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09-22-2008, 10:24 PM
Wisdom for Today
In the beginning, all I wanted to do was to stop the insanity of my drinking and using. I felt so helpless and hopeless; I didn’t see a way out. I had to find someone or something I could rely on, as I had plenty of evidence I couldn’t trust myself. I found the answer in the voices of those who sat around the tables at meetings. I found that I could rely on a Power outside of myself. I found out that I was not God. Before long I didn’t just want to be clean and sober, but I wanted to stay that way.
Learning a new way of living was not easy, but the program provided some simple guidelines. When I was in my insanity of addiction, I relied on an artificial method of finding excitement in my life. Through the program I found that I could find happiness in the simple pleasures of life. I could get a kick out of life without drugs or alcohol. I no longer needed an artificial means to happiness as I was finding happiness in the simple everyday events in my life. I could laugh again. I could live through the difficulties and come out okay. I could give and receive love again. Is my outlook changing?
Meditations for the Heart
Gratitude is an attitude that I must have each and every day. I must remember to thank God and others even on the difficult days. Often times I find strength I didn’t even know I had. I know now that this is a gift of grace. God does for me what I cannot do for myself. It is easy to develop tunnel vision and only focus on the things that are going wrong or the things that continue to be problematic. At times like this I must open my eyes to see the things that are going right. I need to look for those things that have changed in my life and understand that I am still a work in progress. God is not finished with me yet. I need to be grateful for all that He has done. Do I take time to live in gratitude?
Petitions to my Higher Power
God,
Today help me to focus on all the problems I no longer have. Help me to see that You are helping me to solve those problems that remain. Let me see the opportunities that You provide for change in my life and take advantage of these opportunities. Walk with me as I walk through this day.
Amen.
-----
NA Just For Today
Dealing With Gossip
"In accordance with the principles of recovery, we try not to judge, stereotype, or moralize with each other."
Basic Text, p.11
Let's face it: In Narcotics Anonymous, we live in a glass house of sorts. Our fellow members know more about our personal lives than anyone has ever known before. They know who we spend our time with, where we work, what step we're on, how many children we have, and so forth. And what our fellow members don't know, they will probably imagine.
We may be unhappy when others gossip about us. But if we withdraw from the fellowship and isolate ourselves to avoid gossip, we also rob ourselves of the love, friendship, and unparalleled experience with recovery that our fellow members have to offer. A better way to deal with gossip is to simply accept the way things are and the way we are, and live our lives according to principles. The more secure we become with our personal program, the decisions we make, and the guidance we receive from a loving God, the less the opinions of others will concern us.
Just for today: I am committed to being involved in the NA Fellowship. The opinions of others will not affect my commitment to recovery.
pg. 277
-----
September 23 - Daily Feast
Other people's opinions are simply a view, not a verdict. A certain type of personality wants his view to be the effective one - the one that says what should be valid and what should be invalid. But even if he was right for the moment, does he have to be right forever? Listen, we can change. Any of us. It is our privilege to put down the old nature and to take on the new. It will be suspect - things like that always are. But St. Paul was a rascal until he made a change one day. We can do that - and we can move out of range of those who will not accept the change. Seems that it would be the best revenge to be good even though the skeptics raise their eyebrows.
~ We want to know whether you are going to fight the Sioux or not. We want to know. ~
BLACKFOOT - CROW
'A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II' by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*
Elder's Meditation of the Day - September 23
"When that spirit comes, we don't ever ask questions. If I don't understand, I just hold onto it. Then later down the road, maybe in a couple of years, I understand what that spirit meant."
--Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA
At certain spiritual events or happenings, it is possible for the spirits to come. Sometimes these spirits look like sparklers of light, sometimes you can feel them, sometimes they will look like live human beings. The spirits always come for a reason. When we deal with the spirit world, we need to be patient. The Great Spirit will tell us the meaning of these happenings when He is ready.
