The Work-In: Daily Motivation 12-9-2020

 Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Today's Gift

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don't know something, and to learn something new. --Barack Obama

It's okay to ask for help.

One of the most absurd things we do to ourselves is not asking for the help we need from a friend, a family member, our Higher Power, or the appropriate resource.

We don't have to struggle through feelings and problems alone. We can ask for help from our Higher Power and for support and encouragement from our friends.

Whether what we need is information, encouragement, a hand, a word, a hug, someone who will listen, or a ride, we can ask. We can ask people for what we need from them. We can ask our Higher Power for what we need from them.

It is self-defeating to not ask for the help we need. It keeps us stuck. If we ask long and hard enough, if we direct our request to the right source, we'll get the help we need.

There is a difference between asking someone to rescue us and asking someone in a direct manner for the help we need from them. We can be straightforward and let others choose whether to help us or not. If the answer is no, we can deal with that.

It is self-defeating to hint, whine, manipulate, or coerce help out of people. It is annoying to go to people as a victim and expect them to rescue us. It is healthy to ask for help when help is what we need.

"My problem is shame," said one person. "I wanted to ask for help in dealing with it, but I was to ashamed. Isn't that crazy?"

We who are eager to help others can learn to allow ourselves to receive help. We can learn to make clean contracts about asking for and receiving the help we want and need.

Today, I will ask for help if I need it - from people and my Higher Power. I will not be a victim, helplessly waiting to be rescued. I will make my request for help specific, to the point, and I will leave room for the person to choose whether or not to help me. I will not be a martyr any longer by refusing to get the help I deserve in life - the help that makes life simpler. Higher Power, help me let go of my need to do everything alone. Help me use the vast Universe of resources available to me.

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

Solving Problems

“Shame is the first feeling that strikes me whenever I, or someone I love, has a problem,” said one recovering woman. Many of us were raised with the belief that having a problem is something to be ashamed of.

This belief can do many damaging things to us. It can stop us from identifying our problems; it can make us feel alienated and inferior when we have, or someone we love has, a problem. Shame can block us from solving a problem and finding the gift from the problem.

Problems are a part of life. So are solutions. People have problems, but we, and our self-esteem, are separate from our problems. I’ve yet to meet a person who didn’t have problems to solve, but I’ve met many who felt ashamed to talk about the problems they actually had solved!

We are more than our problems. Even if our problem is our own behavior, the problem is not who we are—it’s what we did. It’s okay to have problems. It’s okay to talk about problems—at appropriate times, and with safe people. It’s okay to solve problems.

And we’re okay, even when we have, or someone we love, has a problem. We don’t have to forfeit our personal power or our self-esteem. We have solved exactly the problems we’ve needed to solve to become who we are.

Action for the Day: Today, I will let go of my shame about problems.

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

Simple and Personal
In spite of the great increase in the size and the span of this Fellowship,
at its core it remains simple and personal. Each day, somewhere in the
world, recovery begins when one alcoholic talks with another alcoholic,
sharing experience, strength, and hope.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, (Foreward to Third Edition) p. xxii

Thought to Ponder
Every recovery from alcoholism begins with one sober hour.

AA-related 'Alconym'
H O P E = Happy Our Program 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

Every small detail

by Ralph Marston

The possibilities that become reality are the ones to which you give meaning and focus. The goals you fully achieve are the ones you truly desire.

The world where you live is the world you choose with your thoughts, your actions, your attention and your commitment. What you experience depends on what you set as priorities.

You cannot fill your thoughts with negativity and expect to achieve positive results. Who you truly are on the inside drives your experience of the world on the outside.

Integrity is more than just a platitude. It is an indisputable and inescapable fact of existence.

Every small detail of your life makes up the whole of your life. Each moment is an opportunity to align those details with what’s most important to you.

Choose in every situation and in every detail to support and reinforce the best of who you know you can be. Act as though everything you do creates the life you live, because it does.

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