Monday, June28, 2009
Today's Gift
Depression and Despair
Do we go about our daily work dutifully but joylessly? Have we settled for less in our jobs, homes, or relationships than we want? Have we substituted financial security or physical comfort for the freedom to pursue our heart's desires?
Very few of us give ourselves the opportunities to explore our real interests and potentials. We "lock" ourselves into rigid ways of regarding the world and our options. We often settle for less than our highest aspirations because we have conditioned ourselves into thinking life is joyless endurance or survival at best.
In order to change the empty circumstances in our lives we need to change our limited thinking patterns. Instead of looking at life as a prison, we can view it as a smorgasbord of opportunities that are well within our reach. By exploring and sampling the choices before us we can discover which choices bring us inner satisfaction and increase our sense of purpose.
TODAY I will remind myself of what Roman philosopher Seneca said hundreds of years ago, "The great blessings of mankind are within us, and within our reach..."
Do we go about our daily work dutifully but joylessly? Have we settled for less in our jobs, homes, or relationships than we want? Have we substituted financial security or physical comfort for the freedom to pursue our heart's desires?
Very few of us give ourselves the opportunities to explore our real interests and potentials. We "lock" ourselves into rigid ways of regarding the world and our options. We often settle for less than our highest aspirations because we have conditioned ourselves into thinking life is joyless endurance or survival at best.
In order to change the empty circumstances in our lives we need to change our limited thinking patterns. Instead of looking at life as a prison, we can view it as a smorgasbord of opportunities that are well within our reach. By exploring and sampling the choices before us we can discover which choices bring us inner satisfaction and increase our sense of purpose.
TODAY I will remind myself of what Roman philosopher Seneca said hundreds of years ago, "The great blessings of mankind are within us, and within our reach..."
You are reading from the book:
The Reflecting Pond by Liane Cordes
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Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Keep It Simple
The closest to perfection a person ever comes is when he fills out a job application form. --Stanley J. Randall
The closest to perfection a person ever comes is when he fills out a job application form. --Stanley J. Randall
Trying to be perfect get us into trouble. Trying to be perfect means we're trying to control things.
We may be trying to cover up something. Maybe we aren't facing our pain. Maybe we've hurt someone and we need to make amends.
We may be trying to cover up something. Maybe we aren't facing our pain. Maybe we've hurt someone and we need to make amends.
We need to practice being human. Humans aren't perfect. In Steps Six and Seven, we face our human limits and our shortcomings. We then start the lifelong job of letting them go. To accept our human limits leads us to our Higher Power. We see how we need a guide in life. Our Higher Power makes a perfect guide.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me accept that I can't be perfect. Help me be a good human being.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll list my shortcoming. I'll talk with a friend about them. I'll ask my friend to tell me what my good qualities are.
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One Day At A Time
Fictitious Thinking
There are a lot of people who don't like the weakness that is implied
in the word "surrender."
People like to think they are strong characters
who can take care of their own destinies.
That is always fictitious thinking.
Everybody in this world is some kind of weakling, and if he thinks he is not,
then pride is his weakness, and that is the greatest weakness of all.
~ Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, p. 266
Thought to Ponder . . .
PRIDE ... Putting "I" in the center.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
K I S S = Keep It Simple, Surrender
There are a lot of people who don't like the weakness that is implied
in the word "surrender."
People like to think they are strong characters
who can take care of their own destinies.
That is always fictitious thinking.
Everybody in this world is some kind of weakling, and if he thinks he is not,
then pride is his weakness, and that is the greatest weakness of all.
~ Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, p. 266
Thought to Ponder . . .
PRIDE ... Putting "I" in the center.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
K I S S = Keep It Simple, Surrender
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Daily Motivation
Daily Motivation
Another road
If something looks to be impossible, look at it in a different way.
If something looks to be impossible, look at it in a different way.
What you wish to do can be done, though perhaps not in the way you originally thought.
Just because one road is blocked, does not mean that the destination is unreachable.
You can always find another road, or make your own.
An important part of any achievement is making it your own achievement.
It is your very own dream, and you must find your own way there.
It is your very own dream, and you must find your own way there.
Whatever seems to be blocking you is merely guiding you to be more creative.
Each challenge brings with it a new opportunity to add your own unique value to the effort.
Each challenge brings with it a new opportunity to add your own unique value to the effort.
Don't let your mind get so tightly wrapped around the problems of the moment that you fail to see the larger possibilities.
Know that there's a way to move forward, and you'll find it.
Know that there's a way to move forward, and you'll find it.
Your imagination is what first connected you to your dream.
Nourish that imagination and let it carry you all the way there.
Nourish that imagination and let it carry you all the way there.
-- Ralph Marston
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