“Your past doesn’t dictate your future. You don’t have to be ashamed, you can come out of the shadows because that was yesterday. We don’t have time to focus on yesterday, we have a tomorrow that’s waiting for us. —“The Voice” castoff Jamar Rogers on overcoming his drug addiction
Be Who You Are
In recovery and life; we're learning a new behavior. It's called Be Who You Are.
For some of us, this can be frightening. What would happen if we felt what we felt, said what we wanted, became firm about our beliefs, and valued what we needed? What would happen if we let go of our camouflage of adaptation? What would happen if we owned our power to be ourselves?
Would people still like us? Would they go away? Would they become angry?
There comes a time when we become willing and ready to take that risk. To continue growing, and living with ourselves, we realize we must liberate ourselves. It becomes time to stop allowing ourselves to be so controlled by others and their expectations and be true to ourselves - regardless of the reaction of others.
Before long, we begin to understand. Some people may go away, but the relationship would have ended anyway. Some people stay and love and respect us more for taking the risk of being whom we are. We begin to achieve intimacy, and relationships that work.
We discover that who we are has always been good enough. It is who we were intended to be.
Today, I will own my power to be myself.
From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©
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Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Keep It Simple
Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn't people feel as free to delight
in whatever remains to them? --Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy
We choose the lives we lead. We choose sadness or happiness; success
for failure; dread or excited anticipation. Whether or not we are conscious
of our choices, we are making them every moment.
Accepting full responsibility for our actions is one of the requirements of
maturity. Not always the easiest thing to do, but necessary to our further
development. An unexpected benefit of accepting our responsibility is
that it heightens our awareness of personal power. Our well being is
within our power. Happiness is within our power. Our attitude about
any condition, present or future, is within our power, if we take it.
Life is "doing unto us" only what we allow. And it will favor us with
whatever we choose. If we look for excitement, we'll find it. We can
search out the positive in any experience. All situations present seeds
of new understanding, if we are open to them. Our responses to the
events around us determine whatever meaning life offers. We are in
control of our outlook. And our outlook decides our future.
Action for the Day: This day is mine, fully, to delight in--or to dread. The decision is always mine.
Stay In Today
Bill and Lois (Wilson) always retained their capacity for enjoying themselves,
each other, and nature.
They did not let anxieties about past or future interfere with that enjoyment.
As a couple, they were gifted with that elusive ability to "live in the now."
(It is hardly surprising, then, that this is one of the most potent
and useful suggestions of the AA program.)
- 'Pass It On' . . . The story of Bill Wilson and how the AA message reached the world, p. 216
Thought to Ponder . . .
My life hereafter is from this moment on.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
S I T = Stay In Today.
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Daily Motivation
Work through the frustration
When you feel frustrated, what you’re feeling is your intense desire to make things better. Instead of fighting against your frustration, channel it in a positive, productive direction.
Frustration happens when things are not the way you want them to be. And because of that, frustration is a powerful precursor to achievement.
When you’re frustrated with the way things are, it can be tempting to give up. After all, it’s often easier just to live with life’s shortcomings than it is to make improvements.
But if you choose to give up, you’re letting go of a powerful opportunity. In your frustration there is great energy, and that energy can be directed to truly make things better.
To tap into that energy, take focused, purposeful action with the highest of expectations. Work through the frustration, moment by moment, bit by bit, and get yourself to the achievement that’s on the other side.
Frustration activates a powerful energy within you that you can use for positive purpose. Feel the frustration, harness the energy, and create the value that’s there for you to bring to life.
— Ralph Marston
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