Thursday, April 20, 2017
Today's Gift
We have many myths about other people's lives. When we compare ourselves to these stories, we come up short. We have the TV families of Father Knows Best or The Waltons in our minds. We may have stories our father told about his moment of glory and how he met his challenges. Any of these images selects part of the truth and highlights it, creating a myth that might be worthwhile if we don't take it too literally.
Living real life never feels as serene as our fantasies. A myth lifts us up, carries us away to other possibilities, but we should always take it with a grain of salt. A parent's recollections or a Norman Rockwell painting romanticizes a piece of reality by omitting the drudgery and confusion of life. Myths are meant as inspirations, not as measurements of our lives.
Action for the Day: The difficulties and confusion I feel may just be part of real life. Serenity comes when I accept the mixture that real life is.
Hitting Bottom
Why all this insistence that every A.A. must hit bottom first? The answer is that few
people will sincerely try to practice the A.A. program unless they have hit bottom. For
practicing A.A.'s remaining eleven Steps means the adoption of attitudes and actions
that almost no alcoholic who is still drinking can dream of taking.
- 12 Steps & 12 Traditions, p. 24
Thought to Ponder . . .
Sobriety without action is fantasy.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
C H A O S = Can't Handle Another Overwhelming Situation
Fill this day with substance
by Ralph Marston
Fill this day with substance. Fill this day with life at its highest level.
Inoculate yourself against trivialities, temptations and distractions by making a firm commitment. Commit yourself to follow specific, meaningful intentions of your choosing.
Be able to remember a week from now what you achieved on this day. Be able to be thankful a year from now for the way you invested your time today.
This day is not a practice run. Life is happening right now and you are here to do something good with it.
Though it is serious business, it never has to be a chore. You can fill this day with substance while also finding great satisfaction and enjoyment.
Achievement is what you are meant to do, so joyfully let yourself do your thing. Fill this day with substance, and make all of life thankful for what you do.
Hurried and worried until we're buried
And there's no curtain call,
Life's a very funny proposition,
after all. —George M. Cohan
Often, when we involve ourselves in a whirlwind of activities, plans, and expectations, we push ourselves so hard that we don't derive any satisfaction from success. We need to face our limitations. We can't do everything we want. Even when we can do a great deal, if we overextend ourselves, take on too much, we will not enjoy ourselves, and there is no reason not to enjoy our work.
Our activities are part of what we are. If we choose to live in a frantic hurry, worrying about the next moment instead of this one, we'll miss life entirely. Part of self-knowledge is learning to pace ourselves to our own speed, learning to set goals we can attain for each day. When we do this, we can say, "Now that I've completed this, I don't have to do one more thing to feel worthwhile."
Am I trying to do too much too fast?
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
I wasn't exactly brought up in one of those Norman Rockwell paintings you used to see on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. --Reggie Jackson
I wasn't exactly brought up in one of those Norman Rockwell paintings you used to see on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. --Reggie Jackson
We have many myths about other people's lives. When we compare ourselves to these stories, we come up short. We have the TV families of Father Knows Best or The Waltons in our minds. We may have stories our father told about his moment of glory and how he met his challenges. Any of these images selects part of the truth and highlights it, creating a myth that might be worthwhile if we don't take it too literally.
Living real life never feels as serene as our fantasies. A myth lifts us up, carries us away to other possibilities, but we should always take it with a grain of salt. A parent's recollections or a Norman Rockwell painting romanticizes a piece of reality by omitting the drudgery and confusion of life. Myths are meant as inspirations, not as measurements of our lives.
Action for the Day: The difficulties and confusion I feel may just be part of real life. Serenity comes when I accept the mixture that real life is.
From: Bluidkiti's Alcohol and Drug Addictions Recovery Help/Support Forums
Daily Recovery Readings - http://www.bluidkiti.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=2
****************************
One Day At A Time
Hitting Bottom
Why all this insistence that every A.A. must hit bottom first? The answer is that few
people will sincerely try to practice the A.A. program unless they have hit bottom. For
practicing A.A.'s remaining eleven Steps means the adoption of attitudes and actions
that almost no alcoholic who is still drinking can dream of taking.
- 12 Steps & 12 Traditions, p. 24
Thought to Ponder . . .
Sobriety without action is fantasy.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
C H A O S = Can't Handle Another Overwhelming Situation
From: AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net)
***************************
Daily Motivation
Excerpt of The Daily Motivator
Fill this day with substance
by Ralph Marston
Fill this day with substance. Fill this day with life at its highest level.
Inoculate yourself against trivialities, temptations and distractions by making a firm commitment. Commit yourself to follow specific, meaningful intentions of your choosing.
Be able to remember a week from now what you achieved on this day. Be able to be thankful a year from now for the way you invested your time today.
This day is not a practice run. Life is happening right now and you are here to do something good with it.
Though it is serious business, it never has to be a chore. You can fill this day with substance while also finding great satisfaction and enjoyment.
Achievement is what you are meant to do, so joyfully let yourself do your thing. Fill this day with substance, and make all of life thankful for what you do.
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