Jews. It is a strange quirk of circumstance when a minority seeks to victimize another minority --- because alcoholics are a minority group! Sobriety is about a change in attitude and behavior. The spiritual acceptance of self must lead inevitably to the acceptance of others. The false pride and arrogance of our drinking days must give way to the vulnerable strength of sobriety. Now we are able to embrace our brother, regardless of color, class or creed. Lord, teach me to seek You in my fellow man and greet You in the stranger. ************************************************** ********* "As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him." 2 Samuel 22:31 "But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: "We ought to obey God rather than men." Acts 5:29 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Make more room for love in your life. Lord, may I love myself and what I do, may I love others, and how they better my life, and above all, may I love You more each day. Peace comes not from having no problems, but from being able to deal with them. Lord, bless me with the confidence and wisdom to grow from life's challenges. |
I MOVE THROUGH CHANGE WITH EASE AND GRACE.
Life is alive and in motion. Nothing is stationary. Life is like a river: It may appear glossy and still on the surface, while the undercurrents are in constant motion. Moving with the divine flow of life, I focus on being wholly aware in each experience. Change sometimes happens gently, like a ripple. At other times, I am navigating my way over a waterfall! Yet when I live my life with God in charge, I am able to adjust to shifting waters with ease and grace. Through the power of God within me, I have an infinite ability to adapt to the changes in my life. I go with the flow and easily allow God to express through me. I am able to thrive through every kind of change. I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous.—Joshua 1:5-6:13: From the Daily Word, 10/28/13 W.O.W 101 ;) |
October 30
Daily Reflections LIVE AND LET LIVE Never since it began has Alcoholics Anonymous been divided by a major controversial issue. Nor has our Fellowship ever publicly taken sides on any question in an embattled world. This, however, has been no earned virtue. It could almost be said that we were born with it. . . . "So long as we don't argue these matters privately, it's a cinch we never shall publicly. " TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 176 Do I remember that I have a right to my opinion but that others don't have to share it? That's the spirit of "Live and Let Live." The Serenity Prayer reminds me, with God's help, to "Accept the things I cannot change." Am I still trying to change others? When it comes to "Courage to change the things I can," do I remember that my opinions are mine, and yours are yours? Am I still afraid to be me? When it comes to "Wisdom to know the difference," do I remember that my opinions come from my experience? If I have a know-it-all attitude, aren't I being deliberately controversial? ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day I have real friends, where I had none before. My drinking companions could hardly be called my real friends, though when drunk we seemed to have the closest kind of friendship. My idea of friendship has changed. Friends are no longer people whom I can use for my own pleasure or profit. Friends are now people who understand me and I them, whom I can help and who can help me to live a better life. I have learned not to hold back and wait for friends to come to me, but to go half way and to be met half way, openly and freely. Does friendship have new meaning for me? Meditation For The Day There is a time for everything. We should learn to wait patiently until the right time comes. Easy does it. We waste our energies in trying to get things before we are ready to have them, before we have earned the right to receive them. A great lesson we have to learn is how to wait with patience. We can believe that all our life is a preparation for something better to come when we have earned the right to it. We can believe that God has a plan for our lives and that this plan will work out in the fullness of time. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may learn the lesson of waiting patiently. I pray that I may not expect things until I have earned the right to have them. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It To Rebuild Security, p. 301 In our behavior respecting financial and emotional security, fear. greed. possessiveness, and pride have too often done their worst. Surveying his business or employment record, almost any alcoholic can ask questions like these: In addition to my drinking problem, what character defects contributed to my financial instability? Did fear and inferiority about my fitness for my job destroy my confidence and fill me with conflict? Or did I overvalue myself and play the big shot? Businesswomen in A.A. will find that these questions often apply to them, too, and the alcoholic housewife can also make the family financially insecure. Indeed, all alcoholics need to cross-examine themselves ruthlessly to determine how their own personality defects have demolished their security. 12 & 12, pp. 51-52 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Who is a winner? Staying Sober Newcomers in AA are urged to "stick with the winners." But who is a winner? A winner in AA is one who finds sobriety and represents principles that help others find and maintain sobriety. Any person who can help others is a winner. The losers are people who don't make enough of a commitment to find and maintain sobriety. It may not be their fault. On the other hand, some losers eventually become winners. It is not our purpose to apply ratings to various individuals, whether they're winner or losers. We must know, however, that we cannot benefit from the suggestions of people who do not stay sober. We are looking for the path of recovery, not the road to ruin. The winners are people who can help us in our recovery. I'll spend as much time as possible with people who want to stay sober. I have no intention of joining anyone on the road to ruin. