Daily Motivation 12-5-11

Monday, December 5, 2011

Today's Gift

 

Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards. -- Soren Kierkegaard

 

One of Mark Twain's most interesting writings states we should live life backwards from the age of eighty to the time we were just a gleam in someone's eye. How much more we'd learn, he felt, if we already knew how to live before we had to.

 

We may fantasize sometimes about going back with the tools of the program we're using today to our families, our high schools, or our dating years. It may please us to think of how "together" we would be with such tools, knowing what we know now.

 

But we can't live backwards. Every year we move along in age, experience, maturity, and wisdom. Sometimes we only see such growth on birthdays, when we look back to a year ago at who we were then and who we are now. As our years advance, so do we. Sometimes we need to take a brief look backward in order to see this.

 

Today I'll remember that to see my growth all I have to do is look at where I was a year ago. I have advanced in age, but I've also advanced in wisdom and maturity.

 

From the book Night Light by Amy E. Dean

 

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Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Keep It Simple

 

I want to feel myself part of things, of the great drift and swirl; not cut off, missing things, like being sent to bed early as a child. --Joanna Field

Feeling apart from the action and always looking on; wanting attention, and yet afraid of being noticed; no doubt these are familiar memories to most of us. We may still struggle with our self-perception, but we can celebrate that we no longer drown our moods. Connecting with the people next to us, though difficult, is no longer impossible when we rely on the program.

There is a way to be a part of the action, a way that never fails. It takes only a small effort, really. We can simply look, with love, at someone nearby today and extend our hearts in honest attention. When we make someone else feel special, we'll become special too.

Recovery can help each of us move beyond the boundaries of our own ego. Trusting that our lives are in the loving care of our Higher Power, however we understand our Higher Power, relieves us of the need for self-centeredness. We can let go of ourselves now that our Higher Power is in charge, and we'll discover that we have joined the action.

Action for the Day: I will open my heart, and I'll be joined to all that's around me.

 

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One Day At A Time

 

Simple Arithmetic
It is not always the quantity of good things you do,
it is also the quality that counts. . .
Above all, take it one day at a time.
- As Bill Sees It, p. 11

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

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
O D A A T = One Day At A Time.

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Daily Motivation

See the beauty

Look, really look, at how beautiful this day is. Let go of the worries and anxieties and judgments, and see the beauty.

Step back from the confusion, and see the beauty. Rise above the petty conflicts, and see the enduring beauty.

See the beauty, and you feel life’s raw, authentic substance. See the beauty, and you will also see the most valuable, positive possibilities.

Where there is life and awareness, there is beauty. Where there is love, the beauty is overwhelming.

See the beauty, and be inspired. See the beauty, and be filled with positive energy.

There is great and meaningful beauty where you are. See the beauty, and let it lead you to life’s best possibilities.

— Ralph Marston