My stability came out of trying to give, not out of demanding that I receive.
THE BEST OF BILL, pp. 46-47
As long as I try, with all my heart and soul, to pass along to others what has been passed along to me, and do not demand anything in return, life is good to me. Before entering this program of Alcoholics Anonymous I was never able to give without demanding something in return. Little did I know that, once I began to give freely of myself, I would begin to receive, without ever expecting or demanding anything at all. What I receive today is a gift of "stability," as Bill did: stability in my A.A. program; within myself; but most of all, in my relationship with my Higher Power, whom I choose to call God.
**********************************************
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
"Who are you to say there is no God? This challenge comes to all of us. Are we capable of denying that there is a design and purpose in all of life as we know it? Or are we willing to admit that faith in some kind of Divine Principle is a part of our make-up, just as much as the feeling we have for a friend? We find a great Reality deep down within us, if we face ourselves as we really are. In the last analysis, it is only there that God may be found. When we find this Reality within us, we are restored to our right minds." Have I found the great Reality?
Meditation for the Day
"Behold, I make all things new." When you change to a new way of life, you leave many things behind you. It is only the earth-bound spirit that cannot soar. Loosen somewhat the strands that tie you to the earth. It is only the earthly desires that bind you. Your new freedom will depend on your ability to rise above earthly things. Clipped wings can grow again. Broken wings can regain a strength and beauty unknown before. If you will, you can be released and free.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be freed from things that hold me down. I pray that my spirit may soar in freedom.
******************************************************
Thought for Today
"For fast-acting relief, try slowing down."
--Lily Tomlin
******************************************************
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
As in the ocean's midmost depth no wave is born, but all is still, so let the practitioner be still, be motionless, and nowhere should one swell.
-Sutta-nipata, translated by Dines Anderson and Helmer Smith
******************************************************
Native American
"The greater the faith, the greater the result."
--Fools Crow, LAKOTA
The Creator designed us to act on faith. We are able to do this by holding firm to our beliefs. If we believe something and if we don't want the belief to change, we need to add the power of the Great Spirit to this belief. We must always have the spiritual added to our beliefs. If we don't add the Spirit, then we may very well change our minds during the first time we are tested. Each time we are tested and we don't change our minds, we get stronger. The wind may blow on the red willow trees bending them and causing the roots to grow deeper. The more the wind bends the tree, the bigger, stronger and deeper the roots grow. We should be happy that we are tested. It's the Creator's way of making us have greater faith for greater results.
Great Mystery, Grandfather, I know if I am tested today that I can count on You to give me the courage to get to the other side. On the other side of every test is the reward of strength. Make me strong.
********************************************************
Walk In Dry Places
All that Glitters
Tempting Moments
Though real sobriety means all lose of desire to drink, it's not uncommon to have moments when the old life takes on a sudden appeal. This appeal is never based on a realistic look at things as they were. It is more a rush of feeling connected with some alluring aspect of the drinking life.
Such a false feeling will always pass if we let ourselves remember what happened to us and why we needed to seek recovery. We cannot have this rush of feeling when we remember the misery, despair, and other pain from that part of our lives.
All that glitters is not gold, goes an old saying. All the glittering scenes connected with drinking are not really golden moments, either. They are, for us, always preludes to disaster.
I'll remember today to let realistic thinking rule my life even if there are moments when my feelings run temporarily awry.
If your feeling are temporarily awry, come by 202 and unawry yourself.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Thursday, December 8, 2011
So Long Old Friend
I wanted to tell the friends of Friendship House that an old friend of ours, Charlie Parham, passed away on Monday, he was 53. So long my friend, it was an interesting adventure. See you the next time around.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
The Rewards Of Giving
Visit us at Friendship House over the Winter Holidays
This is indeed the kind of giving that actually demands nothing. He does not expect his brother sufferer to pay him, or even to love him. And then he discovers that by the divine paradox of this kind of giving he has found his own reward, whether his brother has yet received anything or not.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 109
Through experience with Twelfth Step work, I came to understand the rewards of giving that demands nothing in return. At first I expected recovery in others, but I soon learned that this did not happen. Once I acquired the humility to accept the fact that every Twelfth Step call was not going to result in a success, then I was open to receive the rewards of selfless giving.
