A good indignation brings out all one's powers. —Ralph Waldo Emerson
Anger is a human emotion that gets us in touch with our energy and our vitality. But like any good thing, it can also be used in hurtful ways. When we examine the role anger has played in our lives, some of us can see where we used it to intimidate and dominate others. Maybe we can recall being terrified by someone else's anger or even by our own. Some of us denied our anger and covered it with excessive helpfulness.
Examining the place anger has had in our lives is one of the doorways we must pass through to regain our full masculine spirit. We learn to set aside the anger we used to cover fear or hurt. We express it respectfully and honestly when we feel it in a relationship. Expressing anger does not have to be abusive or rejecting. It can mean we care enough to be fully involved and we will not leave after we express it. We can learn to hear others in their anger rather than attempt to control or evade their message. In the process we are invigorated and feel healthier because we are claiming a larger part of ourselves.
Today, I will first be honest with myself about angry feelings. Then I will find respectful ways to express them.
From Touchstones: A Book of Daily Meditations for Men©
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Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Keep It Simple
I am convinced, the longer I live, that life and its blessings are not so entirely unjustly distributed (as) when we are suffering greatly we are so inclined to suppose. --Mary Todd Lincoln
Self-pity is a parasite that feeds on itself. Many of us are inclined toward self-pity, not allowing for the balance of life's natural tragedies. We will face good and bad times--and they will pass. With certainty they will pass.
The attitude, "Why me?" hints at the little compassion we generally feel for others' suffering. Our empathy with others, even our awareness of their suffering, is generally minimal. We are much too involved in our own. Were we less self-centered, we'd see that blessings and tragedies visit us all, in equal amounts. Some people respond to their blessings with equanimity, and they quietly remove the sting from their tragedies. We can learn to do both.
Recovery is learning new responses, feeling and behaving in healthier ways. Self-pity need not catch us. We can always feel it coming on. And we can let it go.
Action for the Day: Self-pity may beckon, today. Fortunately, I have learned I have other choices.
Truth
The world of truth is the world of What Is,
the world of the tree outside my window, wearing sunshine like a halo.
It is the room I sit in, the sleeping kitten, the job that must be done,
the pleasure to be had or planned for.
It is Here. It is Now. It is What Is.
- The AA Grapevine, August, 1973
Thought to Ponder . . .
Truth is to inner space what sunshine is to a garden.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A A = Always Awesome.
Make more richness
It is in the effort that you feel the value of the achievement. Make the effort and experience the fulfillment.
It is through disciplined, purposeful effort that you can watch yourself changing the world for the better. Persevere in your efforts, and move life steadily forward.
Making the effort is what makes you stronger, more capable, more highly skilled and more confident. Give yourself the powerful advantages of experience by giving action to your intentions.
You deserve so much more than to just watch life from the sidelines. Get in, get going, get involved and enjoy the benefits of active participation.
The most fulfilling things in life are the things to which you give your time, effort, love and commitment. Make use of this day to make more richness by making a meaningful difference in the world.
— Ralph Marston
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