Thursday, August 23, 2012
Today's Gift
Just because a man lacks the use of his eyes doesn't mean he lacks vision. —Stevie Wonder
It has been easy for many of us to meet our limitations with self-pity. Maybe we think being a real man means always being strong, capable, good looking, and in charge. If we have a handicap, like blindness or a learning disability, we may have thought we were less masculine or less worthy.
All of us have handicaps. Some are greater than others, and some are more visible than others. These handicaps confront us with our powerlessness. We do not find our finest human qualities until we have met our limitations and accepted them. A new side of our strength develops when we accept our powerlessness and yield to it rather than trying to take charge of it. We develop greater vision when we stop feeling sorry for ourselves about our handicap and surrender to its truth. We then see our kinship with all men and women who struggle with their limitations.
Today, I will set aside self-pity and remember to be grateful for the lessons my limitations have taught me.
From Touchstones: A Book of Daily Meditations for Men©
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Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Keep It Simple
We're only as sick as the secrets we keep. --Sue Atchley Ebaugh
Harboring parts of our inner selves, fearing what others would think if they knew, creates the barriers that keep us separate, feeling different, certain of our inadequacies.
Secrets are burdens, and they weigh heavily on us, so heavily. Carrying secrets makes impossible the attainment of serenity--that which we strive for daily. Abstinence alone is not enough. It must come first, but it's not enough by itself. It can't guarantee that we'll find the serenity we seek.
This program of recovery offers self-assurance, happiness, spiritual well-being, but there's work to be done. Many steps to be taken. And one of these is total self-disclosure. It's risky, it's humbling, and it's necessary.
When we tell others who we really are, it opens the door for them to share likewise. And when they do, we become bonded. We accept their imperfections and love them for them. And they love us for ours.
Our struggles to be perfect, our self-denigration because we aren't, only exaggerates even more the secrets that keep us sick.
Our tarnished selves are lovable; secrets are great equalizers when shared. We need to feel our oneness, our sameness with others.
Action for the Day: Opportunities to share my secrets will present themselves today. I will be courageous.
Amends
My job is to achieve enough humility to see myself in others
and to accept both myself and others, by identifying.
The willingness to make amends will grow from this act of love.
When I become "willing to make amends to them all"
I am saying to them, "your pain is my pain; when I hurt you, I hurt myself;
I will try not to hurt you anymore."
- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 2], pp. 162-163
Thought to Ponder . . .
It is the highest form of self-respect to admit mistakes
and to make amends for them.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
H O W = Honesty, Open-mindedness, Willingness
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Daily Motivation
Living your purpose
The way to have a full and happy life is to live it every chance you get. The way to get beyond the excuses is to stop believing them and to start living your purpose.
Decide to see the obstacles as steps along the path rather than blockades. Let the challenges strengthen you, and let the disappointments inspire you to push more purposefully forward.
Whatever the objective, whatever the dream, there is always a way. You can find it and you can live it by thinking and acting from the perspective of purpose.
You will never be truly satisfied by superficial trinkets and shallow pleasures. Remind yourself, again and again, to put your energy into what really matters.
You deserve much better than to constantly wallow in the distractions. You deserve the exquisite experience of bringing your beautiful, unique purpose to life.
Live today, and every day, and your whole life, like you mean it, and like it is the best you can imagine. Because when you do, it is.
— Ralph Marston
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