***********************************************************
A.A. Thought for the Day
Our faith should control the whole of our life. We alcoholics were living a divided life. We had to find a way to make it whole. When we were drinking, our lives were made up of a lot of scattered and unrelated pieces. We must pick up our lives and put them together again. We do it by recovering faith in a Divine Principle in the universe that holds us together and holds the whole universe together and gives it meaning and purpose. We surrender our disorganized lives to that Power, we get into harmony with the Divine Spirit, and our lives are made whole again. Is my life whole again?
Meditation for the Day
Avoid fear as you would a plague. Fear, even the smallest fear, is a hacking at the cords of faith that bind you to God. However small the fraying, in time those cords will wear thin, and then one disappointment or shock will make them snap. But for the little fears, the cords of faith would have held firm. Avoid depression, which is allied to fear. Remember that all fear is disloyalty to God. it is a denial of His care and protection.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may have such trust in God today that I will not fear anything too greatly. I pray that I may have assurance that God will take care of me in the long run.
**********************************
Thought for Today
"I thought I could change the world. It took me a
hundred years to figure out I can't change the world.
I can only change Bessie. And honey, that ain't easy
either."
--Bessie Delany
********************************************************
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.
********************************************************
Native American
"My pottery is the handiwork of God."
--Teresita Naranjo, SANTA CLARA PUEBLO
The Great One has given every human being at least one special talent and one special gift. We need to develop and practice these gifts because they are the handiwork of God. Maybe we are artists-when people look at our work it puts joy in their hearts; maybe we are singers- when people listen to our songs, their hearts are happy; maybe we are writers of song or poetry-when people hear or read our work, it may change their lives. We need to honor ourselves and our gifts. We need to thank the Creator for our talents and our gifts."
My Creator, let me use my gifts to further Your work on the Earth.
*******************************************
Keep It Simple
There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. --- Edith Wharton
Our Higher Power is the candle. And our hearts, like a mirror, reflect a warm, loving glow.
But when we used alcohol and other drugs, we tired to be the candle. We wanted to have control. Many of us acted like this to hide how out of control we felt. We never thought we could be happy by admitting we were out of control.
In recovery, we accept that it’s okay to be the mirror. We accept that our Higher Power is the candle that guides us. We want to be the mirror that reflects how much our Higher Power loves us.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thank-you for the light and warmth You give me.
Action for the Day: Tonight, I’ll light a candle and place it in front of a mirror. I’ll study how they work together to light the room.
This is indeed the kind of giving that actually demands nothing. He does not expect his brother sufferer to pay him, or even to love him. And then he discovers that by the divine paradox of this kind of giving he has found his own reward, whether his brother has yet received anything or not.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 109
Through experience with Twelfth Step work, I came to understand the rewards of giving that demands nothing in return. At first I expected recovery in others, but I soon learned that this did not happen. Once I acquired the humility to accept the fact that every Twelfth Step call was not going to result in a success, then I was open to receive the rewards of selfless giving.
***********************************************************
A.A. Thought for the Day
Our faith should control the whole of our life. We alcoholics were living a divided life. We had to find a way to make it whole. When we were drinking, our lives were made up of a lot of scattered and unrelated pieces. We must pick up our lives and put them together again. We do it by recovering faith in a Divine Principle in the universe that holds us together and holds the whole universe together and gives it meaning and purpose. We surrender our disorganized lives to that Power, we get into harmony with the Divine Spirit, and our lives are made whole again. Is my life whole again?
Meditation for the Day
Avoid fear as you would a plague. Fear, even the smallest fear, is a hacking at the cords of faith that bind you to God. However small the fraying, in time those cords will wear thin, and then one disappointment or shock will make them snap. But for the little fears, the cords of faith would have held firm. Avoid depression, which is allied to fear. Remember that all fear is disloyalty to God. it is a denial of His care and protection.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may have such trust in God today that I will not fear anything too greatly. I pray that I may have assurance that God will take care of me in the long run.
