Daily Motivation 5-10-10

Monday, May 10, 2009

Today's Gift

Enjoying the Good Days

Good feelings can become a habitual part of our life.

There is absolutely no virtue in the unnecessary suffering, which many of us have felt for much of our life. We don't have to allow others to make us miserable, and we don't have to make ourselves miserable.

A good day does not have to be the calm before the storm. That's an old way of thinking we learned in dysfunctional systems.

In recovery, a good day or a good feeling doesn't mean we're in denial. We don't have to wreck our good times by obsessively searching for or creating a problem.

Enjoying our good days doesn't mean we're being disloyal to loved ones who are having problems. We don't have to make ourselves feel guilty because other people aren't having a good day. We don't have to make ourselves miserable to be like them. They can have their day and their feelings; we can have ours.

A good feeling is to be enjoyed. More than we can imagine, good days are ours for the asking.

Today, I will let myself enjoy what is good. I don't have to wreck my good day or good feeling; I don't have to let others spoil it either.

From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©1990, Hazelden Foundation.

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Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Keep It Simple

As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.---Andrew Carnegie

Doing something with our lives, not just talking about it, is important. When we were sick with our addiction, what we did was drink or use other drugs. We only talked about what we wanted to do. Now that we are sober, we can really live our lives.

We've already done a lot. we've gotten help for our chemical dependency. We've facing the harm we did to our families. We've let other people into our lives.

Before recovery, we didn't have to tell people we were alcoholics and addicts. Our actions showed it, if people knew what to look for. Now we don't have to tell people we were recovering, because our actions will show it.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, let my actions show that I am getting better every day.

Action for the Day: Today, I'll let my actions speak louder than words. I'll do one thing that I have been saying I want to do.

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One Day At A Time

Joy

Joy is not just the absence of pain; it is the gift of continued spiritual awakening.
Joy comes from ongoing and active study,
as well as application of the principles of recovery in my everyday life,
and from sharing that experience with others.
- Daily Reflections, p. 253

Thought to Ponder . . .
The joy is in the journey, so enjoy the ride.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
H J F = Happy, Joyous, Free.

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Daily Motivation

Attachment to results
Achievement is stressful only if you assume it to be. Ambition creates anxiety only when you are overly attached to the results.

Achievement is something you do. It is not who you are.

If you fail to attain the results you seek, that does not make you any less of a person. Certainly your aim is to be successful, yet it is much more effective to choose success than to need it.

Expect the best, and give your very best to the effort. Then be willing to accept the results, whatever they may be.

Care intensely about what you intend and what you do. But don't worry or obsess about what you get.

Your most effective efforts come from who you are, not from what you need. Let go of your attachment to the results, and you'll get the best ones ever.

-- Ralph Marston