Daily Motivations 6-21-2010

Monday, June 21, 2009

Today's Gift

To be able to invite pain to join in my experience and not have to control my life to avoid pain is such a freedom! —Christina Baldwin

If we really stopped to think about it, we would be astounded to discover how much of our time is spent trying to avoid pain. We are afraid to say what we think or tell others our needs because we fear rejection. We are afraid to face the pain of our own anger. We are afraid of telling others who we are. When we are afraid of opening up to others for fear they will hurt us, we are not free, we are prisoners of our own fears.

Pain is a natural part of life, and we are gifted with the ability to feel it. Pain teaches us, makes us work harder sometimes, and it helps us appreciate pleasure.

When we accept pain, and stop exhausting ourselves trying to avoid it, we will be free to live life more fully and without so much worry.

How has my own fear limited my freedom?

From Today's Gift: Daily Meditations for Families ©

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Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Keep It Simple

Order is heaven's first law.---Alexander Pope
We need order in our lives. It makes life simpler for us. Life without order would be like driving in a large city without traffic signals. Our lives as addicts were like this. We lived with no plan, no order. Now that we're sober, we can put some order in our lives. We can get up every morning. We can make our beds and be on time for work. These things make life so much easier and nicer. we need this order. It allows us to depend on ourselves.

We now look at the Twelve Steps to bring order to our lives. The Steps follow each other as summer follows spring. Do I allow myself to follow the natural order or do I fight it?

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, You've put order in this world. Please put order in my life. Let me flow within this order instead of being on my own.

Action for the Day: The Twelve Steps have a natural order. Today I'll take time to read each Step and think about the order found in them.

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One Day At A Time

Reprieve
It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels.
We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol and drugs are a subtle foe.
We are not cured of alcoholism or addiction.
What we really have is a daily reprieve
contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 85

Thought to Ponder . . .
The alcoholic and addict is in no greater peril than when he takes sobriety for granted.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A A = Always Aware.

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Daily Motivation

Positive power
You have the power to achieve the best. Allow it.

You have a purpose that comes directly from your authentic essence. Accept it, acknowledge it, explore it, and allow it to flow into every corner of your world.

Striving and fighting only hold you back. Now it is time to live every moment with the positive power you know you have.

Now is the time to love and to fulfill the beauty that you know can be. Now you can let authentic life flow.

The problems hold you back only because you see them as problems. Now it is time to see every circumstance as the opportunity that it is.

Every desire, every hope, every longing is already fulfilled by your possibilities. Now is the time to live them fully.

-- Ralph Marston