Thursday, July 12, 2018
Today's Gift
There are so many activities called play, which have not really been playful. Organized sports for youth, which consumed some of us, are called play. The partying, which was connected with some of our addictions, is called play. Reckless and dangerous driving is called play. In recovery, some of us become intensely focused on doing what's right, and we need a deeper understanding to take the spiritual leap into creative play.
This leap takes a willingness to let go. Maybe we remember hurtful things happening when our guard was down. Creative play involves trusting that every activity doesn't need a worthy goal, doesn't need to be planned out. Pleasure, humor, lightness, and aimless passing of time are forms of openness to the spirit of our Higher Power. It is experimenting, exploring, setting aside our ordered and planned approach to most of life, and accepting that what comes out will be all right.
Today’s Action: High Power, help me see the possibilities for play in the moments of this day.
Laughter
So we think cheerfulness and laughter make for usefulness. Outsiders are sometimes
shocked when we bust into merriment over a seemingly tragic experience out of the past.
But why shouldn’t we laugh? We have recovered, and have been given the power to help others.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 132
Thought to Ponder
Laughter is the sound of recovery.
AA-related 'Alconym'
H J F = Happy, Joyous, Free
Best choice
A holiday is a permitted – or rather a prescribed – excess, a solemn violation of a prohibition. --Sigmund Freud
Breaking our own small rules is a luxury that we sometimes forget to indulge. How pleasant it can be to stay in bed late on a Sunday, not get dressed or shaved, to let clutter accumulate. On our days off, we can get a thrill from such "solemn violations" as going to a film in the afternoon, eating an unscheduled treat, jogging twice around the track.
It's probably important to give ourselves these little extravagances, especially if our usual lives involve a highly organized routine. Just breaking up the day differently – reversing daytime and nighttime activities, for example – can give a special flavor to a day off.
Routine is consoling for many of us. We feel good about ourselves as long as we keep to the schedule, obey the rules. But we need to break some rules to get a different kind of good feeling about ourselves; above all, to know that we can choose to return to our former law-abiding selves. Sometimes we fear that if we step out of line once, we'll never get our lives together again. We need to know that we can renew ourselves on a holiday.
Giving myself a holiday by breaking my routine can make it stronger – because I choose to resume it.
From the book The Promise of a New Day by Karen Casey & Martha Vanceburg. ©
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
In playing, and perhaps only in playing, the child or adult is free to be creative. --D. W. Winnicott
In playing, and perhaps only in playing, the child or adult is free to be creative. --D. W. Winnicott
There are so many activities called play, which have not really been playful. Organized sports for youth, which consumed some of us, are called play. The partying, which was connected with some of our addictions, is called play. Reckless and dangerous driving is called play. In recovery, some of us become intensely focused on doing what's right, and we need a deeper understanding to take the spiritual leap into creative play.
This leap takes a willingness to let go. Maybe we remember hurtful things happening when our guard was down. Creative play involves trusting that every activity doesn't need a worthy goal, doesn't need to be planned out. Pleasure, humor, lightness, and aimless passing of time are forms of openness to the spirit of our Higher Power. It is experimenting, exploring, setting aside our ordered and planned approach to most of life, and accepting that what comes out will be all right.
Today’s Action: High Power, help me see the possibilities for play in the moments of this day.
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
Laughter
So we think cheerfulness and laughter make for usefulness. Outsiders are sometimes
shocked when we bust into merriment over a seemingly tragic experience out of the past.
But why shouldn’t we laugh? We have recovered, and have been given the power to help others.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 132
Thought to Ponder
Laughter is the sound of recovery.
AA-related 'Alconym'
H J F = Happy, Joyous, Free
***************************
Daily Motivation
Excerpt of The Daily Motivator
by Ralph Marston
Make the best choice, not just the easiest choice. Step back from the moment, and give yourself enough perspective to make that best choice.
The benefits of the easiest choice disappear quickly. The value of the best choice can endure for a lifetime, even longer.
You can always go with the best choice, regardless of what the excuses are saying. As enticing as the easy choice may be, you see beyond its expediency.
You know what is best. Claim it by giving your time, effort and commitment to it.
You have the strength to make the best choice and to follow through with it. Feel that strength increase each time you choose what is best.
The path leading up the mountain is steep, yet the view from the top can change your life. Though it is difficult, do what you must to choose what is best.
Make the best choice, not just the easiest choice. Step back from the moment, and give yourself enough perspective to make that best choice.
The benefits of the easiest choice disappear quickly. The value of the best choice can endure for a lifetime, even longer.
You can always go with the best choice, regardless of what the excuses are saying. As enticing as the easy choice may be, you see beyond its expediency.
You know what is best. Claim it by giving your time, effort and commitment to it.
You have the strength to make the best choice and to follow through with it. Feel that strength increase each time you choose what is best.
The path leading up the mountain is steep, yet the view from the top can change your life. Though it is difficult, do what you must to choose what is best.
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