admin
10-14-2008, 04:24 PM
Wisdom for Today
Once in a while I can't help but think that I should be able to go back and drink or use again. After all, I have been clean and sober for a long time, and I know all about addiction and what to watch out for. But this kind of crazy thinking will only get me in trouble. I must remember that I am an alcoholic and an addict. It is important that I remind myself that I have a disease each day. I must remember all the times I tried to control my use but failed. I must remember that I can still fall back into the trap of denial.
Somewhere along the way I went too far. I went past the point of no return. I am not really sure when that happened, but I am convinced that I not only passed it but went far past it. I cannot ever go back. I need to remind myself that I already had enough and then some. I know that I cannot go back. My only choice is to move forward in recovery. Have I stopped looking back?
Meditations for the Heart
Somewhere along the line I read the story called, "Footprints in the Sand." I was very impressed with this story because I suddenly realized the number of times that God carried me. By all rights I should have been dead. The number of close calls I had was astounding. But by the grace of God I walk though life today. Even in recovery I am amazed at how many times my Higher Power carries me through the difficult times and struggles I still face. Sometimes I forget just how close my Higher Power is. I need to remember that God is always near and freely gives me what I need. My job is only to improve my conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will and the power to carry that out. Do I believe that a Higher Power will help me along the way?
Petitions to my Higher Power
God,
Sometimes I can still get mixed up with crazy thinking. Help me to recognize when I stray from the path of healthy thinking, and redirect me so I can continue on this path of recovery. Help me to recognize all the times that I am helped by Your power. Walk with me this day, for I never know when I will need Your help.
Amen.
-----
NA Just For Today
October 15
Choices
"We did not choose to become addicts."
Basic Text p. 3
When we were growing up, all of us had dreams. Every child has heard a relative or neighbor ask, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Even if some of us didn't have elaborate dreams of success, most of us dreamed of work, families, and a future of dignity and respect. But no one asked, "Do you want to be a drug addict when you grow up?"
We didn't choose to become addicts, and we cannot choose to stop being addicts. We have the disease of addiction. We are not responsible for having it, but we are responsible for our recovery. Having learned that we are sick people and that there is a way of recovery, we can move away from blaming circumstances - or ourselves - and into living the solution. We didn't choose addiction, but we can choose recovery.
Just for today: I choose recovery.
------
October 15 - Daily Feast
Some of us go to great lengths to keep from doing detail work - anything from flipping through a directory for one name in ten thousand to guessing at amounts in a recipe. No time, no time. Time isn't saved by guessing. Even when we hit it right once in a while - most of the time we are just a little off. How many of us take our basic instructions from hearsay - how many don't really want to know anyhow? Life itself has an instruction book. There's no reason to guess at what is right or wrong. We have a script for every part we play in life. When we have a need of any kind, the script has the wisdom to handle it. The Scriptures leave out nothing - and the biggest mistake we can make is to say we don't believe it - and go off to figure it out by guessing.
~ We were put here by the Creator and these were our rights. ~
CHIEF WENINOCK - YAKIMA, 1855
'A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II' by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*
Elder's Meditation of the Day - October 15
"All of us begin to rethink what is good about ourselves - put the past where it belongs - and get on with the possibilities of the present!"
--Howard Rainer, TAOS PUEBLO-CREEK
There is a saying, you move toward and become that which you think about. So the question for today is, what are you thinking about? Are you thinking bad things about yourself or are you thinking good things about yourself? Are you thinking about a worldly life? Are you thinking good things about people or are you gossiping about people? Are you focusing on past things or are you living in the future? We need to bring our thoughts into the NOW, right here.
Great Spirit, let me experience living in the present moment.
*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
When winter presses a cold, gray hand against every living thing and temporarily puts to sleep all outward growth and activity of other seasons, there is within a quiet, invisible, but very active preparation for a lighter, warmer time.
There are times when the winters of life press hard upon us, seeming to keep from us any hope for good. But as the coldest winter does not prevent a tulip from developing a blaze of color within the bulb, there is nothing to prevent our own inner growth.
