Daily Motivation 11-1-11

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Today's Gift

Always remember that no matter what the problem may be, there is an infinity of solutions. --Marion Weinstein

A girl named Iris was tormented by the boys at school. Whenever she walked by they would make rude noises. Sometimes, when no one was looking, they would block her way and not let her go home. She was too inexperienced at taking care of herself to realize that believing she couldn't do anything made it true. Feeling helpless kept her from thinking about what she might do.

One day she got so scared that she told her best friend what was happening. Together they began to think of all sorts of things she could do. Knowing she could do something took away the helpless feeling, and the boys noticed and stopped teasing her. It wasn't fun for them anymore.

We often feel helpless in situations that seem too much for us to handle. In fact, help is always available - through friends and family, and through our Higher Power, who helps us see how we can help ourselves. All we have to do is stop being distracted by that helpless feeling and ask for what we need.

Can I see the many solutions to my problems today?

Reading from the book Today's Gift by Anonymous

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Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Keep It Simple

Intuition is a spiritual faculty and does not explain, but simply points the way. --Florence Scovel Shinn

Should we make this move? Should we change jobs? Should we talk to others about our feelings? We are seldom short on prayers when we're filled with fear and indecision. We are, however, short on answers. Our worries block them out.

No prayer ever goes unanswered. Of this we can be certain. On the other hand, the answer may not be what we'd hoped for. In fact, we may not recognize it as the answer because we are expecting something quite different. It takes willingness on our part to be free of our preconceptions--free to accept whatever answers are offered.

Our answers come unexpectedly, a chance meeting on the street, a passage in a book or newspaper, a nagging feeling within. Our Higher Power speaks to each of us throughout the day. Our prayers are answered, our problems find solutions, and our worries are eased, if we but attune ourselves to the messages. They are all around.

Action for the Day: I will be attentive to all the signs from my Higher Power today. Whatever answer I seek is finding its way to me.

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One Day At A Time

Action
Action to the newcomer may mean just taking a walk when he gets the jitters.
Even reading can be a form of activity -- at least we are thinking of something
besides ourselves while we are doing it.
Keeping busy, no matter how, is a good way to avoid self-pity.
And what did we get sober for if not to live and enjoy life?
AA gives us the tools to do this.
- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 1], p. 64

Thought to Ponder . . .
Into action, out of self.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
S W A T = Surrender, Willingness, Action, Trust.

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Daily Motivation

Choose goodness

The time you spend living in fear is time you cannot spend living in love. The time you spend hiding and retreating from life is time you cannot spend growing and advancing and achieving.
The hours and days you spend being annoyed or frustrated are times when you deny yourself access to life’s best possibilities. When you live in anger and resentment, you cut yourself off from life’s goodness.
Sure, there are many bad things that can happen. Yet you can be aware of them, and realistic about them, without being obsessed and consumed by them.
You may very well have good reasons for resentment, frustration and anger. But that doesn’t mean those negative responses are good for you, or that you must choose them.
You can choose instead to live in the enriching, empowering light of your own highest visions. You can always choose to grow, to achieve, and to fulfill by immersing your awareness in life’s ever-present goodness.
Every aspect of your life is greatly influenced, day in and day out, by the way you imagine life to be. Imagine the best, choose the goodness, and be a source of love and light for all to see.
— Ralph Marston