Thursday, May 31, 2012
Today's Gift
Compassion is the ultimate and most meaningful embodiment of emotional maturity. It is through compassion that a person achieves the highest peak and deepest reach in his or her search for self-fulfillment. --Arthur Jersild
Being compassionate is similar to what we call support. We get outside our own self-centered egos and care about someone beyond ourselves. In the process we are helped and changed - perhaps more than the person we are helping.
As we mature, we learn that not all help is beneficial. It is more helpful to confront a friend in their delusion than to accept their misguided actions. Sometimes it is hard to be a friend to a person in great pain. We might prefer to pull away rather than be with them as they suffer, but we can be more compassionate if we accept our powerlessness to cure their pain. Compassion has a reverberating effect in relationships. Not only do we give it and grow from the experience, we also become the receivers of what we send out.
Today, I will practice compassion in my relationships.
From Touchstones: A Book of Daily Meditations for Men©
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Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Keep It Simple
That reality of life and living--movement from one place to another either in a project or in a state of mind, does not conform with what we imagine or expect or think we deserve so we often leave things hanging unfinished or unstarted. --Sandra Edwards
Being dissatisfied--discontented with the experiences life gives us - forever hampers our growth. Reality is not our bane but our gift. The particular reality perceived by any one of us is of special significance because in that reality are our lessons--the very lessons that will awaken us to the awareness that what life offers is just what we deserve, and more.
It's our interpretation of life's realities that is at fault. But as we grow, spiritually, the clouds will disappear. We'll come to understand the interplay between our realities. And we'll willingly move ahead, fulfilling our part in life's bigger picture.
Action for the Day: Sometimes all I can do is trust that all is well, even though it's not as I had hoped. On bad days I need only to reflect on the past to know that I am moving in the right direction.
Faith
I had been neither humble nor wise. Boasting of my faith,
I had forgotten my ideals.
Pride and irresponsibility had taken their place.
By cutting off my own light, I had little to offer my fellow alcoholics/addicts.
Therefore my faith was dead to them.
At last I saw why many had gone away -- some of them forever.
- The Language of the Heart, p. 254
Thought to Ponder . . .
If faith without works is dead; then willingness without action is fantasy.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
F A I T H = Facing An Inner Truth Heals.
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Daily Motivation
Life as it is
Life is not lived in some far-off, imagined land of someday where everything is perfect. It is lived here and now, with the reality of the way things are.
Yes, by all means you can work toward an idealized existence. Yet to do so, you must successfully deal with the world as it is.
That, in fact, is much of what gives life its richness. Even though your present circumstances are less than ideal, you can nonetheless prevail and prosper.
The real and present difficulties never have to give you a reason to give up. On the contrary, they provide you with a clearly defined path for moving forward.
If everything was already perfect, there would be no opportunity to make improvements. There would be no way to enjoy the profound satisfaction of making a positive difference.
Enthusiastically embrace life as it is, with all the ups and downs. For within the context of life as it is you can make it truly outstanding.
— Ralph Marston
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