We quite naturally want the things that will make us happy and we want them now. But there is still a time of preparation, the development of our abilities to recognize the good and the beautiful when we see it. Otherwise, we are apt to look past them, still searching.
The tulip has a plan drawn by God's hand, and more beautiful than anything we can make. We have a way of moving from one time to another, waiting for life to come to us instead of having a plan. But during those waiting periods we need to make a little effort to determine the course and to be ready when the right time comes.
-----
Daily Relationship Reading
As a child, I heard the words "right" and "wrong" a lot. When my behavior wasn't acceptable to someone else, it was labeled "wrong". When I pleased others, they praised me for being good, or behaving "right".
I now know the same words were used to control my feelings and thoughts. It wasn't "right" to cry, or be angry, or want something. "You shouldn't be thinking that", I was told. I felt so confused and afraid at times of being me.
I see and hear the same kinds of words, especially inside my mind, in my relationship. If my SO has grown up with the same confusion, it's no wonder we treat each other the same ways we were treated as children.
But are my feelings or thoughts right or wrong? Maybe they just "are" - just like apples are neither right nor wrong; they simply exist. My choices don't deserve to be called right or wrong, because what someone considers right, another considers wrong. It's time to look at my thoughts, feelings, and choices in a different way.
Just for Today
Today I'll stop looking at my choices as right or wrong, and instead simply look at whether they're good or harmful to me. I'll let others decide the same for themselves, and remember that something that's okay for someone else might be harmful to me. If I look at things this way, I can let go of a lot of arguments that have stolen my precious time.
In nature, there are neither punishments nor rewards - there are consequences. - Chinese Proverb
-----
You are reading from the book Food for Thought.
Cutting Cords
Often we are bound in unhealthy ways to parents, husbands, wives, children, and friends. When dependency and manipulation are masked as love, it is difficult to cut the cords that bind us. By ourselves we are unable to break free.
Listening to other compulsive overeaters helps us to see our own situation and ourselves more objectively. Working the steps builds emotional and spiritual maturity. Abstaining from compulsive overeating gives us the perception we need to see unhealthy relationships for what they are. Our growing self-respect motivates us to make changes.
We ate because we were too weak to face our problems. Now that we see where we have been manipulated and where we have manipulated others, we need the strength to cut the cords of unhealthy dependency. This strength comes from our Higher Power. Since we recognize our complete dependency on Him, we are no longer weakened by pseudo dependencies on those close to us. We learn to relate to them positively, out of God's strength rather than our own weakness.
By Your power, may I cut the cords that bind me.
-----
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
. ..ere it vanishes
Over the margin
After it, follow it,
Follow The Gleam.
--Alfred, Lord Tennyson
It is difficult to find words for the "Gleam" we pursue. What it is, we are never too sure. We see it best in our daily dreams, while we're staring out a window at nothing at all. Sometimes it appears between the words in a book; it is always sure to be there when we sit alone to write down our own thoughts. We see it in the autumn woods; feel its heavy breathing in ocean waves. It is suddenly a skylark in flight, a falling leaf, a flower we have reluctantly picked. It makes us feel sad but good. It is always luring us on, always beautiful.
Is it love? Success? Peace? It may be any or all of these things, and we may find it through another person, or some talent we have, or a thing of beauty we stumble upon. And it is there within us, always, waiting to be found.
In what ways can I follow the Gleam I see in my life today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
We know about remorse and death. But do we know about hope and life? I believe in life after birth! --Maxie Dunham
We do not need to create difficulties and pain in our lives. They come with the package of human existence. Some of us even feel bewildered when we aren't pressed by trouble. As we grew in recovery and our lives became better ordered, many of us thought, "Life seems to be going so well; I wonder what's wrong?" We were more accustomed to remorse and crisis than to joy and serenity.
What lies before us today is an unpainted picture. There are many possibilities for events to take a good turn. This, too, is part of the package, but we must believe and affirm the good things in order to accept them. When our only expectations are pain and trouble, they probably will be our only experiences. However, when we have faith that a better life is possible, we open ourselves to receive it.
