Alcoholic Anonymous – Daily Ponderables –
Together We Trudge the Road of Happy Destiny – Tuesday, 3 December 2013
Daily Reflections
IN ALL OUR AFFAIRS
...we tried to carry this message to
alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. (TWELVE STEPS
AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, page 106)
I find that carrying the message of
recovery to other alcoholics is easy because it helps me to stay sober and it
provides me with a sense of well-being about my own recovery. The hard part is
practicing these principles in all my affairs. It is important that I share the
benefits I receive from A.A., especially at home. Doesn't my family deserve the
same patience, tolerance and understanding I so readily give to the alcoholic?
When reviewing my day I try to ask, "Did I have a chance to be a friend
today and miss it?" "Did I have a chance to rise above a nasty
situation and avoid it?" "Did I have a chance to say 'I'm sorry,' and
refuse to?"
Just as I ask God for help with my
alcoholism each day, I ask for help in extending my recovery to include all
situations and all people! (From the book Daily Reflections © Copyright 1990 by
Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.)
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
There is some alcoholic thought,
conscious or unconscious, that comes before every slip. As long as we live, we
must be on the lookout for such thoughts and guard against them. In fact, our
A.A. training is mostly to prepare us, to make us ready to recognize such
thoughts at once and to reject them at once. The slip comes when we allow such
thoughts to remain in our minds, even before we actually go through the motions
of lifting the glass to our lips. The A.A. program is largely one of mental
training. How well is my mind prepared?
Meditation for the Day
Fret not your mind with puzzles that you
cannot solve. The solutions may never be shown to you until you have left this
life. The loss of dear ones, the inequality of life, the deformed and the
maimed, and many other puzzling things may not be known to you until you reach
the life beyond. "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot
bear them now." Only step by step, stage by stage, can you proceed in your
journey into greater knowledge and understanding.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be content that things that
I now see darkly will someday be made clear. I pray that I may have faith that
someday I will see face to face. (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. ((pag3 352) From the book Just
for Today © Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.)
Thought for Today
"Don't look back on happiness, or
dream of it in the future. You are only sure of today; do not let yourself be
cheated out of it." (Henry Ward Beecher)
"Let us not look back in anger or
forward in fear, but look around in awareness." (James Thurber)
AA has given me the tools to learn to
live in the third dimensional world with 4th dimensional awareness. (Mildred F. (Woodstock))
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
Overcoming attachment does not mean
becoming cold and indifferent. On the contrary, it means learning to have
relaxed control over our mind through understanding the real causes of
happiness and fulfillment, and this enables us to enjoy life more and suffer
less. (Kathleen McDonald, "How to Meditate")
Native American
"Listen to the howl of our spiritual
brother, the wolf, for how it goes with him, so it goes for the natural
world." (Oren R. Lyons, Spokesman, Traditional Circle of Elders)
If we watch nature, we can tell a lot
about what is going on in the world. The animals and the plants are great
teachers. Some time ago, crops were sprayed with a poison to kill the insects.
Other animals ate the insects. The small animals were eaten by the Eagles and
the Wolves. We live in an interconnected system. What we do to one, we do to
all. If our spiritual brothers are living in balance, chances are we humans are
also living in balance.
Great Spirit, let me listen to my Earth
teachers, the plants and the animals.
Keep It Simple
And to practice these principles in all
our affairs ... (Third part of Step Twelve.)
This is a statement about us. We are now
people of values. These values reflect our spiritual growth. We know how to
help others. We know how to admit our wrongs.
We know how to look at ourselves and
change our defects. We know how to live an honest life.
Step Twelve tells us. "Go use these
tools for better living. Go be all you can be. Enjoy life and live a life you
can be proud of." Step Twelve also tells us about how to have loving
relationships. By the time we complete Step Twelve, we make or regain many
relationships. The most important one is with our Higher Power. As we grow in
the program, we realize all our relationships are spiritual gifts.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I now
have one face instead of many masks. Help me be a person who will stand before
You with pride, not shame.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll talk with
a friend and talk about my new values. I will talk about how much my life has
changed.
Big Book
"If a repetition is to be prevented,
place the problem, along with everything else, in God's hands." (Alcoholics
Anonymous, 4th Edition, To Wives, Page 120)
-----------------------------------------
EMOTIONAL MATURITY
The mature person has developed attitudes
in relation to himself and his environment which have lifted him above
"childishness" in thought and behavior.
My Mind Is My Garden,
My Thoughts Are My Seeds.
I Will Harvest Either Flowers or Weeds.
________________________________________
Some of the characteristics of the person
who has achieved true adulthood are suggested here:
1. He accepts criticism gratefully, being
honestly glad for an opportunity to improve.
2. He does not indulge in self-pity. He
has begun to feel the laws of compensation operating in all life.
3. He does not expect special
consideration from anyone.
4. He controls his temper.
5. He meets emergencies with poise.
6. His feelings are not easily hurt.
7. He accepts the responsibility of his
own actions without trying to "alibi."
8. He has outgrown the "all or
nothing" stage. He recognizes that no person or situation is wholly good
or wholly bad, and he begins to appreciate the Golden Mean.
9. He is not impatient at reasonable
delays. He has learned that he is not the arbiter of the universe and that he
must often adjust himself to other people and their convenience.
10. He is a good loser. He can endure
defeat and disappointment without whining or complaining.
11. He does not worry about things he
cannot help.
12. He is not given to boasting or
"showing off" in socially unacceptable ways.
13. He is honestly glad when others enjoy
success or good fortune. He has outgrown envy and jealousy.
14. He is open-minded enough to listen
thoughtfully to the opinions of others.
15. He is not a chronic
"fault-finder."
16. He plans things in advance rather
than trusting to the inspiration of the moment.
Last of all, we think in terms of
spiritual maturity:
1. He has faith in a Power greater then
himself.
2. He feels himself an organic part of
mankind as a whole, contributing his part to each group of which he is a
member.
3. He obeys the spiritual essence of the
Golden Rule: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
Emotional sobriety is when:
1. I am free of resentments, jealousy,
and envy--and free to forgive quickly.
2. My emotions are not so violent that
they cause me to go or be on a dry drunk.
3. I am able to make normal everyday
decisions without my vision being unduly influenced by my emotions.
4. I am able to identify & live by my
personal values without compromise to emotional pressure.
5. I am able to enjoy life as spiritual
principles would dictate--such as being properly revolted by ugliness, sin and
suffering, and positively rewarded by happenings of love, beauty and principle.
6. I am happy when others do things
better or quicker than I have done them.
7. My emotions are in sync with my
intellect and both are in synch with God's Will.
8. I can live freely without being
emotionally subservient to another human being.
9. I can move freely between the
emotional states of child, adult and parent.
10. I derive genuine, healthy pleasure
from helping others without thought of reward, money, prestige or station.
-------
If you're not enjoying your sobriety it's
your own damn fault
-------
No comments:
Post a Comment