The Work-In: Daily Motivation 9-10-2020

Thursday, September 10, 2020

Today's Gift

Self-approval and self-acceptance in the now are the main keys to positive changes in every area of our lives. --Louise Hay

Most of us want to be liked. We want other people to think of us as nice, friendly, kind, and loving. Most of us want the approval of others.

Since childhood, some of us have been trying to get approval, trying to get people to like us and think highly of us. We may be afraid people will leave us if they disapprove of our actions. We may look for approval from people who have none to give. We may not know that we're lovable now and can learn to approve of ourselves.

In order to live happily, to live consistently with the way our Higher Power wants us to live, and to tap into a way of life that is in harmony with the universe, we need to let go of our extreme need for approval. These unmet needs for approval and love from our past give others control over us today. These needs can prevent us from acting in our best interest and being true to ourselves.

We can approve of ourselves. In the end, that's the only approval that counts.

Today, I will let go of my need for approval and my need to be liked. I will replace them with a need to like and approve of myself. I will enjoy the surprise I find when I do this. The people who count, including myself, will respect me when I am true to myself.

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

It isn't for the moment you are struck that you need courage, but for the long uphill climb back to sanity and faith and security. --Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Most of us are on a long uphill climb at this moment. It is a climb we are making
together, and yet a climb we can't do for each other. I can reach out my hand to you,
and you can grasp my hand in return. But my steps are my own, just as you, too, can
only take one-step at a time.

For brief periods we skip, even run, along the uphill path. The rocks and the occasional
boulder momentarily trip us up. We need patience and trust that the summit is still
achievable. We can help one another have patience. We can remind one another to trust.

We look back at the periods that devastated us so long ago. And now we are here.
We have climbed this far. We are stronger, saner, and more secure. Each step makes
easier the next step--each step puts us on more solid ground.

Action for the Day: I may run into some rocks or even a boulder today. I have stepped around them in the past. I will do so again.

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

Absolute Certainty
The great fact is just this, and nothing less: That we have had deep and
effective spiritual experiences* which have revolutionized our whole attitude
toward life, toward our fellows and toward our Higher Power’s universe. The central fact
of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our Creator has entered into
our hearts and lives in a way which is indeed miraculous. They have commenced
to accomplish those things for us which we could never do by ourselves.
--Alcoholics Anonymous, (There Is A Solution) p. 25
(*Fully explained—Appendix II)

Thought to Ponder
Take a walk with your Higher Power. They will meet you at the Steps.

AA-related 'Alconym'
HOPE = Hang On! Peace Exists

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

One of those times

by Ralph Marston

What if now is one of those times you’ll look back on with gratitude for having been through? What if this is one of those situations you’ll someday wish you had made better use of?

Many of your most valuable experiences didn’t seem so great at the time. Perhaps this experience will one day join that list.

Certainly you’re faced with difficulties you’d rather not have. Yet in each of those difficulties, there is also opportunity.

Imagine that you could focus more on the opportunities and less on the difficulties. What would that look like, and how would it feel?

Think about putting more of your energy into positive action and spending less of that energy on worry and resentment. How would that affect your current attitude, and what impact would it have on your future?

Maybe this is, in fact, one of those times you’ll end up being very thankful for. Or if it’s not already, you can make it one.

From The Daily Motivator website at http://greatday.com/