Today, I will live with hope for the possibilities and accept the good things that come my way.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Character contributes to beauty. It fortifies a woman as her youth fades. --Jacqueline Bisset
How common it is for us to be overly concerned with our looks. The culture encourages it through our families, our friends, and the media. Many of us anguished over our looks in years past, and the pain of fading youth haunts some even now.
Perhaps it's time for us to take special note of the women we admire for their achievements. We should emulate them, honor them, and celebrate their particular beauty--a beauty generally enhanced by dignity, perseverance, and courage.
We can cultivate our special interests. They'll contribute to our achievements, which will add depth to our soul--the home of true beauty. Mature persons who acknowledge this true beauty are those we wish to attract into our lives. How fickle is the beautiful face! And even more fickle is the one who can see no deeper.
Youth and its beauty are fleeting. Not so the beauty of the developing character; time strengthens it. The program makes character development not only possible but also simple. Every Step, any Step, offers us an opportunity to take charge of our lives, right now.
I will remember, it's who I am inside that truly counts in the lives of others.
You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Letting Go of Chaos
No good work comes from unrest.
Unrest, fear, anger, or sadness may motivate us. These feelings are sometimes intended to compel action. But our best work emerges after these feelings have been replaced by peace.
We will not accomplish our task any sooner, or any better, by performing it out of a sense of urgency, fear, anger, or sadness.
Let go of unrest. Let peace fill the void. We do not have to forfeit our power, our God given personal power - or our peace - to do the work as we are called upon to do today. We will be given all the power we need to do what we are meant to do, when it is time.
Let peace come first. Then proceed. The task will get done, naturally and on time.
Today, I will get peaceful first, and let my work and life emerge from that base.
I have a quiet place within me where I can rest today, I have a quiet place where I can go that offers peace, comfort and healing. It is as close as this moment.... as close as a breath. This place is mine whenever I want it. --Ruth Fishel
God help me to stay sober and clean today!
Once in a while I can't help but think that I should be able to go back and drink or use again. After all, I have been clean and sober for a long time, and I know all about addiction and what to watch out for. But this kind of crazy thinking will only get me in trouble. I must remember that I am an alcoholic and an addict. It is important that I remind myself that I have a disease each day. I must remember all the times I tried to control my use but failed. I must remember that I can still fall back into the trap of denial.
Somewhere along the way I went too far. I went past the point of no return. I am not really sure when that happened, but I am convinced that I not only passed it but went far past it. I cannot ever go back. I need to remind myself that I already had enough and then some. I know that I cannot go back. My only choice is to move forward in recovery. Have I stopped looking back?
Meditations for the Heart
Somewhere along the line I read the story called, "Footprints in the Sand." I was very impressed with this story because I suddenly realized the number of times that God carried me. By all rights I should have been dead. The number of close calls I had was astounding. But by the grace of God I walk though life today. Even in recovery I am amazed at how many times my Higher Power carries me through the difficult times and struggles I still face. Sometimes I forget just how close my Higher Power is. I need to remember that God is always near and freely gives me what I need. My job is only to improve my conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will and the power to carry that out. Do I believe that a Higher Power will help me along the way?
Petitions to my Higher Power
God,
Sometimes I can still get mixed up with crazy thinking. Help me to recognize when I stray from the path of healthy thinking, and redirect me so I can continue on this path of recovery. Help me to recognize all the times that I am helped by Your power. Walk with me this day, for I never know when I will need Your help.
Amen.
-----
NA Just For Today
October 15
Choices
"We did not choose to become addicts."
Basic Text p. 3
When we were growing up, all of us had dreams. Every child has heard a relative or neighbor ask, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Even if some of us didn't have elaborate dreams of success, most of us dreamed of work, families, and a future of dignity and respect. But no one asked, "Do you want to be a drug addict when you grow up?"