Great Spirit, let me be aware of Your presence.
*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*
"THINK on THESE THINGS"
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
If everyone were alike, what a dull world this would be. It is the individuality of each person that makes the world so interesting.
The tremendous differences in people give a wide range of personalities, beliefs, and appearances to every group, no matter how small.
If all the flowers in the world were of one color, would we think them so beautiful? It is the variety and wide range of rainbow colors that keeps us fascinated.
Cowper wrote, "Variety is the very spice of life, that gives it all its flavor." So many have no thought of life except what they will eat, what they will wear, and how they can entertain themselves. And then we come on someone who has the ability to see loveliness in the sunlight and charm in the quiet rain. They can say things to encourage, or to make calm and peaceful.
We meet many different kinds of people. Some we love and some we like and love, which is a terrific difference. It is to find a wholeness or a part of our lost self in someone else. It isn't that they are so much like us or that we believe the way they do, but that they communicate, and it is this rare communication that respects the differences between peoples.
-----
Daily Relationship Reading
Hot and cold. Does this phrase describe our relationship at times? When I feel as if my emotions or my partner's are like a yoyo, it confuses me. I long for a return of good times, but as soon as they appear I start dreading what usually follows: more down times.
If this is happening in our relationship, I'm not alone. We all long for closeness, but when we get a lot of it, we start feeling smothered or caged in. When we don't have closeness though, we feel pangs of loneliness, and insecurity. Because of this, our relationship keeps going through cycles of closeness, then distance, and we both become confused, hurt and angry.
How do I stop this frustrating yoyo? The first thing I need to do is stop blaming my partner, or myself, and start finding the underlying reasons why it happens.
We could get more insight by talking with a relationship therapist, or taking time to talk and really listen to each other's feelings about it. I may find that I was mistaken in my belief that my partner withdrew from me because they didn't care about my feelings. As I gain new insights, I may find I get a new understanding of love that combines closeness with a calm freedom to be myself.
Just for Today
Today, if I feel our relationship is like a yoyo at times, I'll stop blaming my partner, and instead try to find ways of getting new insights into why it happens. I'll try to accept it as a part of our relationship right now, and give ourselves the time we need to achieve a lasting, loving closeness..
When your elevator keeps going up and down, it's time to stop pushing buttons. - BH
-----
You are reading from the book Food for Thought.
Positive Leads
As our serenity grows, the clamor and confusion inside our heads die down. Instead of being pulled in many different directions and uncertain of which way to turn, we gradually discern the positive voice that leads us forward. Rather than trying to analyze all possible alternatives intellectually, we gain the confidence to choose the positive way without agonizing indecision.
To worry and speculate about the roads not taken is counter productive and wasteful of our energies. We pray that we may know the will of our Higher Power for us, and then we act according to the best of our knowledge. The more we practice listening to the still, small voice within, the more positive direction we will receive.
The mental calmness which we experience as we abstain from compulsive overeating clears away our former confusion. We may make mistakes, but as long as we can admit them and stay in contact with our Higher Power, we will continue to follow His positive leads.
Keep me on Your positive path.
-----
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or the life of another. --Helen Keller
It is a great loss when we underestimate the importance of our efforts in the life of another. One man, who had to spend some time in a hospital, waited day after day to receive a card or a telephone call from those who cared. Some people, who he expected to call or write, did not. Others, who the man had not felt close to, and whom he did not expect to hear from, surprised him with their concern. He came to place greater value on those who had cared enough to call or send a card.
A little act, the best we have at that moment, makes a big difference to the person on the other end. Knowing this helps us make sure that all our acts, even the smallest, are as good as we can make them, because they all make a difference.
What small acts of those around me have made a difference to me?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Granted that I must die, how shall I live? --Michael Novak
On our recovery path we sometimes fall into a hole. As we get more in touch with ourselves and with reality, we might be overwhelmed, frightened, or depressed. Many men have asked, "How can it be that I live life with such struggle and hard work only to die in the end?" In recovery we no longer have our anesthetic, our drug of choice, our excesses and controlling behaviors to dull this painful awareness.
