Friday, December 22, 2017
Today's Gift
Many of us took so much from others during our addiction that now we may not want to ask for anything.
We may be afraid to ask for help, so our needs go unmet. In fact, many of us would rather give than receive. In recovery, we need to understand the difference between taking and receiving. Giving to others is important. So is receiving from others. As we grow spiritually, we learn to accept gifts. The gift of sobriety teaches us this. We need to accept the gifts the world gives us without shame. We are entitled.
Our Higher Power loves us and will give us much if we're willing to receive it.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me be receptive to Your gifts. Help me see and believe that I'm entitled to all the happiness of the world.
Action for the Day: I'll think of what a friend has given me. I'll thank this friend.
Emotional Stability
When we developed still more, we discovered the best possible source of emotional
stability to be our Higher Power Themself. We found that dependence upon Their perfect justice, forgiveness, and love was healthy, and that it would work where nothing else would.
If we really depended upon our Higher Power, we couldn’t very well play a God to our fellows nor would we feel the urge wholly to rely on human protection and care.
- Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions, p. 116
Thought to Ponder
How we treat others is a consequence of the depth of our own spirituality.
AA-related 'Alconym'
F R O G = Fully Rely On Goodness
Give of yourself
And the seasons, they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We can't return, we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round in the circle game. —Joni Mitchell
High in the mountains near Sun Valley, Idaho, is a small cabin. The cabin is always left open for hikers to rest and refresh themselves. There is food in the cabin and wood for a fire. Often, weary backpackers have arrived there, tired and thirsty, to find just the beverage or snack they needed to help them on their way. The cabin operates on a system of trust - if you use something in the cabin, you replace it with something else. Perhaps it is just the thing the next traveller needs to go on. It is a circle game.
We are all part of a big circle. If we give of ourselves or do a favor for someone, eventually - sometimes years later - someone will do something for us that will help us on our way. We do these little deeds without expecting to be rewarded, and we can accept others' little gifts without feeling forever in someone's debt. These unselfish acts, stored in our mountain cabin, stand ready for the next traveller.
What gift can I pass on to another today?
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
We not only need to be willing to give, but also to be open to receiving from others.---from On Hope
Many of us took so much from others during our addiction that now we may not want to ask for anything.
We may be afraid to ask for help, so our needs go unmet. In fact, many of us would rather give than receive. In recovery, we need to understand the difference between taking and receiving. Giving to others is important. So is receiving from others. As we grow spiritually, we learn to accept gifts. The gift of sobriety teaches us this. We need to accept the gifts the world gives us without shame. We are entitled.
Our Higher Power loves us and will give us much if we're willing to receive it.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me be receptive to Your gifts. Help me see and believe that I'm entitled to all the happiness of the world.
Action for the Day: I'll think of what a friend has given me. I'll thank this friend.
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 developed still more, we discovered the best possible source of emotional
stability to be our Higher Power Themself. We found that dependence upon Their perfect justice, forgiveness, and love was healthy, and that it would work where nothing else would.
If we really depended upon our Higher Power, we couldn’t very well play a God to our fellows nor would we feel the urge wholly to rely on human protection and care.
- Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions, p. 116
Thought to Ponder
How we treat others is a consequence of the depth of our own spirituality.
AA-related 'Alconym'
F R O G = Fully Rely On Goodness
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
by Ralph Marston
When you give more than you expect to receive, you’ll end up receiving more than you ever expected. That which you give, comes back to you many times over, while that which you withhold never goes anywhere or accomplishes anything.
Nothing makes you feel more positive about yourself than giving of yourself to others. And when you truly, sincerely feel positive about yourself, you can achieve magnificent things.
If all you’re ever concerned with is what’s in it for you, there will never be very much in it for you. Yet when you expand your focus and give the best you have, in return you’ll experience the best there is.
If you wait to receive something first before you ever begin to give, you’ll miss out on ninety percent of life’s best opportunities. Unfortunately, that’s an approach that all too many people adopt.
But there’s no need to be held back by the shortsightedness of others. Take the first step, give of yourself, with enthusiasm, with positive energy, and with the best of expectations. Keep it up, and you’ll find that those expectations, high as they may be, will always, in time, be greatly exceeded by the positive and valuable difference you make.
When you give more than you expect to receive, you’ll end up receiving more than you ever expected. That which you give, comes back to you many times over, while that which you withhold never goes anywhere or accomplishes anything.
Nothing makes you feel more positive about yourself than giving of yourself to others. And when you truly, sincerely feel positive about yourself, you can achieve magnificent things.
If all you’re ever concerned with is what’s in it for you, there will never be very much in it for you. Yet when you expand your focus and give the best you have, in return you’ll experience the best there is.
If you wait to receive something first before you ever begin to give, you’ll miss out on ninety percent of life’s best opportunities. Unfortunately, that’s an approach that all too many people adopt.
But there’s no need to be held back by the shortsightedness of others. Take the first step, give of yourself, with enthusiasm, with positive energy, and with the best of expectations. Keep it up, and you’ll find that those expectations, high as they may be, will always, in time, be greatly exceeded by the positive and valuable difference you make.
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