We didn't choose to become addicts, and we cannot choose to stop being addicts. We have the disease of addiction. We are not responsible for having it, but we are responsible for our recovery. Having learned that we are sick people and that there is a way of recovery, we can move away from blaming circumstances - or ourselves - and into living the solution. We didn't choose addiction, but we can choose recovery.
Just for today: I choose recovery.
------
October 15 - Daily Feast
Some of us go to great lengths to keep from doing detail work - anything from flipping through a directory for one name in ten thousand to guessing at amounts in a recipe. No time, no time. Time isn't saved by guessing. Even when we hit it right once in a while - most of the time we are just a little off. How many of us take our basic instructions from hearsay - how many don't really want to know anyhow? Life itself has an instruction book. There's no reason to guess at what is right or wrong. We have a script for every part we play in life. When we have a need of any kind, the script has the wisdom to handle it. The Scriptures leave out nothing - and the biggest mistake we can make is to say we don't believe it - and go off to figure it out by guessing.
~ We were put here by the Creator and these were our rights. ~
CHIEF WENINOCK - YAKIMA, 1855
'A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II' by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*
Elder's Meditation of the Day - October 15
"All of us begin to rethink what is good about ourselves - put the past where it belongs - and get on with the possibilities of the present!"
--Howard Rainer, TAOS PUEBLO-CREEK
There is a saying, you move toward and become that which you think about. So the question for today is, what are you thinking about? Are you thinking bad things about yourself or are you thinking good things about yourself? Are you thinking about a worldly life? Are you thinking good things about people or are you gossiping about people? Are you focusing on past things or are you living in the future? We need to bring our thoughts into the NOW, right here.
Great Spirit, let me experience living in the present moment.
*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*
'THINK on THESE THINGS'
by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
When winter presses a cold, gray hand against every living thing and temporarily puts to sleep all outward growth and activity of other seasons, there is within a quiet, invisible, but very active preparation for a lighter, warmer time.
There are times when the winters of life press hard upon us, seeming to keep from us any hope for good. But as the coldest winter does not prevent a tulip from developing a blaze of color within the bulb, there is nothing to prevent our own inner growth.
We quite naturally want the things that will make us happy and we want them now. But there is still a time of preparation, the development of our abilities to recognize the good and the beautiful when we see it. Otherwise, we are apt to look past them, still searching.
The tulip has a plan drawn by God's hand, and more beautiful than anything we can make. We have a way of moving from one time to another, waiting for life to come to us instead of having a plan. But during those waiting periods we need to make a little effort to determine the course and to be ready when the right time comes.
-----
Daily Relationship Reading
As a child, I heard the words "right" and "wrong" a lot. When my behavior wasn't acceptable to someone else, it was labeled "wrong". When I pleased others, they praised me for being good, or behaving "right".
I now know the same words were used to control my feelings and thoughts. It wasn't "right" to cry, or be angry, or want something. "You shouldn't be thinking that", I was told. I felt so confused and afraid at times of being me.
I see and hear the same kinds of words, especially inside my mind, in my relationship. If my SO has grown up with the same confusion, it's no wonder we treat each other the same ways we were treated as children.
But are my feelings or thoughts right or wrong? Maybe they just "are" - just like apples are neither right nor wrong; they simply exist. My choices don't deserve to be called right or wrong, because what someone considers right, another considers wrong. It's time to look at my thoughts, feelings, and choices in a different way.
Just for Today
Today I'll stop looking at my choices as right or wrong, and instead simply look at whether they're good or harmful to me. I'll let others decide the same for themselves, and remember that something that's okay for someone else might be harmful to me. If I look at things this way, I can let go of a lot of arguments that have stolen my precious time.
In nature, there are neither punishments nor rewards - there are consequences. - Chinese Proverb
-----
You are reading from the book Food for Thought.
Cutting Cords
Often we are bound in unhealthy ways to parents, husbands, wives, children, and friends. When dependency and manipulation are masked as love, it is difficult to cut the cords that bind us. By ourselves we are unable to break free.
