Just because a man lacks the use of his eyes doesn't mean he lacks vision. —Stevie Wonder
It has been easy for many of us to meet our limitations with self-pity. Maybe we think being a real man means always being strong, capable, good looking, and in charge. If we have a handicap, like blindness or a learning disability, we may have thought we were less masculine or less worthy.
All of us have handicaps. Some are greater than others, and some are more visible than others. These handicaps confront us with our powerlessness. We do not find our finest human qualities until we have met our limitations and accepted them. A new side of our strength develops when we accept our powerlessness and yield to it rather than trying to take charge of it. We develop greater vision when we stop feeling sorry for ourselves about our handicap and surrender to its truth. We then see our kinship with all men and women who struggle with their limitations.
Today, I will set aside self-pity and remember to be grateful for the lessons my limitations have taught me.
From Touchstones: A Book of Daily Meditations for Men©
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Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Keep It Simple
Where there is no vision, a people perish.---Ralph Waldo Emerson
Working our program teaches us to see things more clearly. We learn to look at who we really are. At first, we’re scared to see ourselves. But it turns out okay, even though were not perfect.
We also begin to see others more clearly. We see good in people we don’t like. And we see faults in people we thought we’re prefect. But we don’t judge people anymore. Nobody is perfect. Just as our program friends accept us as we are, we learn to accept others.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, sometimes I don’t like what I see. Help me to believe Your way will for me. Help me have a vision.
Action for the Day: I will use my new way of seeing thing to avoid trouble today.
Selfishness -- self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles.
Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity,
we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate. Sometimes
they hurt us seemingly without provocation, but we invariably find that
at some time in the past we have made decisions based on self
which later placed us in a position to be hurt.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 62
Thought to Ponder . . .
If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light;
take off all your envy, jealousy, un-forgiveness, selfishness, and fear.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
W I S D O M = When Into Self, Discover Our Motives.
Daily Motivation
Choose your dreams
Any choice you make is a turn your life takes in one direction or another. Getting where you want to go is a matter of making each and every choice with that in mind.
Letting go of a negative, destructive habit happens by making one positive, empowering choice at a time. Creating a desired achievement comes about in the same way, one intentional, effective choice at a time.
Every choice matters, and every choice either changes or reaffirms a particular direction. That is what gives you great control over the way your life unfolds.
If it is opportunity you seek, stop looking for it and start paying more attention to the choices you make. Every one of them is a real, practical and influential opportunity for you to move toward your most desired outcomes.
In every minute, in any situation, you can continue bringing your most treasured dreams to life through the choices you make. As time moves forward, great and meaningful value arises from choices intentionally made in a consistent direction.
In matters large, small, and in between, there are always choices to be made. Make the choice, each chance you get, to choose your dreams.
— Ralph Marston
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