Life is painting a picture, not doing a sum. —Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
As we go about our activities, we will have a richer day when we think of ourselves as painting a picture instead of keeping score. Rather than woodenly completing a task, we might approach it as something that can be made interesting. Instead of driving to work or riding the bus only to reach our destination, we might think of this routine as part of the picture we paint today. When a friend makes a comment, we might think of it as another brush stroke in our painting and join in with them, rather than making a game or contest, which we must try to win.
Many of us were taught that success means having the highest score. So we have become compulsively competitive - always trying to be right, always striving for more financial security, or always pushing ourselves for some new achievement. Success may not be coming out on top. When our lives are lived as rich and interesting pictures, we find our rewards are far deeper and more lasting.
May the picture I paint today be one I will carry with me and appreciate.
From Touchstones: A Book of Daily Meditations for Men©
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Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Keep It Simple
To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves.--- Will Durant
Sometimes we say bad things about others. When we do this, it makes us look
bad too.
Our friends worry what we might say about them behind their backs. They’re
afraid to trust us. We become known as gossips.
The things we say about other people tell a lot about us. We are kind or unkind.
We gossip or we don’t. This doesn’t mean we have to say everyone is wonderful
all the time. As we work to see ourselves better, we begin to see other
people more clearly too. We see their strong points and their weak points. But we
can know these things without gossiping about them.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me see others clearly, and in their best
light. Let me bring out the good in others.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll list the people I’m closest to at work, school, and
home. I’ll think of how I talk about them to others. Am I kind?
Loneliness
The less people tolerated us, the more we withdrew from society, from life itself.
As we became subjects of King Alcohol, shivering denizens of his mad realm,
the chilling vapor that is loneliness settled down. . .
Some of us sought out sordid places,
hoping to find understanding companionship and approval.
Momentarily we did -- then would come oblivion and the awful awakening
to face the hideous Four Horsemen -- Terror, Bewilderment, Frustration, Despair.
Unhappy drinkers who read this page will understand!
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 151
Thought to Ponder . . .
I'm not alone anymore.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Y A N A = You Are Not Alone.
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Daily Motivation
Nourished by thoughts
Your life is constantly nourished by your thoughts. Whatever the direction your life is moving, your thoughts have led you there.
Consider any possibility, and by your thoughts about it you have given that possibility a presence in your life. As you dwell on that possibility, its presence grows stronger and more vivid within you.
By giving your thoughts to life’s goodness, you fill your own life with a unique expression of that goodness. By focusing your awareness on the positive possibilities, you gain real access to them.
Your mind is an enormously powerful tool over which you have intentional control. There is no limit to what you can think, and no limit to how far those thoughts can carry you.
You set the direction of your life with the thoughts you most consistently and persistently think. Fill your mind with thoughts of goodness and positive possibility, and allow those thoughts to guide your every action.
Give your life the highest quality nourishment and the most positive energy you can imagine. Let your positive, loving thoughts set the stage for a truly rich and fulfilling life.
— Ralph Marston
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