Tuesday, May 8, 2018
Today's Gift
Many of us have learned to habitually deprive ourselves of anything we might want, and often things we need.
Sometimes, we can misuse the concept of gratitude to keep ourselves unnecessarily deprived.
Gratitude for what we have is an important recovery concept. So is believing we deserve the best and making an effort to stop depriving ourselves and start treating ourselves well.
There is nothing wrong with buying ourselves what we want when we can afford to do that. Learn to trust and listen to yourself about what you want. There's nothing wrong with buying yourself a treat, buying yourself something new.
There are times when it is good to wait. There are times when we legitimately cannot afford a luxury. But there are many times when we can.
Psychic Change
After they have succumbed to the desire again, as so many do, and the phenomenon
of craving develops, they pass through the well-known stages of a spree, emerging remorseful, with a firm resolution not to drink again. This is repeated over and over, and unless this person can experience an entire psychic change there is very little hope of his recovery.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. xxix
Thought to Ponder
Pain is the measure of our resistance to change.
AA-related 'Alconym'
P A I D = Pitiful And Incomprehensible Demoralization
Be kind to yourself
The battle to keep up appearances unnecessarily, the mask--whatever name you give creeping perfectionism--robs us of our energies. —Robin Worthington
How familiar we are with trying to be someone other than ourselves; one more exciting, we think, or sexier, or smarter. We have probably devoted a great deal of energy to this over the years. It's likely that we are growing more content with ourselves now. However, aren't there still situations in which we squirm, both because we want to project a different image, and because we resent our desire to do so?
We each have been blessed with unique qualities. There is no other person just like ourselves. We each have special features that are projected in only one way, the way we alone project them.
Knowing that we are perfect as we are is knowledge that accompanies growth. How much easier life is, how much more can be gained from each moment, when we meet each experience in the comfort of our real selves. The added gift of simply being ourselves is that we'll really hear, see, and understand others for the first time in our lives.
I can only fully focus on one thing, one person at a time. I will free my focus from myself today and be filled up by my experiences with others.
From Each Day a New Beginning: Daily Meditations for Women by Karen Casey ©
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
I worked at a good job, making a decent salary. I had been recovering for years. Each morning, I got into my car and I thanked God for the car. The heater didn't work. And the chance of the car not starting was almost as great as the chance that it would. I just kept suffering through, and thanking God. One day, it occurred to me that there was absolutely no good reason I couldn't buy myself a new car - that moment - if I wanted one. I had been gratitude-ing myself into unnecessary deprivation and martyrdom. I bought the new car - that day. --Anonymous
I worked at a good job, making a decent salary. I had been recovering for years. Each morning, I got into my car and I thanked God for the car. The heater didn't work. And the chance of the car not starting was almost as great as the chance that it would. I just kept suffering through, and thanking God. One day, it occurred to me that there was absolutely no good reason I couldn't buy myself a new car - that moment - if I wanted one. I had been gratitude-ing myself into unnecessary deprivation and martyrdom. I bought the new car - that day. --Anonymous
Giving Ourselves What We Deserve
Often, our instinctive reaction to something we want or need, No! I can't afford it!
The question we can learn to ask ourselves is, But, can I?
Often, our instinctive reaction to something we want or need, No! I can't afford it!
The question we can learn to ask ourselves is, But, can I?
Many of us have learned to habitually deprive ourselves of anything we might want, and often things we need.
Sometimes, we can misuse the concept of gratitude to keep ourselves unnecessarily deprived.
Gratitude for what we have is an important recovery concept. So is believing we deserve the best and making an effort to stop depriving ourselves and start treating ourselves well.
There is nothing wrong with buying ourselves what we want when we can afford to do that. Learn to trust and listen to yourself about what you want. There's nothing wrong with buying yourself a treat, buying yourself something new.
There are times when it is good to wait. There are times when we legitimately cannot afford a luxury. But there are many times when we can.
Action For the Day: Today, I will combine the principles of gratitude for what I have with the belief that I deserve the best. If there is no good reason to deprive myself, I won't.
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
Psychic Change
After they have succumbed to the desire again, as so many do, and the phenomenon
of craving develops, they pass through the well-known stages of a spree, emerging remorseful, with a firm resolution not to drink again. This is repeated over and over, and unless this person can experience an entire psychic change there is very little hope of his recovery.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. xxix
Thought to Ponder
Pain is the measure of our resistance to change.
AA-related 'Alconym'
P A I D = Pitiful And Incomprehensible Demoralization
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
Be kind to yourself
by Ralph Marston
Be kind to yourself. The better you feel, the more value you can create for your world.
Learn from your mistakes, but don’t hound yourself relentlessly with them. Build for the future, but don’t withhold from yourself the joys that you can live right now.
Delight in life’s pleasures without sinking into meaningless excess. Enjoy the beauty that surrounds you as it resonates with the beauty that is within you.
Find genuine satisfaction in productive, meaningful effort. Give the best that you have, and discover the real, lasting treasures you receive from doing so.
Provide yourself with the energy, commitment and determination to do much. And regularly give yourself some peaceful, relaxing time to do nothing.
Treat yourself with kindness, courtesy, respect and the highest of expectations. For life is as good as you choose to make it.
Be kind to yourself. The better you feel, the more value you can create for your world.
Learn from your mistakes, but don’t hound yourself relentlessly with them. Build for the future, but don’t withhold from yourself the joys that you can live right now.
Delight in life’s pleasures without sinking into meaningless excess. Enjoy the beauty that surrounds you as it resonates with the beauty that is within you.
Find genuine satisfaction in productive, meaningful effort. Give the best that you have, and discover the real, lasting treasures you receive from doing so.
Provide yourself with the energy, commitment and determination to do much. And regularly give yourself some peaceful, relaxing time to do nothing.
Treat yourself with kindness, courtesy, respect and the highest of expectations. For life is as good as you choose to make it.
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