Thursday, August 2, 2018
Today's Gift
If only I had a new bike, then I'd be happy. If only my family were more understanding, then I'd be happy. If only my hair were styled better. If only I had more friends. If only... Sometimes we begin to sound like a broken record when things go wrong, so certain that if the events and conditions of our lives were different, we'd be happy.
It's an old and unfortunate habit that we look around outside ourselves for happiness. We can never be sure of it if we count on certain conditions to guarantee it. However, we can always be sure of happiness if we carry it with us wherever we go. The happiness habit can be developed, with practice, just as surely as good piano playing or accurate pitching. We can control our own thoughts. The decision to make them happy ones is ours to make.
New Foundation
By now the newcomer has probably arrived at the following conclusions:
that his character defects, representing instincts gone astray, have been
the primary cause of their drinking and their failure at life; that unless they are
now willing to work hard at the elimination of the worst of these defects,
both sobriety and peace of mind will still elude them; that all the faulty
foundation of their life will have to be torn out and built anew on bedrock.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 50
Thought to Ponder
If I want my Higher Power to remove my character defects, I'll have to stop doing them.
AA-related 'Alconym'
A A = Altered Attitudes
Give now a chance
We need the courage to start and continue what we should do, and courage to stop what we shouldn't do. --Richard L. Evans
What is courage? Many of us think it involves surviving against all odds. Some of us believe courage is personified by an individual like Helen Keller, who coped with many physical defects to vastly change her life and the lives of those around her. Others of us believe courage is personified by people like astronaut John Glenn, who took risks trying something new knowing he could fail.
Are we courageous? Compared to those people we would probably say no. Yet we are because we have taken risks to change our lives. Being willing to change is an act of courage. Believing in change and forging ahead on the new, uncharted path is an act of courage.
We are the only ones who can change ourselves. Just as Helen Keller and John Glenn made decisions to alter their lives, so do we make decisions to risk changes. Whether we started on our new way of life years ago, days ago, or even hours ago, we are filled with courage because of the decisions we made.
I can say the Serenity Prayer and remember my courage.
From the book Night Light by Amy E. Dean. ©
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
Happiness is a mental habit, a mental attitude, and if it is not learned and practiced in the present it is never experienced. --Maxwell Maltz
Happiness is a mental habit, a mental attitude, and if it is not learned and practiced in the present it is never experienced. --Maxwell Maltz
If only I had a new bike, then I'd be happy. If only my family were more understanding, then I'd be happy. If only my hair were styled better. If only I had more friends. If only... Sometimes we begin to sound like a broken record when things go wrong, so certain that if the events and conditions of our lives were different, we'd be happy.
It's an old and unfortunate habit that we look around outside ourselves for happiness. We can never be sure of it if we count on certain conditions to guarantee it. However, we can always be sure of happiness if we carry it with us wherever we go. The happiness habit can be developed, with practice, just as surely as good piano playing or accurate pitching. We can control our own thoughts. The decision to make them happy ones is ours to make.
Today’s Action: I create my own happiness within me today.
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
New Foundation
By now the newcomer has probably arrived at the following conclusions:
that his character defects, representing instincts gone astray, have been
the primary cause of their drinking and their failure at life; that unless they are
now willing to work hard at the elimination of the worst of these defects,
both sobriety and peace of mind will still elude them; that all the faulty
foundation of their life will have to be torn out and built anew on bedrock.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 50
Thought to Ponder
If I want my Higher Power to remove my character defects, I'll have to stop doing them.
AA-related 'Alconym'
A A = Altered Attitudes
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
Give now a chance
by Ralph Marston
Don’t wait for something better. Allow this present moment to be the better experience you desire.
Right now is perfectly capable of holding all the joy, beauty, and fulfillment you can imagine. Rather than longing for the past or wishing for the future, give now a chance.
Let go of judgments about what should and shouldn’t be. Choose to see the great value in front of you, and enlarge it.
Every feeling you can dream of experiencing, is possible now. All the love you can possibly give, you can give now.
Let love and gratitude push doubt and dismay out of your awareness. Every possibility that exists, is now.
Give now a chance, now. And give yourself the rich life you deserve.
Don’t wait for something better. Allow this present moment to be the better experience you desire.
Right now is perfectly capable of holding all the joy, beauty, and fulfillment you can imagine. Rather than longing for the past or wishing for the future, give now a chance.
Let go of judgments about what should and shouldn’t be. Choose to see the great value in front of you, and enlarge it.
Every feeling you can dream of experiencing, is possible now. All the love you can possibly give, you can give now.
Let love and gratitude push doubt and dismay out of your awareness. Every possibility that exists, is now.
Give now a chance, now. And give yourself the rich life you deserve.
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