**********************************
Thought for Today
"I thought I could change the world. It took me a
hundred years to figure out I can't change the world.
I can only change Bessie. And honey, that ain't easy
either."
--Bessie Delany
********************************************************
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.
********************************************************
Native American
"My pottery is the handiwork of God."
--Teresita Naranjo, SANTA CLARA PUEBLO
The Great One has given every human being at least one special talent and one special gift. We need to develop and practice these gifts because they are the handiwork of God. Maybe we are artists-when people look at our work it puts joy in their hearts; maybe we are singers- when people listen to our songs, their hearts are happy; maybe we are writers of song or poetry-when people hear or read our work, it may change their lives. We need to honor ourselves and our gifts. We need to thank the Creator for our talents and our gifts."
My Creator, let me use my gifts to further Your work on the Earth.
*******************************************
Keep It Simple
There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. --- Edith Wharton
Our Higher Power is the candle. And our hearts, like a mirror, reflect a warm, loving glow.
But when we used alcohol and other drugs, we tired to be the candle. We wanted to have control. Many of us acted like this to hide how out of control we felt. We never thought we could be happy by admitting we were out of control.
In recovery, we accept that it’s okay to be the mirror. We accept that our Higher Power is the candle that guides us. We want to be the mirror that reflects how much our Higher Power loves us.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thank-you for the light and warmth You give me.
Action for the Day: Tonight, I’ll light a candle and place it in front of a mirror. I’ll study how they work together to light the room.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
OPEN-MINDEDNESS
A.A. Thought for the Day From Friendship House
OPEN-MINDEDNESS
We have found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him. To us, the realm of the spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive, never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek. It is open, we believe, to all men.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 7
But even faith is not the whole story. There must be service. We must give this thing away if we want to keep it. The Dead Sea has no outlet and it is stagnant and full of salt. The Sea of Galilee is clear and clean and blue, as the Jordan River carries it out to irrigate the desert. To be of service to other people makes our lives worth living. Does service to others give me a real purpose in life?
Meditation for the Day
Seek God early in the day, before He gets crowded out by life's problems, difficulties, or pleasures. In that early quiet time gain a calm, strong confidence in the goodness and purpose in the universe. Do not seek God only when the world's struggles prove too much and too many for you to bear or face alone. Seek God early, when you can have a consciousness of God's spirit in the world. People often only seek God when their difficulties are too great to be surmounted in any other way, forgetting that if they sought God's companionship before they need it, many of their difficulties would never arise.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may not let God be crowded out by the hurly-burly of life. I pray that I may seek God early and often.
******************************************************
Thought for Today
Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.
--Groucho Marx
***************************************************************
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
Joseph Goldstein on "Non-Self" -- from Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Vol. VI, #3
The Buddha described what we call "self" as a collection of aggregates - elements of mind and body - that function interdependently, creating the appearance of a woman or a man. We then identify with that image or appearance, taking it to be "I" or "mine," imagining it to have some inherent self-existence. For example we get up in the morning, look in the mirror, recognize the reflection, and think, "Yes, that's me again." We then add all kinds of concepts to this sense of self: I'm a woman or a man, I'm a certain age, I'm a happy or unhappy person -- the list goes on and on.
When we examine our experience, though, we see that there is not some core being to whom experience refers; rather it is simply "empty phenomena rolling on." It is "empty" in the sense that there is no one behind the arising and changing phenomena to whom they happen. A rainbow is a good example of this. We go out after a rainstorm and feel that moment of delight if a rainbow appears in the sky. Mostly, we simply enjoy the sight without investigating the real nature of what is happening. But when we look more deeply, it becomes clear that there is no "thing" called "rainbow" apart from the particular conditions of air and moisture and light. Each one of us is like that rainbow - an appearance, a magical display, arising out
of our various elements of mind and body.
