Thursday, April 26, 2012

Daily Motivation 4-26-2012

Thursday, April 26, 2012
Today's Gift

It is easier to avoid the effects of others' negativity when we question if an action or attitude is appropriately directed at us. If it isn't, we can choose to sidestep it and let it pass. Sus Patton Theole

Some people are carriers of negativity. They are storehouses of pent up anger and volatile emotions. Some remain trapped in the victim role and act in ways that further their victimization. And others are still caught in the cycle of addictive or compulsive patterns.

Negative energy can have a powerful pull on us, especially if we're struggling to maintain positive energy and balance. It may seem that others who exude negative energy would like to pull us into the darkness with them. We do not have to go. Without judgment, we can decide it's okay to walk away, okay to protect ourselves.

We cannot change other people. It does not help others for us to get off balance. We do not lead others into the Light by stepping into the darkness with them.

Today, Higher Power, help me to know that I don't have to allow myself to be pulled into negativity - even around those I love. Help me set boundaries. Help me know it's okay to take care of myself.

From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©

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Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Walk in Dry Places

Never withholding ourselves.

We may have let ourselves believe that we're supposed to display an attitude that expresses our opinions of others. If a person is crude and boorish, we should be cool and defensive for our self-protection. If a person is warm and friendly, we should respond in warm and friendly ways.

If we have believed these things, then we're actually letting others control our attitudes and behavior. We are letting personalities interfere with our principles.  We are not living at the best possible level.

In reality, we should always display an attitude that reflects kindness, optimism, friendliness, and concern. There other person's disposition, whether it's sour or sweet, should have nothing to do with our being what we want to be. We should never withhold the fine inner qualities that develop and grow as we continue to live the program.

In time, we begin to learn that this attitude always comes back to us in the form of greater peace and happiness. And what's great about iti s that it's always under our direct control.

Action for the Day: As I go about my business today, I will express a kindliness and concern toward everybody. Nobody's behavior can make me adopt a suspicious or defensive attitude.

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One Day At A Time

Surrender

On the face of it, surrendering does not seem like winning.
But it is in AA. Only when we have come to the end of our rope,
hit a stone wall in some aspect of our lives beyond which we can go no further;
only when we hit "bottom" in despair and surrender,
can we accomplish sobriety, which we could never accomplish before.
We must, and we do, surrender in order to win.
- Experience, Strength and Hope, pp. 155-56

Thought to Ponder . . .
We surrender to win; we give away to keep;
we suffer to get well; we die to live.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
K I S S =
Keep It Simple; Surrender.

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Daily Motivation

Practice creates mastery

The more you do something, the better you do it. Tricks and gimmicks and shortcuts might help a little bit, yet practice is what creates mastery.

If you seek to do it well, then do it often. There is nothing that can take the place of practice.

Do you wish to be more confident in unfamiliar situations? Then transform them into familiar situations by rehearsing them in advance, with lots of practice.

There are some things your mind remembers, and then there are those things remembered by the entirety of your being. Practice instills that powerful holistic form of memory.

Sure, it can be immensely frustrating when you’re not as skilled as you’d like to be. Make use of that frustration by channeling its energy into determination, and with that determination, practice.

Practice winning, practice losing, practice making the effort, practice peacefully accepting disappointment and gracefully accepting success. Every time you practice, you make yourself that much better.

— Ralph Marston

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