Daily Motivation 8-1-11

Monday, August 1, 2011

Today's Gift

 

See who you are. Own who you are. Be who you are. Don't apologize. -- Jerry K.

 

At some point in our recovery, we need to admit to ourselves and others who we really are. Looking inside and pondering our shortcomings is not the most comfortable thing the program has asked us to do. In the past it's been more comfortable to deny them, to look the other way, to sweep the human error element under the rug.

 

But the rewards are great. Once we own our shortcomings, once we tell them out loud to another person, we have taken full responsibility for ourselves - who we are, what we are - and how we have acted.

 

Now we are closer to our Higher Power, who has accepted us all along. Now we can return to the spiritual support that is always available. When we admit who we are to ourselves and others, we are given the gift of self-acceptance and a sense of belonging to the human race.

 

By opening ourselves this way, we enrich our relationships with our Higher Power, ourselves, and our fellow humans. These relationships bring a new sense of belonging and meaning to our lives.

 

Today help me tell myself, my Higher Power, and at least one other person who I really am.

 

You are reading from the book:

Body, Mind, and Spirit by Anonymous

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Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Walk In Dry Places

Sincerity.

Who is sincere?
We sometimes dismiss others people's relapses with the explanation that they didn't really want to stay sober or that they lacked sincerity of purpose.

We have no way of gauging just how sincere anybody really is. Even in trying to understand ourselves, we may detect traces of double-mindedness that got us into trouble. Even if we've been sober for years, the old desire to drink can be lurking somewhere in the back of our minds. It's wise to assume that this is so even when there's no conscious desire to drink. If hidden desires to drink still persist even after years of sobriety, it points to the persistence of the disease.... Not to one's insincerity.

It may even be that sincerity, like sobriety, has to be sought on a daily basis. Perhaps we are capable of being sincere today, and then lapse into insincerity tomorrow. To accept this is a sign of prudence and maturity, and perhaps even a measure of humility.

Action for the Day: I'll seek to be sincere today about the things that really count. If I know I'm insincere in certain areas, I'll seek more understanding about it.

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One Day At A Time

The Gift of Choice
When I am willing to do the right thing, I am rewarded with an inner peace
no amount of liquor could ever provide. When I am unwilling to do the right thing,
I become restless, irritable, and discontent. It is always my choice.
Through the Twelve Steps, I have been given the gift of choice.
I am no longer at the mercy of a disease that tells me the only answer is to drink.
If willingness is the key to unlock the gates of hell, it is action
that opens those doors so that we may walk freely among the living.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 317

Thought to Ponder . . .
Just for today, I choose not to drink or use.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
S W A T = Surrender, Willingness, Action, Trust.

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Daily Motivation

Achievement within

Meaningful success is a matter of expressing on the outside some of the unique and abundant value that’s on the inside. Every great achievement begins as a vision, guided by purpose, and ends as a real, tangible fact.

Whatever you truly desire, you already have within you. Fulfilling that desire is a process of bringing it to life in the world around you.

In each true desire is the energy for its fulfillment. Your job is to put that energy to focused and effective use.

Take the vision, the ideal, the value that’s inside and show the rest of the world how it looks and what it can do. Nurture the inner vision that only you can see into outer value that everyone can find useful and beautiful.

Dive deeply into the rich abundance that lives within you. Feel the power of your unique beauty that longs to be expressed, and let that beauty flow out through your actions.

Your greatest achievements are already yours. Act on them and let the whole world experience their value too.

— Ralph Marston