***************************************************************
Native American
Grandfather, today, let me know all people are my teachers and I am the student.
*****************************************
Walk in Dry Places
Solving our common problem
Recovery
Twelve Step programs bring together people who admit certain behaviors that society often views with pity or contempt. Some of these behaviors, such as alcoholism and gambling, are heavily stigmatized.
Though we often talk about "our common problem", the thing we have most in common with each other is that we're human beings who share the human condition. No one is really immune from the similar problems that beset us.
That's why somebody once remarked, only in half-jest, that "alcoholics are like normal people, only more so." We have to remember that the people around us are no different from us in that they are subject to such feelings as pride, resentment, self-pity, and discouragement.
Our common problem is really that we're human beings who need a spiritual life in order to become our true selves.
This can turn a problem into a new life if we accept the program.
Today I'll look upon all people with understanding and acceptance. Everyone shares the same feelings that drive me, and everyone deserves my warmth and understanding.
*********************************
passed on to me from my friend Cheryl T from New Zealand who got it from Angela from Dallas ... small world :-)
I want my Higher Power to live in my heart full time, but He'll only
take a 24-hour lease.
It's amazing how good I feel when I get connected to my Higher Power. I
do this when I pray and meditate in the mornings, or when I speak to or
help someone in the program, or when I attend meetings. I love the
peace I feel, the sense of belonging I have and the feelings of being
comfortable in my own skin.
It's also amazing how I can wake up the next day and feel so
disconnected. I've often asked my sponsor why I can't stay connected,
and he tells me it's the same reason I can't stay full after I've eaten
a meal. When I ask him to explain, he says:
"Because we are spiritual beings, we all have a hunger to connect with
our source. Once connected, we are filled with the peace and serenity
that is the nourishment of this union. As we go about our day expending
energy - the biggest energy drain caused by thinking about ourselves -
we quickly become depleted and hungry. That's why we need to
continually take actions to restore our connection and move God back
into our hearts."
"Even though my Higher Power will only take a 24-hour lease, I can take
actions to renew it daily."
OPEN-MINDEDNESS
We have found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him. To us, the realm of the spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive, never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek. It is open, we believe, to all men.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 7
But even faith is not the whole story. There must be service. We must give this thing away if we want to keep it. The Dead Sea has no outlet and it is stagnant and full of salt. The Sea of Galilee is clear and clean and blue, as the Jordan River carries it out to irrigate the desert. To be of service to other people makes our lives worth living. Does service to others give me a real purpose in life?
Meditation for the Day
Seek God early in the day, before He gets crowded out by life's problems, difficulties, or pleasures. In that early quiet time gain a calm, strong confidence in the goodness and purpose in the universe. Do not seek God only when the world's struggles prove too much and too many for you to bear or face alone. Seek God early, when you can have a consciousness of God's spirit in the world. People often only seek God when their difficulties are too great to be surmounted in any other way, forgetting that if they sought God's companionship before they need it, many of their difficulties would never arise.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may not let God be crowded out by the hurly-burly of life. I pray that I may seek God early and often.
******************************************************
Thought for Today
Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.
--Groucho Marx
***************************************************************
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
Joseph Goldstein on "Non-Self" -- from Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Vol. VI, #3
The Buddha described what we call "self" as a collection of aggregates - elements of mind and body - that function interdependently, creating the appearance of a woman or a man. We then identify with that image or appearance, taking it to be "I" or "mine," imagining it to have some inherent self-existence. For example we get up in the morning, look in the mirror, recognize the reflection, and think, "Yes, that's me again." We then add all kinds of concepts to this sense of self: I'm a woman or a man, I'm a certain age, I'm a happy or unhappy person -- the list goes on and on.
When we examine our experience, though, we see that there is not some core being to whom experience refers; rather it is simply "empty phenomena rolling on." It is "empty" in the sense that there is no one behind the arising and changing phenomena to whom they happen. A rainbow is a good example of this. We go out after a rainstorm and feel that moment of delight if a rainbow appears in the sky. Mostly, we simply enjoy the sight without investigating the real nature of what is happening. But when we look more deeply, it becomes clear that there is no "thing" called "rainbow" apart from the particular conditions of air and moisture and light. Each one of us is like that rainbow - an appearance, a magical display, arising out
of our various elements of mind and body.
