Monday, April 19, 2009
Today's Gift
w/ bonus
I Am Who I Am
Sometimes we want to be someone else – anyone but who we are. We want to be someone who feels more free and at peace. We want to be someone who doesn't have to take medications day after day. We want to be free of the pain and loneliness our illness has brought us.
But whether we get what we want or not, what we need is to accept ourselves, our illness, a desire to become well, and the guidance of our Higher Power.
Today, do I accept myself, my illness, and the guidance of my Higher Power? Do I commit myself to recovery?
Sometimes we want to be someone else – anyone but who we are. We want to be someone who feels more free and at peace. We want to be someone who doesn't have to take medications day after day. We want to be free of the pain and loneliness our illness has brought us.
But whether we get what we want or not, what we need is to accept ourselves, our illness, a desire to become well, and the guidance of our Higher Power.
Today, do I accept myself, my illness, and the guidance of my Higher Power? Do I commit myself to recovery?
Thought for the Day
When I look within, I will discover that accepting myself and being myself are far more fulfilling that expected.
When I look within, I will discover that accepting myself and being myself are far more fulfilling that expected.
You are reading from the book:
A Restful Mind by Mark Allen Zabawa
Some of us, observing that ideals are rarely achieved, proceed to the error of considering them worthless. Such an error is greatly harmful. True North cannot be reached either, since it is an abstraction, but it is of enormous importance, as all the world's travelers can attest. —Steve Allen
How many of us, seeing others who failed to live fully by their ideals, cried, "Hypocrite!" Perhaps we even pointed to others' shortcomings to excuse our own. Now, in this program, we may be tempted to swing like a pendulum to the other extreme. We may hold to our values and principles so tightly that we are perfectionistic.
The idea that True North cannot ever be reached is very useful. If we don't achieve True North, even though we establish it as our standard, we will generally be heading in the right direction. Although we never perfectly achieve our ideals, they remain our standards today for orienting our lives.
I do accept standards for my life. I will not beat on myself for my imperfections.
From Touchstones: A Book of Daily Meditations for Men ©1986, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation.
Twenty-Four Hours a Day
w/bonus
Walk in Dry Places
Personal Relations
Who pushes my buttons?
AA old-timers would be mystified today to hear program members talk about people “pushing their buttons.” (They can't get your goat if they don't know where it is tied) This expression wasn't around when the early AA members pulled themselves out of the swamp and began their long journey to sobriety.
AA old-timers would be mystified today to hear program members talk about people “pushing their buttons.” (They can't get your goat if they don't know where it is tied) This expression wasn't around when the early AA members pulled themselves out of the swamp and began their long journey to sobriety.
But they had their buttons pushed aplenty. Dr. Bob, treating alcoholics at St. Thomas Hospital; heard snide comments from other physicians who resented giving bed space to drunks. Bill W. struggling to launch a worldwide movement, took most every alcoholic, then and now, gets some heavy kidding from the world of drinkers.
What is the real problem in these instances? Are others pushing our buttons, or do we set ourselves up for this by being sensitive and vulnerable? Nobody could push our buttons if we didn't have buttons to push.
We no longer have to worry about button-pushers if we accept them as they are, realizing that we don't need their approval and can't really be hurt by anything they do or say. Our serenity in the face of such problems may actually serve to attract people to AA.
Action for the Day: Nobody can push my buttons unless I let them. Today I'll be serene and clam no matter what others say and do. Thanks to the program, I'll not worry about certain individuals who try to get under my skin.
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Keep It Simple
We give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way. Sacred ritual chant.
Good things keep happening to us. We are sober. We can think clearly. We can see progress on how we handle our problems. We have friends. We have love. We have hope. We are starting to feel joy. Our fears are getting smaller. We are starting to trust our new way of life. Our new life brings good things to us. It brings blessings every day. We are beginning to expect them. But we’re still surprised at how good life can be. What a difference from the days before we entered our program!
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Keep It Simple
We give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way. Sacred ritual chant.
Good things keep happening to us. We are sober. We can think clearly. We can see progress on how we handle our problems. We have friends. We have love. We have hope. We are starting to feel joy. Our fears are getting smaller. We are starting to trust our new way of life. Our new life brings good things to us. It brings blessings every day. We are beginning to expect them. But we’re still surprised at how good life can be. What a difference from the days before we entered our program!
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thank-you for the blessings You keep on giving. And thanks for whatever today will bring.
Action for the Day: One way to give thanks for my blessings is to share them with others. How can I share my recovery today?
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One Day At A Time
w/bonus
Isolation
Isolation sneaks up on us.
We can mask it with familiar props that are not in themselves bad.
We can isolate ourselves in an attempt to clean up our apartments
(and then not do the cleaning); we can isolate ourselves in churches or in sleep;
we can use family, sweethearts, compulsive working, television.
The list is long. The nicest way to end it is the way you and I do: together.
Reach out -- people can't read your mind.
Say ouch! Someone hears. Always.
- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 1], pp. 84-85
Thought to ponder . . .
An alcoholic is someone who wants to be held while isolating.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Y A N A = You Are Not Alone.
Isolation sneaks up on us.
We can mask it with familiar props that are not in themselves bad.
We can isolate ourselves in an attempt to clean up our apartments
(and then not do the cleaning); we can isolate ourselves in churches or in sleep;
we can use family, sweethearts, compulsive working, television.
The list is long. The nicest way to end it is the way you and I do: together.
Reach out -- people can't read your mind.
Say ouch! Someone hears. Always.
- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 1], pp. 84-85
Thought to ponder . . .
An alcoholic is someone who wants to be held while isolating.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Y A N A = You Are Not Alone.
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Self-insurance
The AA plan is described by the members themselves as 'self-insurance.'
This self-insurance has resulted in the restoration of physical,
mental and spiritual health and self-respect to hundreds of men and women
who would be hopelessly down and out without its unique but effective therapy.
- Alcoholics Anonymous. p. 572
Thought to ponder . . .
AA is not something we join; it's a way of life.
The AA plan is described by the members themselves as 'self-insurance.'
This self-insurance has resulted in the restoration of physical,
mental and spiritual health and self-respect to hundreds of men and women
who would be hopelessly down and out without its unique but effective therapy.
- Alcoholics Anonymous. p. 572
Thought to ponder . . .
AA is not something we join; it's a way of life.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A A = Achieve Anything.
A A = Achieve Anything.
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Daily Motivation
Daily Motivation
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Live your dream
A dream won't do much for you until you do something for it. Yet the moment you begin to take action, that dream starts to become real.
It may very well take years to accomplish. Long before it is accomplished, though, it is adding value to your life.
For the value of your dream is not in possessing whatever it brings. The value is in reaching for it.
The value is in what you do to get yourself there. Because in that process, you fulfill your own unique destiny.
Right this very moment, you can reach out and touch the reality of your most treasured dream. That's because right this moment, you can act on that dream.
If you've been waiting, you've waited long enough. Today is the day to truly live your dream.
-- Ralph Marston
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All the way in
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