Sunday, April 29, 2012

LIGHTING THE DARK PAST

Join us at Friendship House and share your experience strength and hope.

Cling to the thought that, in God's hands, the dark past is the greatest possession you have---the key to life and happiness for others.  With it you can avert death and misery for them.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 124

No longer is my past an autobiography; it is a reference book to be taken down, open and shared.  Today as I report for duty, the most wonderful picture comes through.  For, though this day be dark---as some days must be---the stars will shine brighter later.  My witness that they do shine will be called for in the very near future.  All my past will this day be a part of me, because it is the key, not the lock.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought for the Day

In A.A. we often hear the slogan "Easy Does It." Alcoholics always do everything to excess. They drink too much. They worry too much. They have too many resentments. They hurt themselves physically and men- tally by too much of everything. So when they come into A.A., they have to learn to take it easy. None of us knows how much longer we have to live. Ifs probable that we wouldn't have lived very long if we had continued to drink the way we used to. By stopping drinking, we have increased our chances of living for a while longer. Have I learned to take it easy?

Meditation for the Day

You must be before you can do. To accomplish much, be much. In all cases, the doing must be the expression of the being. It is foolish to think that we can accomplish much in personal relationships without first preparing ourselves by being honest, pure, unselfish, and loving. We must choose the good and keep choosing it, before we are ready to be used by God to accomplish anything worthwhile. We will not be given the opportunities until we are ready for them. Quiet times of communion with the Higher Power are good preparation for creative action.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may constantly prepare myself for better things to come. I pray that I may only have opportunities when I am ready for them.

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Thought for Today

"Don't be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can't
cross a chasm in two small jumps."

-- David Lloyd George
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Buddha/Zen Thoughts

"What is presented here is like a map; it is an entirely different experience to actually make this journey. It requires a guide to make this journey, and as well, we must make the proper preparations; our minds must be tamed and trained through the practice of meditation. Only then can we see the vajra world."

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Native American

"Think only about what is holy. Empty your mind."
--Archie Fire Lame Deer, LAKOTA
If we let our minds wander, we will come up with a lot of junk: maybe bad thoughts about a brother or sister, maybe angry thoughts, maybe self-pity thoughts. Our minds are not the boss. We can instruct our mind to think about whatever we want to think about. We cannot stop thinking, be we can choose what to think about. The Elders say we move towards what we think about. That's why they say, "Think about what is holy, think about the Grandfathers, think about culture, think about values, think about ceremonies, and think about good."
Great Spirit, today, empty my mind and let me experience what it would be like to think about what is holy.

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Keep It Simple

Never play leapfrog with a unicorn.  ---  Unknown

As we work Step One, we accept that alcohol and other drugs are poison to us. We accept our limits.
This means we know that hanging around our using "buddies" can remind us of "the good old days."
Hanging around "slippery places" means we could "slip" back into our old ways. This isn't testing our sobriety; it's being reckless with it. So let's accept our limits. Everybody has limits. When we know our limits, we protect our recovery against the people and places that pull us from our spiritual center. This is what true acceptance means.

Prayer for the Day:  I pray for true acceptance. Higher Power, help me to stay away from slippery places. I will protect the gift You've given me.

Action for the Day:  Today, I'll list the people and places that are risky for me to be around. I will share this list with my sponsor, my group, and my sober friends.
 

Monday, April 2, 2012

My Aim Is To Improve My Character

CHARACTER BUILDING

Demands made upon other people for too much attention, protection, and love can only invite domination or revulsion.  .  

When I uncovered my need for approval in the Fourth Step, I didn't think it should rank as a character defect.  I wanted to think of it more of an asset (that is, the desire to please people).  It was quickly pointed out to me that this "need" can be very crippling.  Today I still enjoy getting the approval of others, but I am not willing to pay the price I used to pay to get it.  I will not bend myself into a pretzel to get others to like me.  

If I get your approval, that's fine; but if I don't, I will survive without it.  I am responsible for speaking what I perceive to be the truth, not what I think others may want to hear.
     
Similarly, my false pride always kept me overly concerned about my reputation.  Since being enlightened in the A.A. program, my aim is to improve my character.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
 
A.A. Thought for the Day
Since I've been in A.A., have I made a start toward becoming more loving to my family and friends? Do I visit my parents? Am I more appreciative of my spouse than I was before? Am I grateful to my family for having put up with me? Have I found real understanding with my children? Do I feel that the friends I've found in A.A. are real friends? Do I believe that they are always ready to help me and do I want to help them if I can? Do I really care now about other people?
Meditation for the Day
Not what you do so much as what you are, that is the miracle-working power. You can be a force for good, with the help of God. God is here to help you and to bless you, here to company with you. You can be a worker with God. Changed by God's grace, you shed one garment of the spirit for a better one. In time, you throw that one aside for a yet finer one. And so from character to character, you are gradually transformed.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may accept every challenge. I pray that each acceptance of a challenge may make me grow into a better person.

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Thought for Today

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."

--Will Rogers

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Buddha/Zen Thoughts

So much fear and desire come from that commitment to 'I am'--to being somebody. Eventually they take us to anxiety and despair; life seems much more difficult and painful than it really is.

But when we just observe life for what it is, then it's all right: the delights, the beauty, the pleasures are just that.

-Ajahn Sumedho, "Seeing the Way"

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Native American

"With children we always have to think about seven generations to come but yet unborn."
--Janice Sundown Hattet, SENECA
What we do today will effect the children seven generations form now. How we treat the Mother Earth will affect the children yet to be born. If we poison the water today, our children's children will be affected by the decision we made. Our children are the gateway to the future. Let us conscientiously think about the children and the seven generations to come.
My Creator, I thank you for my ancestors, seven generations ago.
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Keep It Simple

To know all things is not permitted.   ---  Horace

In recovery, we give up trying to be perfect. We give up trying to know
everything. We work at coming to know and accept our short-comings.  In
Step Four and Five, we look at our good points and our bad points. In Step
Six, we become ready to have our Higher Power remove our "defects of
character." Then in Step Seven we ask our Higher Power to remove our
"shortcomings."
Recovery is about coming to accept that we're not prefect. We admit that
trying to be perfect got in the way of being useful to ourselves, our
Higher Power, and those around us. Pretending to be prefect doesn't allow
us to be real. It's also boring and no fun---you never get to mess up.

Prayer for the Day:  Higher Power, You will let me know what I need to know. Allow me to claim
my mistakes and shortcomings.

Action for the Day:  I will work at being okay today. Not prefect, just okay.

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