***************************************************************
Native American
Grandfather, today, let me know all people are my teachers and I am the student.
*****************************************
Walk in Dry Places
Solving our common problem
Recovery
Twelve Step programs bring together people who admit certain behaviors that society often views with pity or contempt. Some of these behaviors, such as alcoholism and gambling, are heavily stigmatized.
Though we often talk about "our common problem", the thing we have most in common with each other is that we're human beings who share the human condition. No one is really immune from the similar problems that beset us.
That's why somebody once remarked, only in half-jest, that "alcoholics are like normal people, only more so." We have to remember that the people around us are no different from us in that they are subject to such feelings as pride, resentment, self-pity, and discouragement.
Our common problem is really that we're human beings who need a spiritual life in order to become our true selves.
This can turn a problem into a new life if we accept the program.
Today I'll look upon all people with understanding and acceptance. Everyone shares the same feelings that drive me, and everyone deserves my warmth and understanding.
*********************************
passed on to me from my friend Cheryl T from New Zealand who got it from Angela from Dallas ... small world :-)
I want my Higher Power to live in my heart full time, but He'll only
take a 24-hour lease.
It's amazing how good I feel when I get connected to my Higher Power. I
do this when I pray and meditate in the mornings, or when I speak to or
help someone in the program, or when I attend meetings. I love the
peace I feel, the sense of belonging I have and the feelings of being
comfortable in my own skin.
It's also amazing how I can wake up the next day and feel so
disconnected. I've often asked my sponsor why I can't stay connected,
and he tells me it's the same reason I can't stay full after I've eaten
a meal. When I ask him to explain, he says:
"Because we are spiritual beings, we all have a hunger to connect with
our source. Once connected, we are filled with the peace and serenity
that is the nourishment of this union. As we go about our day expending
energy - the biggest energy drain caused by thinking about ourselves -
we quickly become depleted and hungry. That's why we need to
continually take actions to restore our connection and move God back
into our hearts."
"Even though my Higher Power will only take a 24-hour lease, I can take
actions to renew it daily."
Monday, November 7, 2011
Acceptance is the Answer to.......
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, p. 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.
************************************
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.
********************************************
Thought for Today
"First keep peace with yourself, then you can also bring peace to others."
--Thomas Kempis
**********************************************************
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.
Join us at Friendship House, Nashville's Oldest and Well Known AA Clubhouse
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, p. 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.
************************************
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.
********************************************
Thought for Today
"First keep peace with yourself, then you can also bring peace to others."
--Thomas Kempis
**********************************************************
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.
Join us at Friendship House, Nashville's Oldest and Well Known AA Clubhouse
Sunday, October 23, 2011
You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight
Come visit Nashville' oldest remaining Club House at 202
WHEN THE GOING GETS ROUGH
It is a design for living that works in rough going.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 15
When I came to A.A., I realized that A.A. worked wonderfully to help keep me sober. But could it work on real life problems, not concerned with drinking? I had my doubts. After being sober for more than two years I got my answer. I lost my job, developed physical problems, my diabetic father lost a leg, and someone I loved left me for another---and all of this happened during a two-week period. Reality crashed in, yet A.A. was there to support, comfort, and strengthen me. The principles I had learned during my early days of sobriety became a mainstay of my life for not only did I come through, but I never stopped being able to help newcomers. A.A. taught me not to be overwhelmed, but rather to accept and understand my life as it unfolded.
*****************************************************
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
In A.A. we have to learn that drink is our greatest enemy. Although we used to think that liquor was our friend, the time came when it turned against us and became our enemy. We don't 'know just when this happened, but we know that it did because we began to get into trouble - jails and hospitals. We realize now that liquor is our enemy. Is it still my main business to keep sober?
