Monday, April 30, 2012
Today's Gift
Patience is a particular requirement. Without it, you can destroy in an hour what it might take you weeks to repair. --Charlie W. Shedd
Enjoying the moment, in its fullest, makes possible a peaceful and patient pace. Progress is guaranteed if our minds are centered in the present, on the only event deserving of our attention. We can be certain that error and frustration will haunt us if our attentions are divided.
Patience will see us through a troubled time, but how much easier it is to savor patience when it's accompanied by faith. We can know and fully trust that all is well - that our lives are on course - that individual experiences are exactly what we need at this moment. However, faith makes the knowing easier and the softness of the patient heart eases us through the times of challenge and uncertainty.
Patience slows me down long enough to notice another, and to be grateful for the gifts of the moment. Patience promises me the power to move forward with purpose. Today's fruits will be in proportion to my patience.
From the book: The Promise of a New Day by Karen Casey and Martha Vanceburg
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Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Keep It Simple
Love between two people is such a precious thing. It is not a possession. I no longer need to possess to complete myself. True love becomes my freedom. --Angela L. Wozniak
Self-doubt fosters possessiveness. When we lack confidence in our own capabilities, when we fear we don't measure up as women, mothers, lovers, employees, we cling to old behavior, maybe to unhealthy habits, perhaps to another person. We can't find our completion in another person because that person changes and moves away from our center. Then we feel lost once again.
Completion of the self accompanies our spiritual progress. As our awareness of the reality of our higher power's caring role is heightened, we find peace. We trust that we are becoming all that we need to be. We need only have faith in our connection to that higher power. We can let that faith possess us, and we'll never need to possess someone else.
Our Higher Power's love is ours, every moment. Recognition is all that's asked of us. Acceptance of this ever-present love will make us whole, and self-doubt will diminish. Clinging to other people traps us as much as them, and all growth is hampered, ours and theirs.
Action for the Day: Freedom to live, to grow, to experience my full capabilities is as close as my faith. I will cling only to that and discover the love that's truly in my heart and the hearts of my loved ones.
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One Day At A Time
Metaphor
I remember when I bought my first Big Book.
I was told by an old-timer that "meetings are the icing on the cake,
but the Big Book is the meat in the sandwich."
The AA's who were standing around the literature table
all nodded knowingly at this metaphor.
I realize now just how true those words were.
- Thank You For Sharing, p. 193
Thought to Ponder . . .
Walk softly and carry a Big Book.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
H E A R T = Healing, Enjoying, And Recovering Together.
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Daily Motivation
Beyond the challenge
Before you focus on the obstacles and difficulties, think about the rewards you’ll bring into your life by getting past those difficulties. Before you consider all the effort that’s involved, consider what you have the opportunity to achieve with that effort.
Certainly there are challenges facing you. To get yourself successfully through them, make sure you have a strong, meaningful, compelling reason.
Imagine, with all the richness you can give it, how good life will be on the other side of the challenge. Let your imagination give good, solid purpose to the strength that will carry you beyond the challenge.
When your authentic purpose is aligned with your efforts, you will absolutely find a way to be highly effective in those efforts. You’ll have the strength and ability to innovate, adjust, improve and persist for as long as necessary to get the job done.
Before the journey even begins, use your imagination to immerse your mind and spirit in the rewards waiting at the end of that journey. The more vibrantly you visualize and relate to the goal, the more energy you’ll have to get there.
Though it may be extremely challenging, there is a path from here to there. Connect solidly with your purpose for getting there, and you will soon have worked yourself successfully beyond the challenge.
— Ralph Marston
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