Growing as a human being means becoming more aware of these dark truths and not being paralyzed by them. We accept death and choose life. That means we live fully in the present. We choose relationships with others. We appreciate the beauty of creation and seek to know the will of God. In recovery, we choose to live this day fully, in contact with friends and loved ones, appreciating the beauty around us, and helping those we can.
God, help me to tune in to your truth, and to be a living part of your constant creative process.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Who will I be today? The "Cosmopolitan" woman, the little girl, the scholar, the mother? Who will I be to answer the needs of others, and yet answer the needs of me? --Deidra Sarault
We wear many hats. One aspect of our maturity is our ability to balance our roles. It's often quite difficult to do so; however, the program offers us many tools for balancing our lives.
Fulfilling some of the needs of significant others in our lives brings us joy. Our own needs must be given priority, though. We cannot give away what we don't have, and we have nothing unless we give sincere attention and love to ourselves.
In years gone by, we may have taken too little care of others, or we overdid it. In either case, we probably neglected ourselves. Most of us starved ourselves spiritually, many of us emotionally, a few physically. We were all too often "all-or-nothing" women.
Today we're aware of our choices. We've been making a number of good ones lately: We're abstinent. We're living the Steps. And we're choosing how to spend our time, and what to do with our lives. But no choice will turn out very well if we haven't taken care of ourselves.
I will center on myself. I will nurture the maturing woman within and then reach out.
You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Tolerance
Practice tolerance.
Tolerate our quirks, our feelings, our reactions, our peculiarities, and our humanness. Tolerate our ups and downs, our resistance to change, and our struggling and sometimes awkward nature.
Tolerate our fears, our mistakes, our natural tendency to duck from problems, and pain. Tolerate our hesitancy to get close, expose ourselves, and be vulnerable.
Tolerate our need to occasionally feel superior, to sometimes feel ashamed, and to occasionally share love as an equal. Tolerate the way we progress - a few steps forward, and a couple back.
Tolerate our instinctive desire to control and how we reluctantly learn to practice detachment. Tolerate the way we say we want love, and then sometimes push others away. Tolerate our tendency to get obsessive, forget to trust God, and occasionally get stuck.
Some things we do not tolerate. Do not tolerate abusive or destructive behaviors toward others or ourselves.
Practice healthy, loving tolerance of ourselves, said one man. When we do, we'll learn tolerance for others. Then, take it one step further. learn that all the humanness we're tolerating is what makes ourselves and others beautiful.
Today, I will be tolerant of myself. From that, I will learn appropriate tolerance of others.
Today I am really listening to the messages that I tell myself. Today I want to feel good. Today I'm changing on my negative messages for positive ones. --Ruth Fishel
God help me to stay sober and clean today!
-----
Each day a new beginning
I want to dance always, to be good and not evil, and when it is allover not to have the feeling that I might have done better. ~ Ruth St. Denis
~~ Our wants in life may be simple, or they may be complex. They may yet be confused in our minds, but the clarity will come if we're patient. God has a way of giving us an "inner tug" when a certain direction beckons. Our responsibility is to follow that tug and trust it, fully. Too often we look back on our live with regret. What is done, is done. We learned lessons from those mistakes. Every day is a new beginning. And we can close every day with no regrets when we have followed our consciences, that "inner tug" that beckons.
The opportunities will come today. Opportunities to be good or evil. Opportunities for making choices over which we will feel good or full of regret at the day's close. Many of our choices will bring us closer to the satisfaction, the contentment with life, that we all search for as human beings. We need not fear coming to life's close, wishing we had done more or better. Living each day in good conscience, waiting for the tug and following it, will ensure a life well lived.
........... ..My ego can block out the tug, if I let it. Or I can trust.