Meditation for the Day
It is not your circumstances that need altering so much as yourself. After you have changed, conditions will naturally change. Spare no effort to become all that God would have you become. Follow every good leading of your conscience. Take each day with no backward look. Face the day's problems with God, and seek God's help and guidance as to what you should do in every situation that may arise. Never look back. Never leave until tomorrow the thing that you are guided to do today.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that God will help me to become all that He would have me be. I pray that I may face today's problem as with good grace.
********************************************
Thought for Today
"You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight"
--Jim Rohn
***************************************************
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. " ~EE Cummings
What You Think Upon Grows...
*******************************************
Native American
"The basis of knowledge is the fire, rock, water, and green. But when that power was given to man, he used it to twist his own mind. Tunkashila gave man just one drop of that wisdom."
--Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA
All of Nature has the wisdom to follow the Natural Laws. All of Nature knows how to live in harmony and use this wisdom in a good way, with exception of the human being. Often we misuse this wisdom. Wisdom always remains with those who use it in the proper way. Nature has used this wisdom well, so now we need to go to Her so we humans can relearn and change our lives. May we start doing this today, before it is too late.
Creator, let me be open to the lessons that Nature can teach me.
***************************************************
Keep It Simple
Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once. --- unknown
Time always seems to pass too slowly or too quickly for us. .We want the fun times to last longer. We want the boring or painful times to go faster. But times goes at just the right pace. Any faster, and we wouldn't have enough time to learn as we go. Any slower, and we'd lose interest. In our program, we learn to respect the pace of time. We let go, and we let time go at it's own pace. We call this patience.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thank-you for patience. Help me look forward to the future without rushing. Help me live fully in the here and now. Help me make today a good one by doing Your will.
Action for the Day: I'll list five ways I can use time to be more healthy---in body, mind and spirit. Which of these five things can I do today?
WHEN THE GOING GETS ROUGH
It is a design for living that works in rough going.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 15
When I came to A.A., I realized that A.A. worked wonderfully to help keep me sober. But could it work on real life problems, not concerned with drinking? I had my doubts. After being sober for more than two years I got my answer. I lost my job, developed physical problems, my diabetic father lost a leg, and someone I loved left me for another---and all of this happened during a two-week period. Reality crashed in, yet A.A. was there to support, comfort, and strengthen me. The principles I had learned during my early days of sobriety became a mainstay of my life for not only did I come through, but I never stopped being able to help newcomers. A.A. taught me not to be overwhelmed, but rather to accept and understand my life as it unfolded.
*****************************************************
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
In A.A. we have to learn that drink is our greatest enemy. Although we used to think that liquor was our friend, the time came when it turned against us and became our enemy. We don't 'know just when this happened, but we know that it did because we began to get into trouble - jails and hospitals. We realize now that liquor is our enemy. Is it still my main business to keep sober?
Meditation for the Day
It is not your circumstances that need altering so much as yourself. After you have changed, conditions will naturally change. Spare no effort to become all that God would have you become. Follow every good leading of your conscience. Take each day with no backward look. Face the day's problems with God, and seek God's help and guidance as to what you should do in every situation that may arise. Never look back. Never leave until tomorrow the thing that you are guided to do today.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that God will help me to become all that He would have me be. I pray that I may face today's problem as with good grace.
********************************************
Thought for Today
"You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight"
--Jim Rohn
***************************************************
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. " ~EE Cummings
What You Think Upon Grows...
*******************************************
Native American
"The basis of knowledge is the fire, rock, water, and green. But when that power was given to man, he used it to twist his own mind. Tunkashila gave man just one drop of that wisdom."
--Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA
All of Nature has the wisdom to follow the Natural Laws. All of Nature knows how to live in harmony and use this wisdom in a good way, with exception of the human being. Often we misuse this wisdom. Wisdom always remains with those who use it in the proper way. Nature has used this wisdom well, so now we need to go to Her so we humans can relearn and change our lives. May we start doing this today, before it is too late.
Creator, let me be open to the lessons that Nature can teach me.
