Alcoholic Anonymous - Daily Ponderables - Together we trudge the Road of Happy Destiny – Thursday, 26 December 2013

Alcoholic Anonymous - Daily Ponderables - Together we trudge the Road of Happy Destiny – Thursday, 26 December 2013

Daily Reflections

ACCEPTING SUCCESS OR FAILURE

Furthermore, how shall we come to terms with seeming failure or success? Can we now accept and adjust to either without despair or pride? Can we accept poverty, sickness loneliness, and bereavement with courage and serenity? Can we steadfastly content ourselves with the humbler, yet sometimes more durable, satisfactions when the brighter, more glittering achievements are denied us?(TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, page 112)

After I found A.A. and stopped drinking, it took a while before I understood why the First step contained two parts: my powerlessness over alcohol, and my life's unmanageability. In the same way, I believed for a long time that, in order to be in tune with the Twelve Steps, it was enough for me "to carry this message to alcoholics." That was rushing things. I was forgetting that there were a total of Twelve Steps and that the Twelfth Step also had more than one part. Eventually I learned that it was necessary for me to "practice these principles" in all areas of my life. In working all the Steps thoroughly, I not only stay sober and help someone else to achieve sobriety, but also I transform my difficulty with living into a joy of living.(From the book Daily Reflections  © Copyright 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.)

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought for the Day

I am glad to be a part of A.A., of that great fellowship that is spreading over the United States and all over the world. I am only one of the many A.A.'s, but I am one. I am grateful to be living at this time, when I can help A.A. to grow, when it needs me to put my shoulder to the wheel and help keep the movement going. I am glad to be able to be useful, to have a reason for living, a purpose in life. I want to lose my life in this great cause and so find it again. Am I grateful to be an A.A.?

Meditation for the Day

These meditations can teach us how to relax. We can be of service to other people in a small way, at least. And we can be happy while doing it. We should not worry too much about people we cannot help. We can make it a habit to leave the outcome of the things we do to the Higher Power. We can go along through life doing the best we can, but without a feeling of urgency or strain. We can enjoy all the good things and the beauty of life, but at the same time depend deeply on God.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may give my life to this worthwhile cause. I pray that I may enjoy the satisfaction that comes from good work well done.(From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day © Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation)

NA - Just for Today

Never-Failing Power

"As we learn to trust this Power, we begin to overcome our fear of life."(Basic Text page 24)

We are people accustomed to placing all our eggs in one basket. Many of us had one particular drug of choice that was our favorite. We relied on it to get us through each day and make life bearable. We were faithful to that drug; in fact, we committed ourselves to it without reservation. And then it turned on us. We had been betrayed by the only thing we had ever depended on, and the betrayal left us floundering.

Now that we've stumbled into the rooms of recovery, we may be tempted to rely on another human being to meet our needs. We may expect this from our sponsor, our lover, or our best friend. But dependence on human beings is risky. They fall short of perfection. They may be on vacation, sleeping, or in a bad mood when we need them.

Our dependence must rest on a Power greater than ourselves. No human force can restore our sanity, care for our will and our lives, or be unconditionally available and loving whenever we are in need. We place our trust in the God of our understanding, for only that Power will never fail us.

Just for today: I will place my trust in a Power greater than myself, for only that Power will never let me down.((page 376)From the book Just for Today © Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.)

Thought for Today

God Bless The Alcoholic by Angela M.

God loves the alcoholic

For who knows mercy like he

A sensitive in this cold, hard world

He drinks spirits to be free

God bless the alcoholic

Shunned by friends and foe

Who can know what drives him

When he himself can’t know

God help the alcoholic

His plague is his disease

Destroying everything he once held dear

Can there be a life for these?

God carry the alcoholic

It’s a sliding and slippery slope

Protect and guide his steps until

He finds the rooms of hope.

Buddha/Zen Thoughts

If we do not try, we will not know.(Ayya Khema, Be An Island)

Native American

"The way of knowledge is like our old way of hunting. You begin with a mere trail -- a footprint. If you follow that faithfully, it may lead you to a clearer train-a track- a road. Later on there will be many tracks, crossing and diverging one from the other. Then you must be careful, for success lies in the choice of the right road."(Many Lightenings Eastman, SANTEE SIOUX)

An entire apple tree is initially contained in the seed. Visions are initially contained in the idea. If you trace the path of a blooming flower backwards, it goes from the blooming flower back to a bud, back to a stem, back to a seed. So it is in the way of knowledge. Often we will experience a hunch or a feeling that we are supposed to do something. At first it may not make any sense. This is the seed stage. Once we start to investigate, more gets revealed. As more is revealed, the more knowledge we get. This is the way the Great Spirit guides us.

Great Spirit, help me to choose the right choices.

Keep It Simple

To be emotionally committed to somebody is very difficult, but to be alone is impossible.(Stephen Sondheim)

Let's face it, relationships are hard to work! But we are lucky! Recovery is about relationships. We learn how to set limits. We learn how to listen to and talk to others. In Step One, we begin a new relationship with ourselves. In Step Two and Three, we begin a relationship with our Higher Power. In later Steps, we mend our relationships with family and friends. In our relationship with our sponsor, we learn about being friends. And our past relationships with alcohol and other drugs is being replaced by people and our Higher Power.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thank-you for all the new relationships. Thank-you for teaching me how to feel human again.

Action for the Day: Today, I'll make a list of all the new relationships I have now, due to my sobriety.

Big Book

"If God can solve the age-old riddle of alcoholism, He can solve your problems too."(Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, To Wives, Page 116)

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If you're not enjoying your sobriety it's your own damn fault

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