Friday, October 8, 2010

Daily Motivations 10-8-2010

Friday, October 8, 2010
Today's Gift
 

Learn what you are and be such. —Pindar

The most precious gift we can give those closest to us is honesty. Yet we often hide our true selves from friends, fearing we won't be accepted or loved if we let them see the real us. Often, we show parts of ourselves that hide who we really are. We have often heard ourselves or others say, "My parents would just die if . . . ," or, "don't argue in front of the children."

If we hide too much behind false images, we run the risk of losing track of what is real and what is false. We become actors instead of real people, trying to please Aunt Jane, our grandparents, our big brother, or our children.

When we conquer our fear of letting others in, we are able to see ourselves honestly. When we discover that others accept us as we are, we can accept and love ourselves. To know oneself is to know a person of value.

What part of me have I been hiding?

From Today's Gift: Daily Meditations for Families ©

 

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
with a bonus
 
Walk In Dry Places
 
Sharing
 
Can we tell others they are wrong?
As we become more sensitive to others, we soon learn that it's very difficult to tell another person he or she is wrong. Even when we struggle to be kind and diplomatic, we can provoke an angry reaction. We should not be surprised, because showing people they're wrong is one of the most difficult things in human experience. Few people like to be told that they're wrong, as we can see when our wrongs are advertised to others.
 

There is almost no way to directly tell people they're wrong without hurting or offending the. Furthermore, if they are hurt or offended, they might feel less inclined to work to correct their behavior. If we've taken the 12 Step principles to heart, however, we learn first that we are usually not required to tell anybody that he or she is wrong.  But we can help people simply by relating accounts of situations when we were wrong and what we did to change. If done properly, this gives the other person the opportunity to change without feeling resentment or humiliation.


Action for the Day: I'll try to be as sensitive as possible to the feelings of others. I'll be especially careful about trying to show them that they're wrong.
 
Bonus


Keep It Simple
 
A man should never be ashamed to own he was in the wrong.---Jonathan Swift


In the past, we felt a mistake was a crisis. We thought we had a to be perfect. Our old ways was to try to hide our mistakes. We were ashamed. We thought making mistakes meant we were bad.
Mistakes are normal. We can learn from our mistakes. They can teach us. They can guide us. The Tenth Step directs us to promptly admit when we’re wrong. Then, over time, we start to see mistakes as normal life events. As we face and correct our mistakes, shame is washed away. We feel lighter. We know it is normal to make mistakes.
 

Prayer for the Day:  Higher Power, help me see that mistakes are normal life events. Help me promptly admit when I’m wrong.

Action for the Day:  Today, I’ll talk to my sponsor about mistakes I’ve made the past week. I’ll not act ashamed of my mistakes.
 
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One Day At A Time
 
On Making Coffee
All I thought about as I was making the coffee was making the coffee
and how people could enjoy it. At my sponsor's suggestion,
I stood by the coffeepot and welcomed everyone who came by.
And when I pushed the broom all I concentrated on
was the dust rising from it as I moved across the floor.
My troubles were gone for the time that I was doing these things.
And so it can be for you.
If you can't live and you can't die, make coffee.
- The Home Group: Heartbeat Of AA, p. 43

Thought to Ponder . . .
Into service out of self.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A B C =
Ashtrays, Brooms, Coffee.
 
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Daily Motivation
 
Your inner self
 
Nothing will be of any use to you unless you have the capacity within yourself to know it and accept it. Peace, love, beauty, success and fulfillment have meaning to you only when they have meaning within you.
 
It is by knowing yourself that you can know all else. It is through nurturing love and goodness within you that you can experience love and goodness in the world around you.
 
To be at peace with the way things are, be at peace with the way you are. To be confident in the affairs of the world, nurture confidence within the stillness of your inner self.
 
The reality that matters is the reality that has meaning and resonance within you. What you see, what you experience, and what you live, all come from who you are.
 
If you feel that something is missing in your life, turn inward. Find and nurture it there.
 
Make a beautiful place for yourself within yourself. Then let that beauty flow out through all that is.
 
-- Ralph Marston

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