***************************************************
Keep It Simple
Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once. --- unknown
Time always seems to pass too slowly or too quickly for us. .We want the fun times to last longer. We want the boring or painful times to go faster. But times goes at just the right pace. Any faster, and we wouldn't have enough time to learn as we go. Any slower, and we'd lose interest. In our program, we learn to respect the pace of time. We let go, and we let time go at it's own pace. We call this patience.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thank-you for patience. Help me look forward to the future without rushing. Help me live fully in the here and now. Help me make today a good one by doing Your will.
Action for the Day: I'll list five ways I can use time to be more healthy---in body, mind and spirit. Which of these five things can I do today?
Saturday, September 17, 2011
TRUE TOLERANCE
Check us out at Friendship House
The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 139
I first heard the short form of the Third Tradition in the Preamble. When I came to A.A. I could not accept myself, my alcoholism, or a Higher Power. If there had been any physical, mental, moral, or religious requirements for membership, I would be dead today. Bill W. said in his tape on the Traditions that the Third Tradition is a charter for individual freedom. The most impressive thing to me was the feeling of acceptance from members who were practicing the Third Tradition by tolerating and accepting me. I feel acceptance is love and love is God's will for us.
******************************************************
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
We who have learned to put our drink problem in God's hands can help others to do so. We can be used as a connection between an alcoholic's need and God's supply of strength. We in Alcoholics Anonymous can be uniquely useful, just because we have the misfortune or fortune to be alcoholics ourselves. Do I want to be a uniquely useful person? Will I use my own greatest defeat and failure and sickness as a weapon to help others?
Meditation for the Day
I will try to help others. I will try not to let a day pass without reaching out an arm of love to someone. Each day I will try to do something to lift another human being out of the sea of discouragement into which he or she has fallen. My helping hand is needed to raise the helpless to courage, to strength, to faith, to health. In my own gratitude, I will turn and help other alcoholics with the burden that is pressing too heavily upon them.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be used by God to lighten many burdens. I pray that many souls may be helped through my efforts.
****************************************
Thought for Today
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into
enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order,
confusion to clarity. . . . Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings
peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
--Melody Beattie
*******************************************************
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
Enlightened Beings
You have your own values, and you always look through those values. An enlightened person is totally in a different dimension, where he lives without values, where he lives without any criteria, where he lives without any morality, where he simply lives without the ego. An enlightened person simply lives. He is not manipulating his life, he is a white cloud floating. He has nowhere to go, nothing to achieve. Nothing is good for him and nothing is bad. He does not know any God, he does not know any devil. He knows only life, and life in its totality is beautiful....
An enlightened person always appears like a madman. So the first thing to be understood is don't evaluate an enlightened person through your values - very difficult, because what else can you do. ...
Second thing: an enlightened person behaves from the center never from the periphery. You always behave from the periphery, you live on the periphery, the circumference. To you the circumference is the most important thing. You have killed your soul and saved your body. The enlightened person can sacrifice his body, but cannot allow his soul to be lost. He is ready to die - any moment he is ready to die - that's not a problem. But it is not ready to lose his center, the very core of his being.
***********************************************************
Native American
"Humility is probably the most difficult virtue to realize."
--Thomas Yellowtail, CROW
Two definitions of humility are (1) being aware of one's own defects of character, and (2) giving credit where credit is due. This means if you do something and are successful because God gave you certain talents, give credit to God when someone tells you how well you did; this is being humble. If you are successful at something, but had help from friends, spouse, neighbors, give credit to those who helped you; this is being humble. If you have done a task and you alone accomplished it, give credit to yourself; this is being humble. Say the truth and give credit where credit is due.
Grandfather, let me walk a truthful road today.
**********************************
Keep It Simple
The more one judges the less one loves. --- Balzac
At times we need to make judgments about people's behavior. We stand back and look at how their lives affect our sobriety. We have to do this to choose people whose relationships will be good for us. We have to do this before we trust someone in business. We should take a good look at the others person before we fall in love. But we decide to trust or love someone, we have to stop judging.
