Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Today's Gift
When we pursue happiness as a goal for its own sake, we usually reach the opposite point of emptiness. Feeling happy is a by-product of other life experiences. Happiness comes and goes. We welcome it but cannot capture and hold it, nor can we create a recipe for achieving happiness.
We will lead far more successful lives pursuing other values which we do have control over, such as honesty, respect for others and ourselves, seeking loving relationships, and making a contribution to the well being of others. We can accept unhappiness and difficulties without struggle when we know we are doing something that has greater meaning. Our Eleventh Step tells us we pray only for knowledge of our Higher Power's will for us and the power to carry that out. This helps us focus on our Higher Power's purpose for us. We can have an inner sense of joy knowing we are leading meaningful lives, even when we aren't having a particularly happy day.
From: Bluidkiti's Alcohol and Drug Addictions Recovery Help/Support Forums
Thinking
How persistently we claim the right to decide all by ourselves
just what we shall think and just how we shall act. . .
Besides, we think, there is no one we can surely trust.
We are certain that our intelligence, backed by willpower, can rightly control our inner lives
and guarantee us success in the world we live in.
This brave philosophy, wherein each man plays God, sounds good in the speaking,
but it still has to meet the acid test: how well does it actually work?
One good look in the mirror ought to be answer enough for anyone.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 37
Thought to Ponder . . .
Don't believe everything you think.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
T H I N K = Thank Heavens, I Now Know
Excerpt of The Daily Motivator
From here to there
by Ralph Marston
Accept where you are, then decide where you wish to go. Know that there is a path from one to the other.
Take the first step on that path. The next step will then come into sharper focus, so go ahead and take that step too.
Wishing for conditions to be better will only make things worse. Put all your energy into actually making progress with your thoughts, your actions, your attitude.
You can get from here to there. You can carry yourself from the vision to the achievement.
It’s not a matter of wishing, begging, complaining. It’s a matter of accepting responsibility, and following through.
Today it is time for you to achieve, to make a difference, to do what you’ve always known you can do, what you’ve always desired. From right where you are, step forward and begin.
Volunteers are the only human beings on the face of the earth who reflect this nation's compassion, unselfish caring, patience, and just plain loving one another. --Erma Bombeck
The most precious time we will ever have we give away by doing volunteer chores to help others get more out of life. There is no material wage for this kind of work, but a host of emotional rewards. The height of volunteer giving is doing an act of kindness or love so quietly that none but ourselves will ever know we had a part in it.
What great humility this can bring to us, who live in a world where selfish people often insist on credit for all their deeds--often things they had nothing to do with.
All we need do is think of all we have received without deserving it or asking for it. By taking part in the giving end of life, we find the true wealth of our own generosity.
What secret gift can I give today?
From Today's Gift: Daily Meditations for Families ©
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
The purpose of one's life is not happiness but worthiness. --Felix Adler
The purpose of one's life is not happiness but worthiness. --Felix Adler
When we pursue happiness as a goal for its own sake, we usually reach the opposite point of emptiness. Feeling happy is a by-product of other life experiences. Happiness comes and goes. We welcome it but cannot capture and hold it, nor can we create a recipe for achieving happiness.
We will lead far more successful lives pursuing other values which we do have control over, such as honesty, respect for others and ourselves, seeking loving relationships, and making a contribution to the well being of others. We can accept unhappiness and difficulties without struggle when we know we are doing something that has greater meaning. Our Eleventh Step tells us we pray only for knowledge of our Higher Power's will for us and the power to carry that out. This helps us focus on our Higher Power's purpose for us. We can have an inner sense of joy knowing we are leading meaningful lives, even when we aren't having a particularly happy day.
Action for the Day: I will seek the goals that make my life worthwhile and welcome happiness when it comes.
From: Bluidkiti's Alcohol and Drug Addictions Recovery Help/Support Forums
Daily Recovery Readings - http://www.bluidkiti.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=2
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One Day At A Time
Thinking
How persistently we claim the right to decide all by ourselves
just what we shall think and just how we shall act. . .
Besides, we think, there is no one we can surely trust.
We are certain that our intelligence, backed by willpower, can rightly control our inner lives
and guarantee us success in the world we live in.
This brave philosophy, wherein each man plays God, sounds good in the speaking,
but it still has to meet the acid test: how well does it actually work?
One good look in the mirror ought to be answer enough for anyone.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 37
Thought to Ponder . . .
Don't believe everything you think.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
T H I N K = Thank Heavens, I Now Know
From: AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net)
***************************
Daily Motivation
Excerpt of The Daily Motivator
From here to there
by Ralph Marston
Accept where you are, then decide where you wish to go. Know that there is a path from one to the other.
Take the first step on that path. The next step will then come into sharper focus, so go ahead and take that step too.
Wishing for conditions to be better will only make things worse. Put all your energy into actually making progress with your thoughts, your actions, your attitude.
You can get from here to there. You can carry yourself from the vision to the achievement.
It’s not a matter of wishing, begging, complaining. It’s a matter of accepting responsibility, and following through.
Today it is time for you to achieve, to make a difference, to do what you’ve always known you can do, what you’ve always desired. From right where you are, step forward and begin.
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