Alcoholic Anonymous – Daily Ponderables –
Together We Trudge the Road of Happy Destiny – Monday, 2 December 2013
Daily Reflections
SERENITY
Having had a spiritual awakening as the
result of these steps... (Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, page 126)
As I continued to go to meetings and work
the Steps, something began to happen to me. I felt confused because I wasn't
sure what it was that I was feeling, and then I realized I was experiencing
serenity. It was a good feeling, but where had it come from. Then I realized it
had come "... as the result of these steps." The program may not
always be easy to practice, but I had to acknowledge that my serenity had come
to me after working the Steps. As I work the Steps in everything I do,
practicing these principles in all my affairs, now I find that I am awake to
God, to others, and to myself. The spiritual awakening I have enjoyed as the
result of working the Steps is the awareness that I am no longer alone. (From
the book Daily Reflections © Copyright
1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.)
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
The thoughts that come before having a
slip seem to be partly subconscious. And yet it is likely that at least part of
these thoughts get into our consciousness. An idle thought connected with
drinking casualty pops into our mind. That is the crucial moment. Will I harbor
that thought even for one minute or will I banish it from my mind at once? If I
let it stay, it may develop into a daydream. I may begin to see a cool glass of
beer or a Manhattan cocktail in my mind's eye. If I allow the daydream to stay
in my mind, it may lead to a decision, however unconscious, to take a drink.
Then I am headed for a slip. Do I let myself daydream?
Meditation for the Day
Many of us have a sort of vision of the
kind of person God wants us to be. We must be true to that vision, whatever it
is, and we must try to live up to it, by living the way we believe we should
live. We can all believe that God has a vision of what He wants us to be like.
In all people there is a good person whom God sees in us, the person we could
be and that God would like us to be. But many a person fails to fulfill that
promise and God's disappointments must be many.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may strive to be the kind
of a person that God would have me be. I pray that I may try to fulfill God's
vision of what I could be. (From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day © Copyright
1975 by Hazelden Foundation)
NA - Just for Today
Recovery: Our First Priority
"We have to keep our recovery first
and our priorities in order." (Basic Text page 79)
Before coming to NA, we used many excuses
to justify our use of drugs: "He yelled at me" "She said
this." "My partner left." "I got fired." We used these
same excuses for not seeking help for our drug problem. We had to realize that
these things kept happening because we kept using drugs. Only when we made
recovery our first priority did these situations begin to change.
We may be subject to the same tendency
today, using excuses for not attending meetings and being of service. Our
current excuses may be of a different nature: "I can't leave my
kids." "My vacation wore me out." "I have to finish this
project so I can impress my boss." But still, if we don't make recovery
our first priority, chances are that we won't have to worry about these excuses
anymore. Kids, vacations, and jobs probably won't be in our lives if we
relapse.
Our recovery must come first. Job or no
job, relationship or no relationship, we have to attend meetings, work the
steps, call our sponsor, and be of service to God and others. These simple
actions are what make it possible for us to have vacations, families, and
bosses to worry about. Recovery is the foundation of our lives, making everything
else possible.
Just for today: I will keep my priorities
in order. Number One on the list is my recovery. ((page 352)From the book Just
for Today © Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.)
Thought for Today
"For peace of mind, we need to
resign as general manager of the universe." (Larry Eisenberg)
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
Holding on to anger is like grasping a
hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who
gets burned.
There simply is nothing to which we can
attach ourselves, no matter how hard we try. In time, things will change and
the conditions that produced our current desires will be gone. Why then cling
to them now? (Master Hsing Yun, "The Indescribable")
Native American
"The smarter a man is the more he
needs God to protect him from thinking he knows everything." (George Webb,
PIMA)
A spiritual person needs to be careful.
The more confident we are, the more likely our egos will get us into trouble.
It's relatively easy to become self-righteous. We start to think we are
teachers and others are students. We start to judge others. We start, very
subtlety at first, to play God. After a while we really get good at it. This is
very dangerous. We need to remind ourselves, we are here to do God's will. We
need to pray every morning. Each day we need to check in with God to see what
He would have us do. At night we need to spend time with God and review our
day. By doing these things, we will stay on track.
My Creator, guide my path and show me how
to correct my life.
Keep It Simple
...we tried to carry this message to
alcoholics ... -- Second part of Step 12.
In this part of Step 12, we carry the
message of hope. But it's not up to us if anyone accepts the message or not. This
keeps us from playing God. We just gently deliver the message. We don't force
the program down people's throats. In general, Step Twelve tells us, “Be
helpful to those we can help.” When a neighbor is sick, mow her lawn. When a
friend is in the hospital, visit him. Step Twelve reminds us that we make a
difference. We have hope to give the world. And hope is what we stand for to
the addict who still suffers. Hope is what we stand for to the addict's family.
How beautiful to stand for hope! Remember when our lives stood for despair??
What a change!
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me
shine brightly as a symbol of Your hope.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll help
someone in need. It may be an alcoholic or other drug addict, or just someone
in need. I'll help make the world a better place.
Big Book
"A body badly burned by alcohol does
not often recover overnight nor do twisted thinking and depression vanish in a
twinkling. We are convinced that a spiritual mode of living is a most powerful
health restorative." (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, The Family
Afterward, Page 133)
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If you're not enjoying your sobriety it's
your own damn fault
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