In the beginning, all I wanted to do was to stop the insanity of my drinking and using. I felt so helpless and hopeless; I didn’t see a way out. I had to find someone or something I could rely on, as I had plenty of evidence I couldn’t trust myself. I found the answer in the voices of those who sat around the tables at meetings. I found that I could rely on a Power outside of myself. I found out that I was not God. Before long I didn’t just want to be clean and sober, but I wanted to stay that way.
Learning a new way of living was not easy, but the program provided some simple guidelines. When I was in my insanity of addiction, I relied on an artificial method of finding excitement in my life. Through the program I found that I could find happiness in the simple pleasures of life. I could get a kick out of life without drugs or alcohol. I no longer needed an artificial means to happiness as I was finding happiness in the simple everyday events in my life. I could laugh again. I could live through the difficulties and come out okay. I could give and receive love again. Is my outlook changing?
Meditations for the Heart
Gratitude is an attitude that I must have each and every day. I must remember to thank God and others even on the difficult days. Often times I find strength I didn’t even know I had. I know now that this is a gift of grace. God does for me what I cannot do for myself. It is easy to develop tunnel vision and only focus on the things that are going wrong or the things that continue to be problematic. At times like this I must open my eyes to see the things that are going right. I need to look for those things that have changed in my life and understand that I am still a work in progress. God is not finished with me yet. I need to be grateful for all that He has done. Do I take time to live in gratitude?
Petitions to my Higher Power
God,
Today help me to focus on all the problems I no longer have. Help me to see that You are helping me to solve those problems that remain. Let me see the opportunities that You provide for change in my life and take advantage of these opportunities. Walk with me as I walk through this day.
Amen.
-----
NA Just For Today
Dealing With Gossip
"In accordance with the principles of recovery, we try not to judge, stereotype, or moralize with each other."
Basic Text, p.11
Let's face it: In Narcotics Anonymous, we live in a glass house of sorts. Our fellow members know more about our personal lives than anyone has ever known before. They know who we spend our time with, where we work, what step we're on, how many children we have, and so forth. And what our fellow members don't know, they will probably imagine.
We may be unhappy when others gossip about us. But if we withdraw from the fellowship and isolate ourselves to avoid gossip, we also rob ourselves of the love, friendship, and unparalleled experience with recovery that our fellow members have to offer. A better way to deal with gossip is to simply accept the way things are and the way we are, and live our lives according to principles. The more secure we become with our personal program, the decisions we make, and the guidance we receive from a loving God, the less the opinions of others will concern us.
Just for today: I am committed to being involved in the NA Fellowship. The opinions of others will not affect my commitment to recovery.
pg. 277
-----
September 23 - Daily Feast
Other people's opinions are simply a view, not a verdict. A certain type of personality wants his view to be the effective one - the one that says what should be valid and what should be invalid. But even if he was right for the moment, does he have to be right forever? Listen, we can change. Any of us. It is our privilege to put down the old nature and to take on the new. It will be suspect - things like that always are. But St. Paul was a rascal until he made a change one day. We can do that - and we can move out of range of those who will not accept the change. Seems that it would be the best revenge to be good even though the skeptics raise their eyebrows.
~ We want to know whether you are going to fight the Sioux or not. We want to know. ~
BLACKFOOT - CROW
'A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II' by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*
Elder's Meditation of the Day - September 23
"When that spirit comes, we don't ever ask questions. If I don't understand, I just hold onto it. Then later down the road, maybe in a couple of years, I understand what that spirit meant."
--Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA
At certain spiritual events or happenings, it is possible for the spirits to come. Sometimes these spirits look like sparklers of light, sometimes you can feel them, sometimes they will look like live human beings. The spirits always come for a reason. When we deal with the spirit world, we need to be patient. The Great Spirit will tell us the meaning of these happenings when He is ready.
Great Spirit, let me be aware of Your presence.
