Daily Motivation 5-26-11

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Today's Gift

An oak and a reed were arguing about their strength. When a strong wind came up, the reed avoided being uprooted by bending and leaning with the gusts of wind. But the oak stood firm and was torn up by the roots.—Aesop

Within each of us, as in the reed and the oak, is a single characteristic, which is both our strongest and weakest trait. The bending which keeps the reed alive makes it weak, we might think. Some of us see both sides of every argument and are good team players, fair judges, and compassionate friends. But like the reed - always bending to the needs of others - we may never know what we want or who we are.

Some of us believe we are like the oak: strong and tough and successful in the face of most difficulty. But we may never learn to accept flaws in ourselves.

We are wise to remember that no trait is strong or weak, but we make it so by how we use it. We can use our strength to stand straight in the face of hardship, and we can use our strength to bend.

What is my strongest and weakest trait?

From Today's Gift: Daily Meditations for Families ©

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

Keep It Simple

When I look at the future, it's so bright, it burns my eyes.---Oprah Winfrey
During our illness, it was as if our spirit lived in a deep, dark cave. Our spirit became gloomy, cold, and lonely. Our spirit didn't know how to get out of the cave. We were dying.

Recovery brings us into the sunlight. At first, we can't see a thing---it's too bright! The world stretches around us---it's so big! There are so many way to go! We don't know what to do.

But our eyes get used to the light, and we feel the warm rays of the sun. We see we aren't alone anymore. We relax. We know our spirit is in a better place---a place where we can live!

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me feel at home in the sunlight of my new life.

Action for the Day: Addiction made my world so small. It made my future so dark. Today, I'll list three new choices I want to make to better my life.

 

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One Day At A Time

Blind Faith
I began with blind faith, but the proof of truth is that it works.
I believed those who said they had suffered from alcoholism, but, through AA,
were now enjoying sobriety. So the truth was there for me to see.
But shortly I knew the truth from my own experience.
I was not only released from the compulsion to drink;
I was guided toward a compulsion to live!
- Came To Believe . . ., p. 4

Thought to Ponder . . .
Life will take on new meaning.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
F A I T H = Finding Answers In The Heart.

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Daily Motivation

Focus and purpose

Effort alone does not create achievement. Somebody can put forth a lifetime of effort and not have much to show for it.

What counts is focused effort in the service of a meaningful purpose. Get that, and you’re really getting somewhere.

Just being busy is not going to make you successful. Instead of merely using up time, find a way to create real, desirable value with the time you have available.

Don’t comfort yourself with being aimlessly busy. Challenge yourself to get meaningful results from your time and effort.

Outstanding achievement and disappointing mediocrity are both built from the same twenty-four hours in each day. The difference is not one of time or even effort, but of focus and authentic purpose.

As long as you’re making the effort, as long as you’re using up resources, as long as you’re spending the time, make it all count. Make a habit of doing what really matters, and you’ll enjoy a life that’s really great.

— Ralph Marston