Monday, December 21, 2018
Today's Gift
Our need for approval compels us to try to look good - no matter what's going on. We imagine that somehow everything will be okay as long as it looks okay. Our hearts may be breaking from fear, disillusionment, and rejection, real or imagined, but we keep smiling so that no one will guess. Why do we do this to ourselves? Is it so hard to turn to a friend and say, "Hey, I'm hurting. I've been having a bad time and I need help"? Would the earth tremble if we said it right out, just like that?
We're not likely to get what we don't ask for. Instead of denying that our knees are shaking, our hands are sweating, and our stomachs are in torment, we can admit and share the truth. We don't have to say "Fine!" when someone asks us how we're doing. Our real friends aren't impressed by stiff upper lips; they're impressed by personal honesty.
Today, I will tell someone the truth about how I feel. If I'm not fine I won't say that I am.
From Days of Healing, Days of Joy by Earnie Larsen and Carol Larsen Hegarty. ©
From: Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation - Thought for the Day http://www.hazeldenbettyford.org/recovery/thought-for-the-day
********************************
Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Keep It Simple
I came to see the damage that was done and the treasures that prevail. —Adrienne Rich
It takes great courage to face ourselves - to look honestly and fearlessly at our behavior, especially if we have done and said things we are not proud of. We may have caused a lot of sadness in our own and others' lives. It's not easy to look at.
But let's remember, too, that what we do and say is not all of who we are. And let's also look at the treasures in ourselves - those things we have said and done that have brought great comfort, joy, and love into the lives of others.
Beneath the negative parts of ourselves, deep within us, is a kernel of good. Let's look for that as well, and water it so it can grow - so we can grow into the persons we are meant to be.
Action for the Day: I will make a list of the best parts of me, and how can I share them today.
It takes great courage to face ourselves - to look honestly and fearlessly at our behavior, especially if we have done and said things we are not proud of. We may have caused a lot of sadness in our own and others' lives. It's not easy to look at.
But let's remember, too, that what we do and say is not all of who we are. And let's also look at the treasures in ourselves - those things we have said and done that have brought great comfort, joy, and love into the lives of others.
Beneath the negative parts of ourselves, deep within us, is a kernel of good. Let's look for that as well, and water it so it can grow - so we can grow into the persons we are meant to be.
Action for the Day: I will make a list of the best parts of me, and how can I share them today.
From: Bluidkiti's Alcohol and Drug Addictions Recovery Help/Support Forums Daily Recovery Readings - http://www.bluidkiti.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=2
****************************
One Day At A Time
"Quite as important was the discovery that spiritual principles would solve all my problems.
I have since been brought into a way of living infinitely more satisfying and, I hope,
more useful than the life I lived before. My old manner of life was by no means a bad one,
but I would not exchange its best moments for the worst I have now.
I would not go back to it even if I could."
- Alcoholics Anonymous, "More About Alcoholism," pp. 42 - 43
Thought to Ponder
The solution is simple. The solution is spiritual.
AA-related 'Alconym'
S O B E R = Spiritually On Beam; Everything's Right
From: AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net)
Excerpt of The Daily Motivator
Allow the feelings
by Ralph Marston
Feelings come and feelings go. There is no need to fear them and no need to crave them.
Be open to your feelings and experience them while they are here. Then be open to the feelings that will come next.
Your feelings are a part of your experience. Yet no mere feeling, however intense it may seem, is your permanent reality.
Are you holding yourself back in an attempt to avoid a particular feeling? Or are you clinging so tightly to an old, faded feeling that you miss out on much of what life now offers?
Allow the feelings to come and then allow them to go. When you let the feelings flow naturally and gracefully through your life, they become more valuable, useful, instructive and fulfilling.
Seek to let your feelings be and then to let your feelings go. Fully experience life as it touches you, and you will grow richer with each moment.
Feelings come and feelings go. There is no need to fear them and no need to crave them.
Be open to your feelings and experience them while they are here. Then be open to the feelings that will come next.
Your feelings are a part of your experience. Yet no mere feeling, however intense it may seem, is your permanent reality.
Are you holding yourself back in an attempt to avoid a particular feeling? Or are you clinging so tightly to an old, faded feeling that you miss out on much of what life now offers?
Allow the feelings to come and then allow them to go. When you let the feelings flow naturally and gracefully through your life, they become more valuable, useful, instructive and fulfilling.
Seek to let your feelings be and then to let your feelings go. Fully experience life as it touches you, and you will grow richer with each moment.
No comments:
Post a Comment