The world is a wheel always turning. Those who are high go down low, and those who've been low go up higher. —Anzia Yezierska
Everything changes. Nothing stays the same. And letting go of the way things are, anticipating instead what they might become, frees us to live each moment more fully.
Time marches on, and our destiny marches with it. There is purpose in how our lives unfold; the ups and downs serve our growth. We must neither resent the doldrums nor savor too long the elation. Giving too much attention to either state interferes with our awareness of the present. And the present has come to teach us.
We must move with time. We must focus our attention on the moment and accept whatever feelings each experience elicits. Emotional maturity is accepting our feelings and letting them go and facing instead the next moment with fresh receptivity. Our lessons are many, and they accompany the lows as well as the highs. We can be grateful for both.
Life has taught us freedom from lingering lows. It has given us the tools to move confidently forward, trusting that all is well. Nothing lasts forever, and within each struggle is the opportunity for real growth.
The highs will pass away, just as will the lows. They visit us purposefully. I will give them their freedom and find mine as well.
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
No labor, however humble, is dishonoring.---The Talmud
Work is good for the heart. Work is good for our minds. It can give us something to focus on besides ourselves. Labor doesn't just mean having a job. It may mean planting a garden or helping a friend. It certainly means working our program. Hopefully, it's a labor of love. We can get into trouble if we have to much time on our hands. We can turn it into mischief or self-pity. We can get bored. Being bored is a matter of choice. We'll never be bored if we ask ourselves, "How can I make this world a better place?" We can turn our answers into action.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, teach me to use my time wisely. Help me be well-balanced between labor and fun. I need both.
Action for the Day: I'll list five ways that labor and fun can help me get closer to my Higher Power. And I'll look for people and things to fill my time in positive ways.
Unmanageable
All the laws that are at work in the world
are going to make every life unmanageable to one degree or another
from time to time. But for the alcoholic there is not only an additional danger,
but also an additional opportunity.
The 12 Steps offers us a program of recovery from our past feelings
about the unmanageability of life,
a program that can put life's unmanageability into perspective.
- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 2], p. 58
Thought to Ponder . . .
Recovery is discovery.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A A = Always Aware.
Needless needs
One of the most disabling assumptions is the assumption of need. Consider that much of what you assume you need, you really don’t.
Remember, just because everyone else has some particular thing, does not mean you need it too. Just because someone says you need something, doesn’t mean you really need it.
If you’re being held back by the need to satisfy your needs, stop and ask yourself a key question about each one. Do you really need it?
Life can be difficult, and yet there’s no sense in adding to the burden. Instead of assuming more and more needs, choose to question those needs.
Live more by intention, and less by reaction. Put your time and effort into those things that create real fulfillment for your life, rather than into needless needs.
Choose your own priorities, based on what’s most important to you. Let go of the need to need so much, and free yourself to live life at its authentic best.
— Ralph Marston
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