Friday, March 3, 2017
Today's Gift
Most of us accept the standard ideas we were taught. "Men should be good providers." "We will get self-esteem from hard work." "It is a virtue to be productive." "It's better now to have too much time to think."
A major crisis can quickly change our perspective. Perhaps someone close to us dies, and we are faced with how temporary life is. Or we have a health crisis, or a relationship crisis, or an addiction crisis. The standard ideas come crashing down. We look closely at the rush of our lives and ask deeper questions: Are we hurrying to a worthwhile goal? Or are we losing out in our great rush? These doubts can teach us personal things that society can never teach us.
Enjoyment
But we aren’t a glum lot. If newcomers could see no joy or fun in our existence,.
they wouldn’t want it. We absolutely insist on enjoying life.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 132
Thought to Ponder . . .
Laughter is the sound of recovery.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
B E S T = Been Enjoying Sobriety Today?
Excerpt of The Daily Motivator
Looking good
by Ralph Marston
When you don’t need to impress, you’re free to excel. When not preoccupied with taking credit, you become more effective at taking action.
If you’re not wasting energy on being offended, you have more energy to put into being productive. If you can quickly let go of resentment, envy, anger and frustration with others, you can latch on to the best opportunities.
Improve your trajectory by regularly considering the following question. Do you want to just look good, or do you want to achieve great things?
When your primary goal is to burnish your image, then your image will suffer because even a child can see through that. The best thing for your image is to forget about your image and focus on all the ways you can make a difference.
No one but you really cares how impressive you are. Everyone cares about the authentic value you manage to add to their lives.
Raise your expectations far above merely looking good. You have the ability and the opportunity to actually do good, and that’s a whole lot more satisfying.
Because one believes in oneself, one doesn't try to convince others. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn't need others' approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts them. ― Lao Tzu
While driving one day, a woman's attention focused on the license plate of the car ahead. The license read: B WHO UR. How can I? she thought. I don't know who I am!
Some of us may have felt confused when people encouraged us to be ourselves. How could we know ourselves, or be who we are, when, for years, many of us submerged ourselves in the needs of others?
We do have a self. We're discovering more about ourselves daily. We're learning we're deserving of love.
We're learning to accept ourselves, as we are for the present moment - to accept our feelings, thoughts, flaws, wants, needs, and desires. If our thoughts or feelings are confused, we accept that too.
To be who we are means we accept our past - our history - exactly as is.
To be ourselves means we are entitled to our opinions and beliefs - for the present moment and subject to change. We accept our limitations and our strengths.
To be who we are means we accept our physical selves, as well as our mental, emotional, and spiritual selves, for now. Being who we are in the Universe means we take that acceptance one step further. We can appreciate our history and ourselves.
Being whom we are, loving and accepting ourselves, is not a limiting attitude. Accepting and loving ourselves is how we enable growth and change.
Today, I will be who I am. If I'm not yet certain who I am, I will affirm that I have a right to that exciting discovery.
From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©
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
"Why are you rushing so much?" asked the rabbi. "I'm rushing after my livelihood," the man answered.
"And how do you know," said the rabbi, "that your livelihood is running on before you, so that you have to rush after it? Perhaps it's behind you, and all you need to do is stand still." --Tale about Rabbi Ben Meir of Berdichev
"Why are you rushing so much?" asked the rabbi. "I'm rushing after my livelihood," the man answered.
"And how do you know," said the rabbi, "that your livelihood is running on before you, so that you have to rush after it? Perhaps it's behind you, and all you need to do is stand still." --Tale about Rabbi Ben Meir of Berdichev
Most of us accept the standard ideas we were taught. "Men should be good providers." "We will get self-esteem from hard work." "It is a virtue to be productive." "It's better now to have too much time to think."
A major crisis can quickly change our perspective. Perhaps someone close to us dies, and we are faced with how temporary life is. Or we have a health crisis, or a relationship crisis, or an addiction crisis. The standard ideas come crashing down. We look closely at the rush of our lives and ask deeper questions: Are we hurrying to a worthwhile goal? Or are we losing out in our great rush? These doubts can teach us personal things that society can never teach us.
Wisdom comes out of pain and the willingness to learn from it.
Action for the Day: Today, I will allow some time to stand still and reflect.
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
Enjoyment
But we aren’t a glum lot. If newcomers could see no joy or fun in our existence,.
they wouldn’t want it. We absolutely insist on enjoying life.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 132
Thought to Ponder . . .
Laughter is the sound of recovery.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
B E S T = Been Enjoying Sobriety Today?
From: AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net)
***************************
Daily Motivation
Excerpt of The Daily Motivator
Looking good
by Ralph Marston
When you don’t need to impress, you’re free to excel. When not preoccupied with taking credit, you become more effective at taking action.
If you’re not wasting energy on being offended, you have more energy to put into being productive. If you can quickly let go of resentment, envy, anger and frustration with others, you can latch on to the best opportunities.
Improve your trajectory by regularly considering the following question. Do you want to just look good, or do you want to achieve great things?
When your primary goal is to burnish your image, then your image will suffer because even a child can see through that. The best thing for your image is to forget about your image and focus on all the ways you can make a difference.
No one but you really cares how impressive you are. Everyone cares about the authentic value you manage to add to their lives.
Raise your expectations far above merely looking good. You have the ability and the opportunity to actually do good, and that’s a whole lot more satisfying.
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