SEEKING EMOTIONAL STABILITY

When we developed still more, we discovered the best possible
source of emotional stability to be God Himself. We found that
dependence upon His perfect justice, forgiveness, and love was
healthy, and that it would work where nothing else would. If we
really depended upon God, we couldn't very well play God to our
fellows nor would we feel the urge wholly to rely on human
protection and care. 12 & 12, p.116

All my life I depended on people for my emotional needs and
security, but today I cannot live that way anymore. By the grace of
God, I have admitted my powerlessness over people, places and
things. I had been a real "people addict"; wherever I went there
had to be someone who would pay some kind of attention to me. It
was the kind of attitude that could only get worse, because the more
I depended on others and demanded attention, the less I received. I
have given up believing that any human power can relieve me of that
empty feeling. Although I remain a fragile human being who needs to
work A.A.'s Steps to keep this particular principle before my
personality, it is only a loving God who can give me inner peace and
emotional stability.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"Those who do not recover are people who are constitutionally
incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such
unfortunates. They are not at fault. They seem to have been
born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and
developing a manner of living which demands rigorous honesty.
Their chances are less than average. There are those, too, who
suffer from grave emotional and mental disorders, but many of them
do recover, if they have the capacity to be honest." Am I completely
honest with myself and with other people?

Meditation For The Day

You can make use of your mistakes, failures, losses, and sufferings.
It is not what happens to you so much as what use you make of it.
Take your sufferings, difficulties, and hardships and make use of
them to help some unfortunate soul who is faced with the same
troubles. Then something good will come out of your suffering and
the world will be a better place because of it. The good you do each
day will live on, after the trouble and distress have gone, after the
difficulty and the pain have passed away.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may make good use of my mistakes and failures. I
pray that some good may result from my painful experiences.

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Thought for Today

"Bitterness and an unforgiving spirit can be likened to you taking poison and
expecting that someone else would die from the effect. Forgiveness is about
setting the prisoner in your heart free only to discover that all along, you had
been the real prisoner."

'Tope Popoola
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Buddha/Zen Thoughts

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few.

-Shunryu Suzuki, "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind"

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Native American

"When life is too good, we think too highly of ourselves and our blessings. Then we decide we are the wisest and the favored ones, and we don't think we need Wakan-Tanka and the Helpers anymore."

--Fools Crow, LAKOTA

It is sometimes easy to get off track when times are good. We start to take the credit and start to think we are in control. We start to think we are smart. Then we quit praying or pray only with lip service. We say the words but don't mean them. Sometimes our head is our greatest enemy. We start acting like a foolish child. We must develop the discipline to be humble during the good times. We need to remember how honorable it is each day to come into the presence of the Creator. How happy we should be to talk to the Grandfathers, to have the choice to start each day on the Sacred Spot - our place of communion with the Great Spirit.

Oh Great Spirit, first let me thank You for the honor of talking to You today. To have the insight of Your love, that only You can love me when I don't deserve to be loved. Let me be reminded to talk to You all day long.

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Keep It Simple

It’s a rare person who wants to hear what he doesn’t want to hear. --- Dick Cavett

We want only to hear good things. That we’re nice people. That our loved ones are healthy.
That we did a good job. We don’t want to hear that anyone is angry with us, or that we made a mistake. We don’t want to hear about illness or troubles.
But life isn’t just happy news. Bad things happen. We can’t change that. As we live our recovery program, we learn to handle the addiction. We choose the path of life. We need to know all the news, good, and bad. Then we can deal with life as it really is.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me listen---even when I don't want to. Gently help me deal with both the good and bad. All the help I need is mine for the asking.

Action for the Day: I will ask my sponsor and three friends to tell me about my blind spots.

Come visit us at 202