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple The universe is full of magical things waiting for our wits to grow sharper. ---Eden Phillpots How nice to have the fog lifted! Sobriety lets our wits grow sharper. We can go after our dreams and ideas. We can listen to music and sing. We are part of the magic of the universe. At times we may not feel very magical, but we are. Our spirits hold much magic. Sobriety is magic. We work at making the world a better place. In doing so, we get magical powers. Power that heals and comfort others. Power that heals and comforts others. Powers to understand things that before we could not. Powers that let us see the world as we’ve never seen it. Enjoy the magic and use your powers wisely! Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, let Your magic enter and fill my heart. Action for the Day: I’ll list four magical powers I have from being sober. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Intuition is a spiritual faculty and does not explain, but simply points the way. --Florence Scovel Shinn Should we make this move? Should we change jobs? Should we talk to others about our feelings? We are seldom short on prayers when we're filled with fear and indecision. We are, however, short on answers. Our worries block them out. No prayer ever goes unanswered. Of this we can be certain. On the other hand, the answer may not be what we'd hoped for. In fact, we may not recognize it as the answer because we are expecting something quite different. It takes willingness on our part to be free of our preconceptions--free to accept whatever answers are offered. Our answers come unexpectedly, a chance meeting on the street, a passage in a book or newspaper, a nagging feeling within. God speaks to each of us throughout the day. Our prayers are answered, our problems find solutions, and our worries are eased, if we but attune ourselves to the messages. They are all around. I will be attentive to all the signs from God today. Whatever answer I seek is finding its way to me. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 5 - HOW IT WORKS Referring to our list again. Putting out of our minds the wrongs others had done, we resolutely looked for our own mistakes. Where had we been selfish, dishonest, self-seeking and frightened? Though a situation had not been entirely our fault, we tried to disregard the other person involved entirely. Where were we to blame? The inventory was ours, not the other man’s. When we saw our faults we listed them. We placed them before us in black and white. We admitted our wrongs honestly and were willing to set these matters straight. p. 67 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Twelve - "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." And what can be said of many A.A. members who, for a variety of reasons, cannot have a family life? At first many of these feel lonely, hurt, and left out as they witness so much domestic happiness about them. If they cannot have this kind of happiness, can A.A. offer them satisfactions of similar worth and durability? Yes--whenever they try hard to seek them out. Surrounded by so many A.A. friends, these so-called loners tell us they no longer feel alone. In partnership with others--women and men--they can devote themselves to any number of ideas, people, and constructive projects. Free of marital responsibilities, they can participate in enterprises which would be denied to family men and women. We daily see such members render prodigies of service, and receive great joys in return. p. 120 ************************************************** ********* "Wherever you may be, look when there is apparently nothing to see, listen when all is seemingly quiet." --unknown "There is no investment you can make which will pay you so well as the effort to scatter sunshine and good cheer through your establishment." --Orison Swett Marden God seldom becomes a reality until God becomes a necessity. --unknown G I F T = God Is Forever There. Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less. --unknown A well-spent day brings happy sleep. --Leonardo da Vinci ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation FOOD "Seeing is deceiving. It's eating that's believing." -- James Thurber It may seem strange to many but for years my belief system revolved around my eating. I believed that if I could eat I would be okay. Food for me was both the pleasure and escape. I lived to eat. Feelings, good and bad, were surrounded and stuffed down with food. Some people drank to hide, used cocaine to escape --- I ate to avoid the problems in my life. Seeing was deceiving for me because I refused to accept the reality of my eating. I covered myself with clothes, avoided the beach, rarely looked at my body. I saw only what I wanted to see --- and I was dying. Now I choose to face reality. This for me is the meaning of spirituality. I choose to show my love for me by loving my food, making choices around what I eat and eating slowly. Today I choose to talk about my problems, rather than eat them. God, help me to accept my daily bread with gratitude and abstinence. ************************************************** ********* And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. Colossians 1:10-12 For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible. Mark 10:27 Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Luke 6:27-28 Do not expect that your decision to forgive will result in major changes in the other persons. Instead, pray for them. Matthew 5:44 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Be inspired to try something new and much of what you dream can become your life. Lord, thank you for giving me the freedom of choice, and grant me the courage to experience my opportunities and create new ones. Worse than being a quitter is the one who is afraid to begin. Lord, grant me the courage to believe in myself and the ability to focus on what I can do, not what I can't do. |
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