Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Today's Gift
The idea of turning our lives and our will over to the care of a Higher Power is a very revolutionary thing to do. We are being told, "Let go of your excessive carefulness. Let the spirit guides you." When we are in touch with ourselves, with the people around us, with our Higher Power, we are free to experiment. We don't learn from doing the same things correctly again and again. We learn from trying new things and making mistakes.
Over control is spiritually deadening. This is a program of life. Our renewal is a miraculous event. Why stop now? We can be in touch with the messages around us without trying to control the outcome. When we let our Higher Power do the worrying, we find many possibilities open up.
The First Milestone
When we have finally admitted without reservation that we are powerless over alcoholand other drugs, we are apt to breathe a great sigh of relief, saying, “Well, thank Goodness that's over! I'll never have to go through that again!” Then we learn, often to our consternation,
that this is only the first milestone on the new road we are walking.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 73
Thought to Ponder
Sobriety is not a destination, but an everlasting journey.
AA-related 'Alconym'
F R E E = Fortunately, Recovery Enhances Everything
Greater purpose
A life without discipline is a life without joy. -- Muriel B.
Wait a minute. Isn't joy a matter of doing what we want? Isn't freedom the state of never having to do what we don't want to do? And isn't discipline - which we learned from our parents - the burden of having to do what we don't want to do?
Actually, joy is the freedom to do what needs to be done. And gaining that freedom takes discipline. Why? Without discipline, we usually end up doing what is familiar to us. And our experience clearly tells us that old thinking and old behaviors bring us anything but joy.
It takes discipline to say no when we need to - when every fiber of our being may be urging us to give in again. It takes discipline to stand up and be counted when our pattern has been to fade into the wallpaper and blend in with any situation.
Discipline isn't easy or fun, but it's the best friend we can have. To practice self-discipline is to move through our days with a sure sense that we'll get where we're going.
Today I will remember that self-discipline is in myself.
From the book Days of Healing, Days of Joy by Earnie Larsen and Carol Larsen Hegarty. ©
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
Spontaneity is the quality of being able to do something just because you feel like it at the moment, of trusting your instincts, of taking yourself by surprise and snatching from the clutches of your well-organized routine a bit of unscheduled pleasure. --Richard Lannelli
The idea of turning our lives and our will over to the care of a Higher Power is a very revolutionary thing to do. We are being told, "Let go of your excessive carefulness. Let the spirit guides you." When we are in touch with ourselves, with the people around us, with our Higher Power, we are free to experiment. We don't learn from doing the same things correctly again and again. We learn from trying new things and making mistakes.
Over control is spiritually deadening. This is a program of life. Our renewal is a miraculous event. Why stop now? We can be in touch with the messages around us without trying to control the outcome. When we let our Higher Power do the worrying, we find many possibilities open up.
Action for the Day: As this adventure of life unfolds, I will not shy away from it.
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
When we have finally admitted without reservation that we are powerless over alcoholand other drugs, we are apt to breathe a great sigh of relief, saying, “Well, thank Goodness that's over! I'll never have to go through that again!” Then we learn, often to our consternation,
that this is only the first milestone on the new road we are walking.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 73
Thought to Ponder
Sobriety is not a destination, but an everlasting journey.
AA-related 'Alconym'
F R E E = Fortunately, Recovery Enhances Everything
From: AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net) http://www.aa-alive.net/index.html
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Daily Motivation
Excerpt of The Daily Motivator
Greater purpose
by Ralph Marston
If you wish, you can immerse yourself fully in this moment. Or if you choose, you can focus your awareness beyond the moment and transcend this moment entirely.
At any and every point in time the choice is yours. With this choice you shape your life, your experience, and the world around you.
You decide what gets in and what is left out. You decide which notions, stimuli, experiences are amplified, enshrined in memory, acted upon, and which are attenuated until they are forgotten.
This great power is yours. With this power, you manifest your intentions into reality.
What drives all this, what makes it work without breaking down into utter chaos, is your clear sense of purpose. And that comes from being completely honest with yourself about yourself.
Live to love all that you love, to support all you value, to care for what matters most. You have great power over your life, so be sure to direct it with even greater purpose.
If you wish, you can immerse yourself fully in this moment. Or if you choose, you can focus your awareness beyond the moment and transcend this moment entirely.
At any and every point in time the choice is yours. With this choice you shape your life, your experience, and the world around you.
You decide what gets in and what is left out. You decide which notions, stimuli, experiences are amplified, enshrined in memory, acted upon, and which are attenuated until they are forgotten.
This great power is yours. With this power, you manifest your intentions into reality.
What drives all this, what makes it work without breaking down into utter chaos, is your clear sense of purpose. And that comes from being completely honest with yourself about yourself.
Live to love all that you love, to support all you value, to care for what matters most. You have great power over your life, so be sure to direct it with even greater purpose.
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