When we love someone, we don't stand back. We move in close. We give them all our love can offer. We don't just think and judge. We feel. We are on their side. We look for the good in them. We don't pick them apart. We love the whole person.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to judge a little and love a lot. Help me accept the people I love, faults and all. Help me love them better.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll catch myself when I start to judge others. I will accept them as they are.
The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 139
I first heard the short form of the Third Tradition in the Preamble. When I came to A.A. I could not accept myself, my alcoholism, or a Higher Power. If there had been any physical, mental, moral, or religious requirements for membership, I would be dead today. Bill W. said in his tape on the Traditions that the Third Tradition is a charter for individual freedom. The most impressive thing to me was the feeling of acceptance from members who were practicing the Third Tradition by tolerating and accepting me. I feel acceptance is love and love is God's will for us.
******************************************************
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
We who have learned to put our drink problem in God's hands can help others to do so. We can be used as a connection between an alcoholic's need and God's supply of strength. We in Alcoholics Anonymous can be uniquely useful, just because we have the misfortune or fortune to be alcoholics ourselves. Do I want to be a uniquely useful person? Will I use my own greatest defeat and failure and sickness as a weapon to help others?
Meditation for the Day
I will try to help others. I will try not to let a day pass without reaching out an arm of love to someone. Each day I will try to do something to lift another human being out of the sea of discouragement into which he or she has fallen. My helping hand is needed to raise the helpless to courage, to strength, to faith, to health. In my own gratitude, I will turn and help other alcoholics with the burden that is pressing too heavily upon them.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be used by God to lighten many burdens. I pray that many souls may be helped through my efforts.
****************************************
Thought for Today
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into
enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order,
confusion to clarity. . . . Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings
peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
--Melody Beattie
*******************************************************
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
Enlightened Beings
You have your own values, and you always look through those values. An enlightened person is totally in a different dimension, where he lives without values, where he lives without any criteria, where he lives without any morality, where he simply lives without the ego. An enlightened person simply lives. He is not manipulating his life, he is a white cloud floating. He has nowhere to go, nothing to achieve. Nothing is good for him and nothing is bad. He does not know any God, he does not know any devil. He knows only life, and life in its totality is beautiful....
An enlightened person always appears like a madman. So the first thing to be understood is don't evaluate an enlightened person through your values - very difficult, because what else can you do. ...
Second thing: an enlightened person behaves from the center never from the periphery. You always behave from the periphery, you live on the periphery, the circumference. To you the circumference is the most important thing. You have killed your soul and saved your body. The enlightened person can sacrifice his body, but cannot allow his soul to be lost. He is ready to die - any moment he is ready to die - that's not a problem. But it is not ready to lose his center, the very core of his being.
***********************************************************
Native American
"Humility is probably the most difficult virtue to realize."
--Thomas Yellowtail, CROW
Two definitions of humility are (1) being aware of one's own defects of character, and (2) giving credit where credit is due. This means if you do something and are successful because God gave you certain talents, give credit to God when someone tells you how well you did; this is being humble. If you are successful at something, but had help from friends, spouse, neighbors, give credit to those who helped you; this is being humble. If you have done a task and you alone accomplished it, give credit to yourself; this is being humble. Say the truth and give credit where credit is due.
Grandfather, let me walk a truthful road today.
**********************************
Keep It Simple
The more one judges the less one loves. --- Balzac
At times we need to make judgments about people's behavior. We stand back and look at how their lives affect our sobriety. We have to do this to choose people whose relationships will be good for us. We have to do this before we trust someone in business. We should take a good look at the others person before we fall in love. But we decide to trust or love someone, we have to stop judging.
When we love someone, we don't stand back. We move in close. We give them all our love can offer. We don't just think and judge. We feel. We are on their side. We look for the good in them. We don't pick them apart. We love the whole person.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to judge a little and love a lot. Help me accept the people I love, faults and all. Help me love them better.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll catch myself when I start to judge others. I will accept them as they are.
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