Monday, January 14, 2019
Today's Gift
In a culture where approval/disapproval has become the predominant regulator of effort and position, and often the substitute for love, our personal freedoms are dissipated. —Viola Spolin
Wanting others to approve our efforts, our appearance, our aspirations and behavior is perfectly normal, certainly not unhealthy. However, needing the approval in order to proceed with our lives is.
In early childhood we are taught to obey others and to please them. We confuse love with approval, and we begin to march to someone else's drum. Then we get even more approval. But soon we get out of step with ourselves; we neglect our personal needs and become puppets. Giving away our power to the whims of others weakens our Spirit. Personal freedom means choosing our own behavior; it means acting rather than reacting. It also means allowing ourselves the full adventure of living, of meeting each moment wholly, of responding in a pure, spontaneous, personally honest manner. Only then can we give to life what is ours to give.
Each of us has a unique part to play in the drama of life. And we need to rely on our higher power for our cues, not on those whose approval we think we need. When we turn within for guidance, all the approval we could hope for will be ours.
I will be free today. I will let no one control my actions. I will let my Higher Power give the only approval that counts. Aligning my will with the Universe's will guarantees it.
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
When we talk about feelings in recovery, we often focus on the troublesome trio - pain, fear, and anger. But there are other feelings available in the emotional realm - happiness, joy, peace, contentment, love, closeness, and excitement.
It's okay to let ourselves feel pleasurable feelings too.
We don't have to worry when we experience good feelings; we don't have to scare ourselves out of them; we don't have to sabotage our happiness. We do that, sometimes, to get to the more familiar, less joyous terrain.
It's okay to feel good. We don't have to analyze, judge, or justify. We don't have to bring ourselves down, or let others bring us down, by injecting negativity.
We can let ourselves feel good.
Action for the Day: Today, I will remind myself that it is my right to feel as good as I can. I can have many moments of feeling good; I can find a balanced place of feeling content, peaceful, and good.
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
The Bottom
Since Step One requires an admission that our lives have become unmanageable,
how could people such as these take this Step? It was obviously necessary to
raise the bottom the rest of us had hit to the point where it would hit them.
By going back in our own drinking histories, we could show that years before we
realized it we were out of control, that our drinking even then was no mere habit,
that it was indeed the beginning of a fatal progression.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, "Step One," p. 23
Thought to Ponder
My bottom is where I stop digging.
AA-related 'Alconym'
H E A L = Helping Every Alcoholic Live
From: AA Thought for the Day (courtesy AA-Alive.net)
Excerpt of The Daily Motivator
Live fully as it comes
by Ralph Marston
This day will soon be over. Enjoy its special wonder, its unique place in your life, while it is here.
Your problems will eventually be solved. While you have them, learn from them, grow, innovate, draw inspiration and determination from them.
You will not always be where you now find yourself. While you’re in this place, fully appreciate it, explore its details, and add its distinctive substance to your experience.
Some of the people you share this moment with, you may not see again for a long time, if ever. Treasure the time you spend with them, give your best to the encounter, get the most out of it.
To live your life fully you must live it fully as it comes. Avoid putting off until later, for later can never again offer the missed opportunities of now.
Use the good china, embrace those you love, speak your mind, soak in the beauty, share your feelings. Life is yours to live, and now is when it happens best.
This day will soon be over. Enjoy its special wonder, its unique place in your life, while it is here.
Your problems will eventually be solved. While you have them, learn from them, grow, innovate, draw inspiration and determination from them.
You will not always be where you now find yourself. While you’re in this place, fully appreciate it, explore its details, and add its distinctive substance to your experience.
Some of the people you share this moment with, you may not see again for a long time, if ever. Treasure the time you spend with them, give your best to the encounter, get the most out of it.
To live your life fully you must live it fully as it comes. Avoid putting off until later, for later can never again offer the missed opportunities of now.
Use the good china, embrace those you love, speak your mind, soak in the beauty, share your feelings. Life is yours to live, and now is when it happens best.
From The Daily Motivator website at http://greatday.com/
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