Thursday, May 3, 2018
Today's Gift
Everyone makes mistakes. We all know that. So why is it so hard to admit our own? We seem to think we have to be prefect. We have a hard time looking at our mistakes. But our mistakes can be very good teachers. Our Twelve Step program helps us learn and grow from our mistakes. In Step Four, half of our work is to think of our mistakes. In step Five, we admit our mistakes to our Higher Power, ourselves, and another person. We learn, we grow and become whole. All by coming to know our mistakes The gift of recovery is not being free from mistakes. Instead, we do the Steps to claim our mistakes and talk about them. We find the gift of recovery when we learn from our mistakes.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to see my mistakes as changes to get to know myself better.
Action for the Day: Today I'll talk to a friend about what my mistakes taught me. Today I'll feel less shame.
BankruptcyNo other kind of bankruptcy is like this one.
Alcohol, now become the rapacious creditor,
bleeds us of all self-sufficiency and all will to resist its demands.
Once this stark fact is accepted, our bankruptcy as going human concerns
is complete. But upon entering AA we soon take quite another view of this
absolute humiliation. We perceive that only through utter defeat
are we able to take our first steps toward liberation and strength.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 21
Thought to Ponder
Avoidance is not the key; surrender opens the door.
AA-related 'Alconym'
A B C = Accept, Begin, Continue
Hostility and understanding
Honesty without compassion and understanding is not honest, but subtle hostility. —Rose N. Frarnzblau
Any good thing can be used in hurtful or destructive ways. Our entire recovery is based on a fundamental premise of honesty. But our honesty becomes distorted and hurtful when we are not in tune with our motivations. A person who contradicts other group members to feel superior rather than to be helpful is being hostile. If we criticize people about things they cannot change, we are only hurting them. In making amends, we should not approach people who are better off without our contact, or who are better off without our confessions.
As we grow, we encounter more parts of ourselves that may be hurtful. We need to accept those parts too, not condemn ourselves for being human, and not hide our destructive impulses from ourselves. Then our honesty with ourselves and with others will not be tainted by dishonest motives.
I pray for honesty with myself first so my honesty with others will be pure.
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
When I have listened to my mistakes, I have grown.---Hugh Prather
Everyone makes mistakes. We all know that. So why is it so hard to admit our own? We seem to think we have to be prefect. We have a hard time looking at our mistakes. But our mistakes can be very good teachers. Our Twelve Step program helps us learn and grow from our mistakes. In Step Four, half of our work is to think of our mistakes. In step Five, we admit our mistakes to our Higher Power, ourselves, and another person. We learn, we grow and become whole. All by coming to know our mistakes The gift of recovery is not being free from mistakes. Instead, we do the Steps to claim our mistakes and talk about them. We find the gift of recovery when we learn from our mistakes.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to see my mistakes as changes to get to know myself better.
Action for the Day: Today I'll talk to a friend about what my mistakes taught me. Today I'll feel less shame.
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
Alcohol, now become the rapacious creditor,
bleeds us of all self-sufficiency and all will to resist its demands.
Once this stark fact is accepted, our bankruptcy as going human concerns
is complete. But upon entering AA we soon take quite another view of this
absolute humiliation. We perceive that only through utter defeat
are we able to take our first steps toward liberation and strength.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 21
Thought to Ponder
Avoidance is not the key; surrender opens the door.
AA-related 'Alconym'
A B C = Accept, Begin, Continue
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
The natural reaction to hostility is... hostility. Yet much of the hostility we encounter is due to ignorance and misunderstanding. Often times, when each side develops a better understanding of the other, there is no more cause for anger.
The next time you’re confronted with hostility, take the time to explain yourself -- clearly, patiently, sincerely, and without bitterness or sarcasm. And put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Endeavor to understand their perspective.
How you react to hostility is up to you. You can escalate the fight to the point where nobody wins. Or, you can seek to give, and to gain, understanding. Understanding serves to cool the anger. It can reveal common grounds for agreement and cooperation.
Yes, there are some people who just want to be angry, no matter what. But there are many others who just want to be understood.
The natural reaction to hostility is... hostility. Yet much of the hostility we encounter is due to ignorance and misunderstanding. Often times, when each side develops a better understanding of the other, there is no more cause for anger.
The next time you’re confronted with hostility, take the time to explain yourself -- clearly, patiently, sincerely, and without bitterness or sarcasm. And put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Endeavor to understand their perspective.
How you react to hostility is up to you. You can escalate the fight to the point where nobody wins. Or, you can seek to give, and to gain, understanding. Understanding serves to cool the anger. It can reveal common grounds for agreement and cooperation.
Yes, there are some people who just want to be angry, no matter what. But there are many others who just want to be understood.
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