*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*
"THINK on THESE THINGS"
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
If everyone were alike, what a dull world this would be. It is the individuality of each person that makes the world so interesting.
The tremendous differences in people give a wide range of personalities, beliefs, and appearances to every group, no matter how small.
If all the flowers in the world were of one color, would we think them so beautiful? It is the variety and wide range of rainbow colors that keeps us fascinated.
Cowper wrote, "Variety is the very spice of life, that gives it all its flavor." So many have no thought of life except what they will eat, what they will wear, and how they can entertain themselves. And then we come on someone who has the ability to see loveliness in the sunlight and charm in the quiet rain. They can say things to encourage, or to make calm and peaceful.
We meet many different kinds of people. Some we love and some we like and love, which is a terrific difference. It is to find a wholeness or a part of our lost self in someone else. It isn't that they are so much like us or that we believe the way they do, but that they communicate, and it is this rare communication that respects the differences between peoples.
-----
Daily Relationship Reading
Hot and cold. Does this phrase describe our relationship at times? When I feel as if my emotions or my partner's are like a yoyo, it confuses me. I long for a return of good times, but as soon as they appear I start dreading what usually follows: more down times.
If this is happening in our relationship, I'm not alone. We all long for closeness, but when we get a lot of it, we start feeling smothered or caged in. When we don't have closeness though, we feel pangs of loneliness, and insecurity. Because of this, our relationship keeps going through cycles of closeness, then distance, and we both become confused, hurt and angry.
How do I stop this frustrating yoyo? The first thing I need to do is stop blaming my partner, or myself, and start finding the underlying reasons why it happens.
We could get more insight by talking with a relationship therapist, or taking time to talk and really listen to each other's feelings about it. I may find that I was mistaken in my belief that my partner withdrew from me because they didn't care about my feelings. As I gain new insights, I may find I get a new understanding of love that combines closeness with a calm freedom to be myself.
Just for Today
Today, if I feel our relationship is like a yoyo at times, I'll stop blaming my partner, and instead try to find ways of getting new insights into why it happens. I'll try to accept it as a part of our relationship right now, and give ourselves the time we need to achieve a lasting, loving closeness..
When your elevator keeps going up and down, it's time to stop pushing buttons. - BH
-----
You are reading from the book Food for Thought.
Positive Leads
As our serenity grows, the clamor and confusion inside our heads die down. Instead of being pulled in many different directions and uncertain of which way to turn, we gradually discern the positive voice that leads us forward. Rather than trying to analyze all possible alternatives intellectually, we gain the confidence to choose the positive way without agonizing indecision.
To worry and speculate about the roads not taken is counter productive and wasteful of our energies. We pray that we may know the will of our Higher Power for us, and then we act according to the best of our knowledge. The more we practice listening to the still, small voice within, the more positive direction we will receive.
The mental calmness which we experience as we abstain from compulsive overeating clears away our former confusion. We may make mistakes, but as long as we can admit them and stay in contact with our Higher Power, we will continue to follow His positive leads.
Keep me on Your positive path.
-----
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or the life of another. --Helen Keller
It is a great loss when we underestimate the importance of our efforts in the life of another. One man, who had to spend some time in a hospital, waited day after day to receive a card or a telephone call from those who cared. Some people, who he expected to call or write, did not. Others, who the man had not felt close to, and whom he did not expect to hear from, surprised him with their concern. He came to place greater value on those who had cared enough to call or send a card.
A little act, the best we have at that moment, makes a big difference to the person on the other end. Knowing this helps us make sure that all our acts, even the smallest, are as good as we can make them, because they all make a difference.
What small acts of those around me have made a difference to me?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Granted that I must die, how shall I live? --Michael Novak
On our recovery path we sometimes fall into a hole. As we get more in touch with ourselves and with reality, we might be overwhelmed, frightened, or depressed. Many men have asked, "How can it be that I live life with such struggle and hard work only to die in the end?" In recovery we no longer have our anesthetic, our drug of choice, our excesses and controlling behaviors to dull this painful awareness.
