Daily Motivation 11-9-10

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Today's Gift

w/Bonus

Love is something if you give away, you end up having more. —Malvina Reynolds

The other side of giving is taking. Many of us were brought up to believe that it's not okay to take, so we diminish admiration that people give us. "Oh, this old rag, I got it at a garage sale for next to nothing." This response to a compliment can take away the joy of giving it from the person who admired the way we looked.

Giving needs taking to complete it. We can keep the cycle of generosity going by taking gracefully. A world without those who take would be unbalanced. When someone gives us love, appreciation, or a gift, we can show our real pleasure with a simple thank you, and stop thinking we don't deserve it.

Can I accept what's given to me today in the spirit it's offered?

From Today's Gift: Daily Meditations for Families ©

Bonus

On any journey, we must find out where we are before we can plan the first step. —Kathy Boevink

Our lives in all aspects are a journey toward a destination, one fitting to our purpose, our special gifts, our particular needs as women. Each day contributes to our journey, carrying us closer to our destination. However, we often take a circuitous route. We get stranded or waylaid by our selfish desires, by the intrusion of our controlling ego.

We can reflect on the progress we've made toward our destination, the steps we've taken that have unknowingly contributed to our journey. Our easiest steps have been the ones we took in partnership with God. It's in God's mind that our path is well marked.

We are just where we need to be today. The experiences that we meet are like points on the map of our journey. Some of them are rest stops. Others resemble high-speed straight-aways. The journey to our destination is not always smooth, but the more we let our Higher Power sit in the driver's seat, the easier will be our ride.

I will plan my journey today with my Higher Power's help, and my ride will be smooth.

From Each Day a New Beginning: Daily Meditations for Women by Karen Casey ©

 

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Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Keep It Simple
 
He who can take advice is sometimes superior to he who can give it.  ---Karl von Knebel

 

In recovery, we learn that we don’t know everything. We had stopped listening. Most of us had been asked by family, friends, doctors, and employers to stop drinking and using other drugs. But, we didn’t listen. If we had listened, we would’ve been in this program long ago. Addiction did something to how we listen. We heard only what we wanted to hear. Do I still hear only what I want?

In recovery, we learn to listen. We listen to our groups. We listen to our sponsor. We listen as we read. The better we listen, the better our recovery.

Prayer for the Day:  Higher Power, open my ears and eyes to this new way of life. Allow me to hear Your wisdom in the Twelve Steps. Allow me to be someone who takes advice, not just gives it.

 

Action for the Day:  Today, I’ll try to listen. Today I’ll seek the advice to others. I’ll ask my sponsor how I may better my program.

 

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One Day At A Time

 

Anger
The hardest thing I had to deal with in sobriety was my own anger
and the violence I lived through in my childhood.
I had forgiven those involved as best I could, but the mind seems never to forget.
I had gratefully received years of outside help because I was told
my drinking was only the symptom of deeper troubles.
Yet, despite the help of many professionals,
I know I would never have recovered from violence and alcoholism
without AA's Twelve Steps, which are uniquely tailored for people like me.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 397

Thought to Ponder . . .
Anger is the wind that blows out the light of reason.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A A = Avoid Anger.

 

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Daily Motivation

 

Genuine humility

 

When you can get free from the demands of your ego, you also free yourself from most of your self-imposed limitations. In practicing genuine humility, you will find enormous power.

 

Get beyond the desire to control others, and you vastly improve your ability to control your own actions. Let go of the need to be right, and you open yourself to experience new truth.

 

Get free of the need to blame, and your own sense of responsibility grows stronger. Stop seeking to place judgments on others, and you're free to powerfully improve your own actions.

 

Give up the thought that you're better than everyone else, and a whole new world of opportunity opens up to you. Stop seeking unfair advantage, and you're free to develop an unstoppable effectiveness.

 

Quit demanding the most and start expecting the best. You'll experience a level of true abundance that you never before could have imagined.

 

Live each moment with humility, love, respect and gratitude for the whole of life that surrounds you. And you will find a treasure that has no end.

 

-- Ralph Marston