Monday, March 21, 2011
Today's Gift
If I Had My Life to Live Over ... I'd relax.... I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers.... I'd start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry go-rounds. I would pick more daisies. —Nadine Stair
"Letting go" is a theme with many variations. When we live with gusto and are released to experience the full excitement of life, we are letting go. When we turn our lives and wills over to the care of our Higher Power, we are freed of many cares. If we orient our lives with a compass that always points to fear and insecurity, or to power and success, we are giving ourselves over to those forces. But we can orient our lives to our Higher Power's care and support. That makes it possible to drop our guard, allow for some mistakes, and delight in the pleasures of creation.
Today let me forget my worries and enjoy the fullness of life.
From Touchstones: A Book of Daily Meditations for Men ©
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Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Walk in Dry Places
Practicing principles
Is it Easy?
There's no "softer, easier way," we're told. If so, why are we also urged to embrace the slogan "Easy Does it?" Which is right?
Both are right, because they express two different ideas. The softer, easier way doesn't work because it grows out of self-deception and falls short of a thorough working of the program. "Easy Does it" works because it describes an approach to action that is relaxed, confident, and careful.
The person seeking an easier, softer way usually avoids taking some of the steps that are considered necessary in maintaining sobriety. It's a way of trying to win without doing sufficient work. The person following the "Easy Does it" principle pays attention to every detail, but carries on without reasonable haste or excessive loafing.
In a spiritual sense, "Easy Does it" also means letting the Higher Power carry the load. At all times, however, we must continue to make choices and bear responsibility for our actions.
Action for the Day: I'll be relaxed and confident while carrying on a full day's activity. There is always time to do things the right way.
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One Day At A Time
Tolerance
Honesty with ourselves and others gets us sober,
but it is tolerance that keeps us that way.
- As Bill Sees It, p. 312
Thought to Ponder . . .
Patience, tolerance, understanding and love are the watchwords.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
P U T = Patience, Understanding, Tolerance.
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Daily Motivation
Pointing the way
What seems to be standing in your way is not really standing in your way. It's pointing the way.
What looks like it's holding you back is not really holding you back. It's building your determination to move forward.
The mountain is steep and treacherous, yet it gives you a pathway to get to the top. The work is challenging and complicated, and yet it gives you a way to create achievement.
Don't you dare despair when things get tough. Rejoice in knowing that the reason you're encountering so much resistance is because you're moving so powerfully ahead.
Look in the direction from where the resistance is coming. That's where value lives.
Feel your determination as it grows stronger each time you push forward. Now you have what it takes to bring great things to life.
-- Ralph Marston
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