Tuesday, April 3, 2018
Today's Gift
How familiar wild enthusiasm and deadly seriousness are to most of us. We experience life within the extremes. The thrill of wild enthusiasm we try to trap, to control. We are exhilarated and feel good. Our serious side traps us, controls us, lowers a pall on all our activities. Both expressions keep us stuck. Neither expression allows the freedom of spontaneity so necessary to a full, healthy life.
Through our addiction--the liquor, the upper, the person, the food--we were searching for a feeling we didn't feel. We were searching for an unnatural state of happiness, even perhaps wild enthusiasm, because we had so little of any enthusiasm for life. Our search failed. Again and again we'd "catch it," only to have it elude us.
We may not have given up the search. But we will come to accept both states of mind as temporary and search instead for the middle ground. A sense of humor will make all of life's loads easier to bear. A sense of humor will offer us the balance that has been missing for so many years.
Help
Many of us had moral and philosophical convictions galore, but we could not
live up to them even though we would have liked to. Neither could we reduce
our self-centeredness much by wishing or trying on our own power.
We had to have oyr Higher Power’s help.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 62
Thought to Ponder
Faith makes the impossible possible.
AA-related 'Alconym'
B I G B O O K = Believing In Goodness Beats Our Old Knowledge
Keep the faith
If we were logical, the future would be bleak indeed. But we are more than logical. We are human beings, and we have faith, and we have hope, and we can work. —Jacques Cousteau
What is faith? It is believing in possibilities. It is the ability to carry on with our plans or to be true to our work even though we feel discouraged or tired. It is staying active in relationships even when we receive little in return or when our friends aren't able to respond.
If there were no doubt, there would be no need for faith. Faith is temporarily putting our doubts on the shelf and working toward our goals. Faith is trusting that help and support will be there for us even though they're not in view. It is looking at a map and choosing a new destination, getting on the road to go there, and trusting the marks on the map symbolize a real place that we will find.
I will leave room for my doubts and discouragement, but I will not indulge them. I will choose to go with hope. I will give my energy to the better possibilities.
From Touchstones: A Book of Daily Meditations for Men ©
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
To be wildly enthusiastic, or deadly serious--both are wrong. Both pass. One must keep ever present a sense of humor. --Katherine Mansfield
To be wildly enthusiastic, or deadly serious--both are wrong. Both pass. One must keep ever present a sense of humor. --Katherine Mansfield
How familiar wild enthusiasm and deadly seriousness are to most of us. We experience life within the extremes. The thrill of wild enthusiasm we try to trap, to control. We are exhilarated and feel good. Our serious side traps us, controls us, lowers a pall on all our activities. Both expressions keep us stuck. Neither expression allows the freedom of spontaneity so necessary to a full, healthy life.
Through our addiction--the liquor, the upper, the person, the food--we were searching for a feeling we didn't feel. We were searching for an unnatural state of happiness, even perhaps wild enthusiasm, because we had so little of any enthusiasm for life. Our search failed. Again and again we'd "catch it," only to have it elude us.
We may not have given up the search. But we will come to accept both states of mind as temporary and search instead for the middle ground. A sense of humor will make all of life's loads easier to bear. A sense of humor will offer us the balance that has been missing for so many years.
Today’s Action: Today will offer me a chance to be wildly enthusiastic and a chance to be deadly serious. I'll try to focus on the middle ground and cultivate my sense of humor.
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
Help
Many of us had moral and philosophical convictions galore, but we could not
live up to them even though we would have liked to. Neither could we reduce
our self-centeredness much by wishing or trying on our own power.
We had to have oyr Higher Power’s help.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 62
Thought to Ponder
Faith makes the impossible possible.
AA-related 'Alconym'
B I G B O O K = Believing In Goodness Beats Our Old Knowledge
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
Keep the faith
by Ralph Marston
Know that you have the strength to deal with any situation, and nothing will be able to get you down.
Be totally confident that everything will eventually work for the best, and you will have the strength to care, to act, to overcome, to achieve. You’ll find a way around every obstacle.
If you let yourself get blown off course by any breeze that comes along, you are no good to anyone. If you let yourself be dismayed and paralyzed by misfortune, then you add to the misfortune.
All things work in your favor when you decide that they will.
Know that you have the strength to deal with any situation, and nothing will be able to get you down.
Be totally confident that everything will eventually work for the best, and you will have the strength to care, to act, to overcome, to achieve. You’ll find a way around every obstacle.
If you let yourself get blown off course by any breeze that comes along, you are no good to anyone. If you let yourself be dismayed and paralyzed by misfortune, then you add to the misfortune.
All things work in your favor when you decide that they will.
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