Daily Motivations 4-08-2010

Thursday, April 8, 2010
Today's Gift

Talk doesn't cook rice. --Chinese proverb
Some of us are crazy about self-help books, inspirational tapes, and personal improvement seminars. We'll buy or sign up for anything, whatever the price, if it promises revolutionary insights or a foolproof new system. We want relief in a day and deliverance in a weekend. And we want the expert of the hour to do it for us.

There's nothing wrong with wishing, of course. But there's a lot wrong with kidding ourselves as a way of life. Think about it: If progress could be bought, we wouldn't need to be meditating. If personal transformation resulted from collecting new ideas, we'd have been transformed long ago. Exploring is great. And looking for all the inspiration and wisdom we can find is necessary for growth. But changing is doing. All the plans and schemes for improvement put together won't change a thing if we don't put the principles into daily practice. Even catchy words are just words.

Today, I will take the best plan I have and put it into action. Today, I will say less and do more.

You are reading from the book:

Days of Healing, Days of Joy by Earnie Larsen and Carol Larsen Hegarty

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

Keep It Simple

It's a simple formula: Do your best and somebody might like it.---Dorothy Baker
Our program is a selfish program. It tells us to let go of what othersthink. We're staying sober for ourselves, not for anyone else. Our bodyand our spirit are at stack. And we know what we need to do to stay sober.If we fell shaky about going to a party, we don't go---no matter who gets upset.If our job makes it hard to stay sober, we get a different one---no materwho it upsets. It's simple we must take good care of ourselves before we can be good to others. In doing this, we learn how to be a friend, a good parent, a good spouse. we have to care for ourselves to have good relationships. Do I believe it okay to be selfish when it comes to my program?

Prayer for the Day : Higher Power, help me do what is best for my recovery, no matter what others think.

Action for the Day: I will remind myself that staying sober is simple. I don't use chemicals.And I work the program.

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One Day At A Time

Resentment

It is plain that a life which includes deep resentmentleads only to futility and unhappiness.To the precise extent that we permit these, do we squander the hoursthat might have been worth while. But for 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 feelingswe shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit.
- Alcoholics Anonymous. p. 66

Thought to ponder . . .
Resentment is like acid, eating away at the vessel it is stored in.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .

G R A C E = Gently Releasing All Conscious Expectations.

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Daily Motivation

Positively captivated

What do you do if you don't care about what you're doing? Either find a way to care, or move quickly on to something else.

Life is far too precious to fill it with even a few moments of mediocrity. You have within you the power of passion, so make sure that power is turned on.

Go beyond merely observing what's happening in the world around you. Connect with it in a robust and meaningful way.

Enormous mountains of value can be yours when you simply choose to resonate with the beauty of that value. Be positively captivated by the possibilities.

Truly care about whatever you do and it becomes outstanding. Within your passion there is always another fortune ready to be expressed and achieved.

Feel the great, inexhaustible substance that is your purpose. Put it into what you do, and what you do will be magnificent.

-- Ralph Marston