Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Today's Gift
Our lives are like streams which flow through time. Looking at the flow of our whole lives, we see the interconnections of many days that seemed minor. Each day contributes to the stream of goals and faith and relationships. As we look at the flow of a whole river, we see at its beginning a little trickle of water here, joining another trickle there, slowly gathering together a stream that develops force and direction.
We may look for intensity in our lives and ignore the quiet. Much of our lives may have been lived on a roller coaster of major crises. As terrible as it seemed, it was not dull. Today may seem rather boring. But in recovery we learn to appreciate the more subtle trickle that a good day can be. Simply continuing with the flow - of our program, of faithfulness to our values, of being emotionally present in our relationships - adds up to a rich life.
Powerless
But upon entering A.A. we soon take quite another view of this absolute humiliation.
We perceive that only through utter defeat are we able to take our first steps toward
liberation and strength. Our admissions of personal powerlessness finally turn out to be
firm bedrock upon which happy and purposeful lives may be built..
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 21
Thought to Ponder
Willpower ... our will-ingness to use a Higher Power.
AA-related 'Alconym'
S T E P S = Solutions Through Each Powerful Step
New treasures
My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue, An everlasting vision of the ever changing view, A wondrous woven magic in bits of blue and gold, A tapestry to feel and see, impossible to hold. —Carole King
Our lives are patchwork quilts of mismatched fabrics, all stitched together by an invisible seamstress. The tattered, blood-red scraps of quarrels, the beige of pastry crust baked on Saturdays in a grandmother's kitchen that always smelled sweet, the brilliant colors of our happy moments-picnics and sunsets and laughter-all these are necessary pieces of the tapestry of our lives, even our cold, white doubts and emptiness.
All the colors of life sewn together with the green thread of growth. We are a mixture of feelings and experiences. Often, we want to cut away a square of painful memory. But without it, our quilt would lose its beauty, for contrast would disappear. If a piece is removed, the rest is weakened and incomplete.
How well can I accept any pain I feel today as a part of my own beauty?
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 first springs of great events, like those of great rivers, are often mean and little. --Jonathan Swift
The first springs of great events, like those of great rivers, are often mean and little. --Jonathan Swift
Our lives are like streams which flow through time. Looking at the flow of our whole lives, we see the interconnections of many days that seemed minor. Each day contributes to the stream of goals and faith and relationships. As we look at the flow of a whole river, we see at its beginning a little trickle of water here, joining another trickle there, slowly gathering together a stream that develops force and direction.
We may look for intensity in our lives and ignore the quiet. Much of our lives may have been lived on a roller coaster of major crises. As terrible as it seemed, it was not dull. Today may seem rather boring. But in recovery we learn to appreciate the more subtle trickle that a good day can be. Simply continuing with the flow - of our program, of faithfulness to our values, of being emotionally present in our relationships - adds up to a rich life.
Action For the Day: May I see the continuity of my life in the simple moments of this day.
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
Powerless
But upon entering A.A. we soon take quite another view of this absolute humiliation.
We perceive that only through utter defeat are we able to take our first steps toward
liberation and strength. Our admissions of personal powerlessness finally turn out to be
firm bedrock upon which happy and purposeful lives may be built..
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 21
Thought to Ponder
Willpower ... our will-ingness to use a Higher Power.
AA-related 'Alconym'
S T E P S = Solutions Through Each Powerful Step
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
New treasures
by Ralph Marston
Treasure the past, but don’t let it blind you to your possibilities in the present. As memorable as the past has been, now you have new treasures to create.
Hold good feelings from long ago securely in your heart. And let them give you the courage, the enthusiasm, to move forward.
Learn from what you’ve done right, from what has worked well. At the same time, be open to new ideas and techniques, eager to acknowledge you will never know it all.
Draw strength and comfort from people, places, habits and skills that have become so familiar they are a part of you. But don’t seek permanent refuge in them.
Indeed, let your past joys encourage you to venture out into unknown territory, to create new joys. Open yourself to life as it continues to unfold in relentless originality.
You have new treasures to create. Inject all you have done, all you have learned, all you have been, and all you can now be, into making them great.
Treasure the past, but don’t let it blind you to your possibilities in the present. As memorable as the past has been, now you have new treasures to create.
Hold good feelings from long ago securely in your heart. And let them give you the courage, the enthusiasm, to move forward.
Learn from what you’ve done right, from what has worked well. At the same time, be open to new ideas and techniques, eager to acknowledge you will never know it all.
Draw strength and comfort from people, places, habits and skills that have become so familiar they are a part of you. But don’t seek permanent refuge in them.
Indeed, let your past joys encourage you to venture out into unknown territory, to create new joys. Open yourself to life as it continues to unfold in relentless originality.
You have new treasures to create. Inject all you have done, all you have learned, all you have been, and all you can now be, into making them great.
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