Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Today's Gift
In order to receive love and support, you need to believe and trust that you are worthy of love and support. This might be the hardest part, but it is vital. -Author Unknown
Let yourself be nurtured and loved. Let people be there for you. Allow yourself to be held when it would feel good. Let someone listen to you, support and encourage you when you need that. Receive comfort from someone's physical presence when you need that. Allow yourself to be supported emotionally and cared about.
For too long, we've stood in the background, attending to the needs of others and claiming we have no needs of our own. We've shut off, for to long, the part of us that longs to be nurtured.
It is time, now, to claim those needs, to identify them, and to understand that we deserve to have them met.
What are our needs? What would feel good? What kinds of ways would we like others to nurture and support us? The clearer we can be about our needs, the greater the possibility they will be met.
Hugs. A listening ear. Support. Encouragement. The physical and emotional presence of people who care about us. Doesn't that sound good? Tempting?
Someone once said to me, "The eighties have been a 'me' decade. Now, maybe the nineties can be a 'you' decade."
My reply was immediate. "Let's make the nineties a 'me' and 'you' decade."
No matter how long we've been self-reliant, we never outgrow our need for nurturing and love.
Today, I will open to recognizing my needs for nurturing. I will be open to the needs of those around me too. I can begin taking a nurturing, loving attitude toward myself and by taking responsibility for my needs in relationships.
From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©
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
Why do we struggle so with our feelings? Why do we work so hard to deny our emotions, especially concerning other people? They are only feelings!
In the course of a day, we may deny we feel frustrated in reaction to someone who is selling us a service.
We may deny that we feel frustrated, angry, or hurt in reaction to a friend.
We may deny feelings of fear, or anger, toward our children.
We may deny a whole range of feelings toward our spouse or the person with whom we're in a love relationship.
We may deny feelings provoked by people we work for, or by people who work for us.
Sometimes the feelings are a direct reaction to others. Sometimes people trigger something deeper - an old sadness or frustration.
Regardless of the source of our feelings, they are still our feelings. We own them. And acceptance is often all that is necessary to make them go away.
We don't have to let our feelings control our behavior. We don't have to act on each feeling that passes through us. We do not need to indulge in inappropriate behavior.
It does help to talk about our feelings with someone we trust. Sometimes we need to bring our feelings to the person who is triggering them. That can breed intimacy and closeness. But the most important person we need to tell is ourselves. If we allow our feelings to pass through us, accept them, and release them, we shall know what to do next.
Action for the Day: Today, I will remember that feelings are an important part of my life. I will be open to my feelings in family life, in friendships, in love, and at work. I will feel my feelings without judging myself.
Reliance, Not Defiance
"Belief meant reliance, not defiance. In A.A, we saw the fruits of this belief:
men and women spared from alcohol's final catastrophe. We saw them meet
and transcend their other pains and trials. We saw them calmly accept impossible
situations, seeking neither to run nor to recriminate. This was not only faith;
it was faith that worked under all conditions. We soon concluded that whatever
price in humility we must pay, we would pay."
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 31
Thought to Ponder
Humility begins with 'please' and 'thank you.'
AA-related 'Alconym'
H U M B L E = Helpful, Unassuming, Mindful, Believable, Loving, Encouraging
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
Reliance, Not Defiance
"Belief meant reliance, not defiance. In A.A, we saw the fruits of this belief:
men and women spared from alcohol's final catastrophe. We saw them meet
and transcend their other pains and trials. We saw them calmly accept impossible
situations, seeking neither to run nor to recriminate. This was not only faith;
it was faith that worked under all conditions. We soon concluded that whatever
price in humility we must pay, we would pay."
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 31
Thought to Ponder
Humility begins with 'please' and 'thank you.'
AA-related 'Alconym'
H U M B L E = Helpful, Unassuming, Mindful, Believable, Loving, Encouraging
From: AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net)
Excerpt of The Daily Motivator
Sadness means you care
by Ralph Marston
Sadness is an intensity of life’s longing for itself. We often focus on the painful part, the longing. And yet there is also in sadness a profound affirmation of life, of what could have been, of what can still be.
Sadness is possible only because you care. The more you care, the more pronounced the sadness, and yet, the more potential for joy you also have. Though sadness may often feel like emptiness, it is not.
In every sadness, there is a kernel of joy. Something in your sadness lets you know, without the slightest doubt, that things are not as they should be. That something is the joy which you know, just as assuredly, does exist.
Sadness means you sincerely care. Build on that. Strengthen it. See past the pain of the moment and find a positive outlet for the depth of your feelings. Know that your sadness affirms the joy and beauty that life can be. Experience the purity of being fully alive and let that profound caring propel you forward.
Sadness is an intensity of life’s longing for itself. We often focus on the painful part, the longing. And yet there is also in sadness a profound affirmation of life, of what could have been, of what can still be.
Sadness is possible only because you care. The more you care, the more pronounced the sadness, and yet, the more potential for joy you also have. Though sadness may often feel like emptiness, it is not.
In every sadness, there is a kernel of joy. Something in your sadness lets you know, without the slightest doubt, that things are not as they should be. That something is the joy which you know, just as assuredly, does exist.
Sadness means you sincerely care. Build on that. Strengthen it. See past the pain of the moment and find a positive outlet for the depth of your feelings. Know that your sadness affirms the joy and beauty that life can be. Experience the purity of being fully alive and let that profound caring propel you forward.
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