Daily Motivation 8-31-2012

Friday, August 31, 2011

Today's Gift

 

Your life is the sum result of all the choices you make, both consciously and unconsciously. If you can control the process of choosing, you can take control of all aspects of your life. You can find the freedom that comes from being in charge of yourself.  Robert F. Bennett

 

We grow in the direction of the choices we make. That growth depends as much on how we make decisions as on which ones we make. Often in the past we tried to model ourselves after someone we admired. Our self-confidence was poor, so we depended on others to let us know if our decisions were correct, or we modeled our decisions on how we thought others would decide. Now we see that we can never become exactly like someone else and we need not try.

To each of us, the universe gives a creative task and a problem - to take our special abilities and limitations and become a whole person. We use standards for our choices based on our best ideas of right and wrong, of what fits with our inner feelings, and of what our Higher Power is guiding us toward. Unfinished and imperfect as we are, we become more peaceful as we become more fully ourselves.

May I be true to myself in the choices I make today? I am becoming the person that I admire.

From Touchstones: A Book of Daily Meditations for Men©

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Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Walk In Dry Places

 

THE MASKS ARE FALLING

 

Openness Individuals and families can be quite successful at masking personal problems and feelings. This doesn't always work very well, though some of us did manage to conceal our problem for long periods before our lives began to break down.

 

However, it is becoming more acceptable to admit to such problems, and it is no longer surprising to read that a prominent person is being treated for an addiction.

This new openness has also made it possible to abandon the masks we've been wearing to hide our feelings. When people learn they can be more open with their problems and need for help, it also becomes easier to admit that they are angry. fearful. unhappy, or even frightened.

 

Removing our masks and letting others see us as we are is only the first phase in the real honesty we're seeking. After expressing ourselves authentically, do we find we like who we are?

Now that we know and admit the truth about ourselves, what are we going to do to make needed changes?

Action for the Day: I will face who and what I really am today. I will use my strengths and not let any shortcomings keep me from being effective.

 

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One Day At A Time

 

Ground Glass
The moral inventory is a cool examination of the damages
that occurred to us during life
and a sincere effort to look at them in a true perspective.
This has the effect of taking the ground glass out of us,
the emotional substance that still cuts and inhibits.
- As Bill Sees It, p. 140

Thought to Ponder . . .
Inventory-taking is not all in red ink.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
S W A T = Surrender, Willingness, Action, Trust.

 

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Daily Motivation

Full richness

Your time is worth much more than money. If you cannot afford to sit and continuously feed hundred dollar bills into a paper shredder, you cannot afford to waste this moment.

This moment and this day are filled with extraordinary possibilities. And you are here right now to make the very most of them.

You have the opportunity, right here and now, to experience a positive, rich and fulfilling life. Why in the world would you ever choose to do anything else?

Instead of wasting your time and energy on anger, choose to invest yourself in love. Rather than burying your unique purpose under meaningless distractions, fulfill and express that purpose with meaningful actions.

Don’t throw this moment away by pretending to be something you’re not. Live this moment fully by authentically being the best of who you are.

The opportunity of your life is now. Take that opportunity now, while it’s here, and live the full richness that is already yours.

— Ralph Marston