Growing as a human being means becoming more aware of these dark truths and not being paralyzed by them. We accept death and choose life. That means we live fully in the present. We choose relationships with others. We appreciate the beauty of creation and seek to know the will of God. In recovery, we choose to live this day fully, in contact with friends and loved ones, appreciating the beauty around us, and helping those we can.
God, help me to tune in to your truth, and to be a living part of your constant creative process.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Who will I be today? The "Cosmopolitan" woman, the little girl, the scholar, the mother? Who will I be to answer the needs of others, and yet answer the needs of me? --Deidra Sarault
We wear many hats. One aspect of our maturity is our ability to balance our roles. It's often quite difficult to do so; however, the program offers us many tools for balancing our lives.
Fulfilling some of the needs of significant others in our lives brings us joy. Our own needs must be given priority, though. We cannot give away what we don't have, and we have nothing unless we give sincere attention and love to ourselves.
In years gone by, we may have taken too little care of others, or we overdid it. In either case, we probably neglected ourselves. Most of us starved ourselves spiritually, many of us emotionally, a few physically. We were all too often "all-or-nothing" women.
Today we're aware of our choices. We've been making a number of good ones lately: We're abstinent. We're living the Steps. And we're choosing how to spend our time, and what to do with our lives. But no choice will turn out very well if we haven't taken care of ourselves.
I will center on myself. I will nurture the maturing woman within and then reach out.
You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Tolerance
Practice tolerance.
Tolerate our quirks, our feelings, our reactions, our peculiarities, and our humanness. Tolerate our ups and downs, our resistance to change, and our struggling and sometimes awkward nature.
Tolerate our fears, our mistakes, our natural tendency to duck from problems, and pain. Tolerate our hesitancy to get close, expose ourselves, and be vulnerable.
Tolerate our need to occasionally feel superior, to sometimes feel ashamed, and to occasionally share love as an equal. Tolerate the way we progress - a few steps forward, and a couple back.
Tolerate our instinctive desire to control and how we reluctantly learn to practice detachment. Tolerate the way we say we want love, and then sometimes push others away. Tolerate our tendency to get obsessive, forget to trust God, and occasionally get stuck.
Some things we do not tolerate. Do not tolerate abusive or destructive behaviors toward others or ourselves.
Practice healthy, loving tolerance of ourselves, said one man. When we do, we'll learn tolerance for others. Then, take it one step further. learn that all the humanness we're tolerating is what makes ourselves and others beautiful.
Today, I will be tolerant of myself. From that, I will learn appropriate tolerance of others.
Today I am really listening to the messages that I tell myself. Today I want to feel good. Today I'm changing on my negative messages for positive ones. --Ruth Fishel
God help me to stay sober and clean today!
-----
Each day a new beginning
I want to dance always, to be good and not evil, and when it is allover not to have the feeling that I might have done better. ~ Ruth St. Denis
~~ Our wants in life may be simple, or they may be complex. They may yet be confused in our minds, but the clarity will come if we're patient. God has a way of giving us an "inner tug" when a certain direction beckons. Our responsibility is to follow that tug and trust it, fully. Too often we look back on our live with regret. What is done, is done. We learned lessons from those mistakes. Every day is a new beginning. And we can close every day with no regrets when we have followed our consciences, that "inner tug" that beckons.
The opportunities will come today. Opportunities to be good or evil. Opportunities for making choices over which we will feel good or full of regret at the day's close. Many of our choices will bring us closer to the satisfaction, the contentment with life, that we all search for as human beings. We need not fear coming to life's close, wishing we had done more or better. Living each day in good conscience, waiting for the tug and following it, will ensure a life well lived.
........... ..My ego can block out the tug, if I let it. Or I can trust.