As the wheel of the decades turns, so do a person's needs, desires, and tasks. Each of us does, in effect, strike a series of "deals" or compromises between the wants and longings of the inner self, and an outer environment that offers certain possibilities and sets certain limitations. —Maggie Scarf
What life has measured out may not be what we had dreamed of. Life's lessons may not be those we'd have chosen to learn. Wisdom dictates that the joy of life is proportional to the ease with which we accept those possibilities for growth that have grown out of our inner desires.
Our desires are like an outline for a written assignment, a research project. They help us to see where we want to go at any one time, but as we move the direction may need to change. The natural flow of "the assignment" will help to refine it.
We may not have tried to "realize" many of our desires in the past. But the time has come. One of the joys of recovery is that we understand our desires are closely related to our spiritual program and our recovery. And we know we are not alone. We need to attend to the inner desires that beckon to us. They are calling us to move forward.
Today, I can take the first few steps.
From Each Day a New Beginning: Daily Meditations for Women by Karen Casey ©
Keep It Simple
At times almost all of us envy the animals. They suffer and die, but do not seem to make a "problem" of it. —Alan Watts
When we sit quietly and open ourselves to contact with our Higher Power, problems may come to mind. We seek some wisdom beyond ourselves to help us meet the challenges of this day. For many of us men, the greatest problem is our thinking rather than the situations we have to deal with.
Unlike animals, we complicate what is very simple. The pain we face is never fair, so we need not waste time trying to understand the justice or injustice of it. Our problems may seem large or overwhelming from today's perspective. By tomorrow or next month most of them will be resolved in some way, and we may not even remember them. Our spiritual path teaches us to do first things first each day and not fret about the outcome. We turn outcomes over to the will of our Higher Power.
Action for the Day: Today, I will use the simplicity of the animals as my guide.
And what is time to me now? It is a most precious asset.
I have the luxury of being able to cherish the memory of yesterday,
to live today with serenity, to wait for tomorrow.
I find contentment in just knowing where I was and where I am.
And I am grateful; grateful for the existence of AA; grateful to my Higher Power
- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 2], p. 21
Thought to Ponder . . .
I am grateful for this minute. My eternity may be in it.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
O D A A T = One Day At A Time.
Daily Motivation
What are you resisting? What are you fighting or avoiding?
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