Daily Motivations 5-13-2010

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Today's Gift

As long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you otherwise might. —Marion Anderson

Because of our resentments we sometimes get tense. We say we aren't going to have contact with our parents until they do something we expect of them. Or we hold out on a friend because we want an apology for an injury or injustice.

Sadly, we become more tense, more limited in our own joy, by holding someone else to our expectations. Our lives can be much richer and more fulfilled when we let go of these expectations. We can let go of manipulating or drawing forth the responses we want. Our manipulations and pouting make life too boring and limited. No one else need stand in the way of our pleasure of being adult men.

Today, I will let go of my claims on others so I can be free to soar.

From Touchstones: A Book of Daily Meditations for Men ©1986, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

Walk in Dry Places

Personal responsibility.

Who's to blame?

Unless we're unusual, we've probably accepted the widespread practice of blaming certain individuals and groups when trouble occurs. Most likely, we'll also have people whom we blame for our own difficulties: unloving parents, careless teachers, unfair bosses, and others on an endless list.

However accurate it may be, such blame-placing does nothing constructive. It really serves only to reinforce our bitterness and resentment, thus assuring that more of the same "injustices" will come to us.

The real truth is that we have no complete explanation for the world's individual and social wrongs. While certain individuals are admittedly guilty of wrongdoing, it often turns out that they've also been victims of cruelty or neglect. Our goal, as people committed to a spiritual way of life, is to reise above all blame placing while striving for improvement in our own treatment of others.

Action for the Day: Though I may read and hear much to the contrary, I'll resist the notion that certian people or groups must be held accountable for the world's problems. I'll focus my attention, this day, on improvement in my own life.

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One Day At A Time

Perfection
Thanks to the Higher Power that motivates me,
I have a sane and good conscience,
and no fanatical delusions about perfection.
- Thank You For Sharing, p. 198

Thought to Ponder . . .
Give me the courage to be imperfect.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .

F I T = Faith, Intuition, Trust.

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Daily Motivation

With each step forward

You are a beautiful and unique bundle of possibilities. Joy, fulfillment and every good thing will come from bringing those possibilities to life.

There is never any need to get more. For all that can possibly be right now, already is.

Life's abundance is not something you have to go out and get. It's something you go in and accept, then go out and express.

What you long for, is already available to you. If it were not, you could not know to desire it.

Your job is to express that longing, fulfill the dream, and give life to its beauty in your own special way. Abundance flows into your life as you create authentic ways to make use of it.

Seek to make a difference that is meaningful and positive. With each step forward you take, you'll find everything necessary to take the next step.
-- Ralph Marston