Daily Motivation 5-7-2012

Monday, May 7, 2012

Today's Gift

Our deeds will travel with us from afar, and what we have been makes us what we are. —George Eliot

We grow within, the way a tree does. We've all seen the rings representing the years of a tree's life. We carry our histories with us, too. Our actions, our attitudes, our goals, and our dreams all gather together inside us to make us what we are today. We're probably ashamed of some of our past, but our behavior each day adds to our history, and we control it.

We can't escape our mistakes, but we don't have to repeat them; and every day that is lived well gives us a history to be proud of.

How can I add goodness to my past - and my future - by my actions today?

From Today's Gift: Daily Meditations for Families ©

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Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Keep It Simple

. . . it is a peaceful thing to be one succeeding. --Gertrude Stein

Success is at hand. While we read these words, we are experiencing it. At this very instant, our commitment to recovery is a sign of success, and we feel peace each time we let go of our struggle, turning to another for help, for direction. Because we strive only for perfection, we recognize nothing less; we block our awareness of the ordinary successes that are ours again and again. Thus, the serenity the program promises us eludes us. But we are succeeding. Every day that we are abstinent, we succeed.

 

We can think of the times--perhaps only yesterday--when we listened to a friend in need, or finished a task that was nagging at us. Maybe we made an appointment to begin a project we've been putting off. Success is taking positive action, nothing more.

Many of us, in our youth, were taught that success only came in certain shapes and sizes. And we felt like failures. We need new definitions; it's time to discard the old. Luckily for us, the program offers us new ones.

 

Action for the Day: Every person, every situation, can add to my success today. My attitude can help someone else succeed, too.

 

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One Day At A Time

 

Forgiveness
Often it was while working on this Step with our sponsors or spiritual advisors
that we first felt truly able to forgive others,
no matter how deeply we felt they had wronged us.
Our moral inventory had persuaded us that all-around forgiveness was desirable,
but it was only when we resolutely tackled Step Five
that we inwardly knew we'd be able to receive forgiveness and give it too.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 58

Thought to Ponder . . .
Forgiveness of others is a gift to yourself.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
T G I F = Thank God I'm Forgiven.

 

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Daily Motivation

Risk in everything

When you act, there is no guarantee you’ll succeed. That’s what makes success so valuable and so very much worth achieving.

When you venture forward with the intention of creating value, all sorts of obstacles will befall you. Make the commitment to work diligently and enthusiastically through each one, because that is where the value is made.

There is risk in everything. Instead of avoiding the risks in life, learn to successfully manage them and transform them into achievement.

It is only by accepting the risk of failure that you gain the possibility of success. You, and your whole world, deserve for you to create that success.

Yes, life is risky. Fortunately, you are wonderfully and powerfully able to learn and to adapt and to deal with whatever you must.

With your thoughtfully considered actions, you can minimize the risk and maximize the achievement. So go ahead, accept the risk, and follow it all the way through to great success.

— Ralph Marston