Listening to other compulsive overeaters helps us to see our own situation and ourselves more objectively. Working the steps builds emotional and spiritual maturity. Abstaining from compulsive overeating gives us the perception we need to see unhealthy relationships for what they are. Our growing self-respect motivates us to make changes.
We ate because we were too weak to face our problems. Now that we see where we have been manipulated and where we have manipulated others, we need the strength to cut the cords of unhealthy dependency. This strength comes from our Higher Power. Since we recognize our complete dependency on Him, we are no longer weakened by pseudo dependencies on those close to us. We learn to relate to them positively, out of God's strength rather than our own weakness.
By Your power, may I cut the cords that bind me.
-----
You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
. ..ere it vanishes
Over the margin
After it, follow it,
Follow The Gleam.
--Alfred, Lord Tennyson
It is difficult to find words for the "Gleam" we pursue. What it is, we are never too sure. We see it best in our daily dreams, while we're staring out a window at nothing at all. Sometimes it appears between the words in a book; it is always sure to be there when we sit alone to write down our own thoughts. We see it in the autumn woods; feel its heavy breathing in ocean waves. It is suddenly a skylark in flight, a falling leaf, a flower we have reluctantly picked. It makes us feel sad but good. It is always luring us on, always beautiful.
Is it love? Success? Peace? It may be any or all of these things, and we may find it through another person, or some talent we have, or a thing of beauty we stumble upon. And it is there within us, always, waiting to be found.
In what ways can I follow the Gleam I see in my life today?
You are reading from the book Touchstones.
We know about remorse and death. But do we know about hope and life? I believe in life after birth! --Maxie Dunham
We do not need to create difficulties and pain in our lives. They come with the package of human existence. Some of us even feel bewildered when we aren't pressed by trouble. As we grew in recovery and our lives became better ordered, many of us thought, "Life seems to be going so well; I wonder what's wrong?" We were more accustomed to remorse and crisis than to joy and serenity.
What lies before us today is an unpainted picture. There are many possibilities for events to take a good turn. This, too, is part of the package, but we must believe and affirm the good things in order to accept them. When our only expectations are pain and trouble, they probably will be our only experiences. However, when we have faith that a better life is possible, we open ourselves to receive it.
Today, I will live with hope for the possibilities and accept the good things that come my way.
You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Character contributes to beauty. It fortifies a woman as her youth fades. --Jacqueline Bisset
How common it is for us to be overly concerned with our looks. The culture encourages it through our families, our friends, and the media. Many of us anguished over our looks in years past, and the pain of fading youth haunts some even now.
Perhaps it's time for us to take special note of the women we admire for their achievements. We should emulate them, honor them, and celebrate their particular beauty--a beauty generally enhanced by dignity, perseverance, and courage.
We can cultivate our special interests. They'll contribute to our achievements, which will add depth to our soul--the home of true beauty. Mature persons who acknowledge this true beauty are those we wish to attract into our lives. How fickle is the beautiful face! And even more fickle is the one who can see no deeper.
Youth and its beauty are fleeting. Not so the beauty of the developing character; time strengthens it. The program makes character development not only possible but also simple. Every Step, any Step, offers us an opportunity to take charge of our lives, right now.
I will remember, it's who I am inside that truly counts in the lives of others.
You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Letting Go of Chaos
No good work comes from unrest.
Unrest, fear, anger, or sadness may motivate us. These feelings are sometimes intended to compel action. But our best work emerges after these feelings have been replaced by peace.
We will not accomplish our task any sooner, or any better, by performing it out of a sense of urgency, fear, anger, or sadness.
Let go of unrest. Let peace fill the void. We do not have to forfeit our power, our God given personal power - or our peace - to do the work as we are called upon to do today. We will be given all the power we need to do what we are meant to do, when it is time.
Let peace come first. Then proceed. The task will get done, naturally and on time.
Today, I will get peaceful first, and let my work and life emerge from that base.
I have a quiet place within me where I can rest today, I have a quiet place where I can go that offers peace, comfort and healing. It is as close as this moment.... as close as a breath. This place is mine whenever I want it. --Ruth Fishel
God help me to stay sober and clean today!