It is the calm after the storm. I feel a rainbow where there once were clouds, and while my Spirit dances in gratitude, my mind speculates on the next disaster. Duality. —Mary Casey
Our growth ... is contingent on our ability to flow with the dualities, the contradictions inherent in one's lifetime, not only to flow with them but also to capitalize on them.
We are not offered a painless existence, but we are offered opportunities for gathering perspective from the painful moments... The rough edges of life, the storms that whip our very being, are gifts in disguise. We see life anew, when the storm has subsided.
We can enjoy the calm, if that surrounds us today. We deserve the resting periods. They give us a chance to contemplate and make fully our own that which the recent storm brought so forcefully to our attention. We are powerless over the storm's onslaught. But we can gain from it and be assured that the storm gives all the meaning there is in the calm.
I will be glad today for the clouds or the rainbows. Both are meant for my good. And without both, neither has meaning.
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
Words are the voice of the heart.---Confucius
What does my heart have to say today? Am I happy ? Or I’m I troubled? We will find this out if we slow down and listen to our words. We can also hear our spirit in the tone of our words.
We are to meditate. Meditation is about slowing down so we can hear what our spirit is trying to tell us. Meditation is listening. Our spirit is but a quiet whisper inside us. To hear we must quiet ourselves.
Slowing down allows us to find our center. As we find our center we find our spirit and our Higher Power. Do I take the time needed to slow myself down? Do I take the time ot listen---to listen to my heart?
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, teach me to slow down. Teach me to hear Your whisper as well as Your yells.
Action for the Day: Today, I will take a half hour to slow down and listen. I will find a place to relax and listen to my heart and my words.
There's no room for posturing as we speak up about our recklessness,
self-centeredness, dishonesty, lost or soured marriage and families,
and violence of various kinds.
More than a mere chronicle of bottles and blackouts, these stories
of "twisted and tangled relations" with other people bring home
the lonely tragedy of alcoholism and the miracle of our all sitting there
on folding chairs with the Twelve Step shades on the wall above our heads.
- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 3], pp. 208-209
Thought to Ponder . . .
When I share my story and remember the last days of my drinking,
I remember the desperation of selling the last pieces of my soul.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
C A R E = Comforting And Reassuring Each other.
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Daily Motivation
Your world is a mirror
Your judgments about other people say more about you than they do about the people you’re judging. The reason you can detect the weaknesses and insecurities of others is because you have experienced those same weaknesses and insecurities.
Similarly, the reason you’re able to see beauty in others is because that beauty lives in you as well. The positive possibilities you see for others are, in many ways, your possibilities too.
It’s very helpful to think of the world outside of you as a mirror. Whatever you see beyond you in some way reflects what is inside you.
The most powerful and effective way to improve the world around you, is to improve yourself. The best way to bring real value into your life, is to create real value for others.
What you admire and appreciate and support in others, grows stronger within you as well. When you seek to understand, you will be understood, and when you listen thoughtfully, you will be heard.
Your world is a mirror, so choose each day to show it your best, most loving and supportive face. And you’ll be delighted with the face you see looking back at you.
— Ralph Marston
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