Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Daily Motivation 6-12-2012

Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Today's Gift

"Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how
good things really are." --Marianne Williamson

Many of us have gotten into a rut with rigidity, martyrdom, and deprivation. One of the "normal" experiences many of us have been deprived of is having fun. Another one is being spontaneous. We may not have the foggiest notion what we would like to do for fun. And we may hold ourselves in check so tightly that we wouldn't allow ourselves to try something fun anyway.

We can let ourselves go a little now and then. We can loosen up a bit. We don't have to be so stiff and rigid, so frightened about being who we are. Take some risks. Try some new activities. What would we like to do? What might we enjoy doing? Then, take another risk. Pick out a movie we'd like to see; call a friend, and invite him or her to go along. If that person says no, try someone else, or try again another time.

Decide to try something, and then go through with it. Go once. Go twice. Practice having fun until fun becomes fun.

Today, I will do something just for fun. I will practice having fun until I actually enjoy it.

From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©

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Twenty-Four Hours a Day
 
Keep It Simple
 
If people only knew the healing power of laughter and joy, many of our fine doctors would be out of business. Joy is one of nature's greatest medicines. Joy is always healthy. A pleasant state of mind tends to bring abnormal conditions back to normal. --Catherine Ponder
 
Feeling joy may not come naturally to us most of the time. We may, in fact, have to act "as if" with great effort. We may not even recognize genuine joy in the beginning. A technique for finding it is living fully in the present and with gratitude for all we can see, touch, and feel.

The open and honest expression of gratitude for the presence of the ones closest to us now creates a rush within our breasts, a rush that will be shared by our friends, too. Joy is contagious. Joy is freeing. Joy brings into focus our distorted perceptions. Greeting life with joy alters every experience for us and for those we share it with.

Action for the Day: I will bring joy wherever I go today. I will give the gift of joy to everyone I meet.
 
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One Day At A Time
 
Defects
I have come to realize that Step Six means exactly what it says. No more. No less.
When, and if, I become ready to have painful, inhibiting, or long-standing
flaws removed, they will be. Not always permanently, not all of them.
But if and when they return, they will be weaker and much easier to let go of.
As for those bad habits I once listed as defects,
I am trying to arrest them a day at a time, as I do my alcoholism and addiction.
- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 2], p. 158

Thought to Ponder . . .
If I want my Higher Power to remove my character defects, I'll have to stop doing them.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A A =
Accountable Actions.
 
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Daily Motivation

Move ahead with no regrets

Excuses are easy, and consequently they are worthless. Real, focused, sustained work is difficult and challenging, and can achieve magnificent results.

What is easy and carefree in the short term becomes painfully, desperately difficult in the long run. Because when you waste today with excuses, you fill tomorrow with regret.

Work can be tedious, frustrating, inconvenient and draining, and yet you absolutely can get it done. Regret, on the other hand, is impossible to escape once you’ve created it.

So without question, it is far better to use your time to create value rather than regret. Instead of taking the seemingly easy way out, take the truly best way forward.

This hour, this day, this week, you are depositing the fruits of your efforts into the lasting experience of your life. Be sure to fill those deposits with meaningful, positive value rather than with painful regret.

You have the opportunity right now to make an effort that will make a difference. Make the effort, do the work, create real value with your time, and move ahead with no regrets.

— Ralph Marston

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