Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Today's Gift
Spiritual and emotional growth is a process of raising our awareness. Reflecting on our growth, before this program and after, we see different levels of consciousness. Some of us might say we weren't at all conscious of what it meant to be a person by the time we entered the adult world.
Now we are forming an awareness of adulthood. We see ourselves more as recovering, caring, strong, vulnerable men in relationships with others. We have an increased sense that our actions make a difference as sons, daughters, as parents, as partners, lovers, and friends. Our increased understanding of ourselves makes it possible to fulfill our potentials for growth. It is not idle fantasy to imagine beginning life again because, in a sense, we have. In recovery, it seems we have begun life again, only with our eyes a little more open.
Identity
I found that feeling different or having an edge on the other AA members by being an alcoholic-addict was not appealing to me. I do not refer to myself as an alcoholic-addict for that reason.
I truly feel that I am an alcoholic who had problems with other chemicals, and if I participate in our program of recovery by practicing these spiritual principles in my life,
it just doesn’t occur to me to stick needles in my arm or smoke those funny cigarettes.
I have found a great freedom in being one among many.
- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 1], p. 219
Thought to Ponder . . .
I am unique, just like everyone else.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
AA = Attitude Adjustment
Excerpt of The Daily Motivator
Dissatisfaction
by Ralph Marston
Are you always wishing you were somewhere else? Well, for the moment you’re not, so your best choice is to make the most of where you are.
Do you wish you had more money, resources, time, connections or experience? The way to get those things you don’t yet have is to make full use of what you do have.
Do you fear what you’re doing is causing you to miss out on something better? Remind yourself you’re doing what you’re doing because of the choices you’ve made, and honor those choices.
Wishing for something better takes time and energy away from actually creating something better. Stop wishing and start creating.
Pay attention to your feelings, but don’t let them destroy your effectiveness. Listen to your desires, devise a realistic plan to get where you want to be, and work that plan.
Feel your dissatisfaction, and take positive energy from it. Transform that energy into focused effort, and push your life where you want it to go.
If you keep on saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of being a prophet. --Isaac Bashevis Singer
Many of us have the habit of taking a negative outlook on whatever comes along. We don't believe things will work out for us; we don't think we will have a good day; we can't accept our friends' warm feelings. To follow this gloomy path is a strange distortion of faith - it is faith in the negative. Any forecast, whether hopeful or pessimistic, is a step into the unknown. So why do we choose the dark one?
We get a payoff for our pessimism, which keeps us hooked. It creates misery, but serves our demand for control. There is more risk in being open to something positive because we cannot force positive things to occur. We can only be open to them and believe in the possibility. But when we predict the negative and expect only bad things, we squelch many good things or overlook them. Then we say, "I knew it would be this way," and in our misery we satisfy our self-centered craving to be in charge. When we surrender our need to be in control, we are more open and welcoming of the good things that come our way.
Today. I will be open to the good that is around me.
From Touchstones: A Book of Daily Meditations for Men ©
From: Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation - Thought for the Day http://www.hazeldenbettyford.org/recovery/thought-for-the-day
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Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Keep It Simple
If I were to begin life again, I should want it as it was. I would only open my eyes a little more. --Jules Renard
If I were to begin life again, I should want it as it was. I would only open my eyes a little more. --Jules Renard
Spiritual and emotional growth is a process of raising our awareness. Reflecting on our growth, before this program and after, we see different levels of consciousness. Some of us might say we weren't at all conscious of what it meant to be a person by the time we entered the adult world.
Now we are forming an awareness of adulthood. We see ourselves more as recovering, caring, strong, vulnerable men in relationships with others. We have an increased sense that our actions make a difference as sons, daughters, as parents, as partners, lovers, and friends. Our increased understanding of ourselves makes it possible to fulfill our potentials for growth. It is not idle fantasy to imagine beginning life again because, in a sense, we have. In recovery, it seems we have begun life again, only with our eyes a little more open.
Action for the Day: Help me live this day with all of my awareness.
From: Bluidkiti's Alcohol and Drug Addictions Recovery Help/Support Forums
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One Day At A Time
Identity
I found that feeling different or having an edge on the other AA members by being an alcoholic-addict was not appealing to me. I do not refer to myself as an alcoholic-addict for that reason.
I truly feel that I am an alcoholic who had problems with other chemicals, and if I participate in our program of recovery by practicing these spiritual principles in my life,
it just doesn’t occur to me to stick needles in my arm or smoke those funny cigarettes.
I have found a great freedom in being one among many.
- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 1], p. 219
Thought to Ponder . . .
I am unique, just like everyone else.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
AA = Attitude Adjustment
From: AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net)
***************************
Daily Motivation
Excerpt of The Daily Motivator
Dissatisfaction
by Ralph Marston
Are you always wishing you were somewhere else? Well, for the moment you’re not, so your best choice is to make the most of where you are.
Do you wish you had more money, resources, time, connections or experience? The way to get those things you don’t yet have is to make full use of what you do have.
Do you fear what you’re doing is causing you to miss out on something better? Remind yourself you’re doing what you’re doing because of the choices you’ve made, and honor those choices.
Wishing for something better takes time and energy away from actually creating something better. Stop wishing and start creating.
Pay attention to your feelings, but don’t let them destroy your effectiveness. Listen to your desires, devise a realistic plan to get where you want to be, and work that plan.
Feel your dissatisfaction, and take positive energy from it. Transform that energy into focused effort, and push your life where you want it to go.
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