Daily Reflections
April 13
THE FALSE COMFORT OF SELF-PITY
Self-pity is one of the most unhappy and consuming defects
that we know. It is a bar to all spiritual progress and can cut off all
effective communication with our fellows because of its inordinate demands for
attention and sympathy. It is a maudlin form of martyrdom, which we can ill
afford.
–AS BILL SEES IT, p. 238
The false comfort of self-pity screens me from reality only momentarily and then demands, like a drug, that I take an ever bigger dose. If I succumb to this it could lead to a relapse into drinking. What can I do? One certain antidote is to turn my attention, however slightly at first, toward others who are genuinely less fortunate than I, preferably other alcoholics. In the same degree that I actively demonstrate my empathy with them, I will lessen my own exaggerated suffering.
Twenty-Four Hours A
Day
April 13
A.A. Thought for the Day
Having found my way into this new world by the grace of God and the help of A.A., am I going to take that first drink, when I know that just one drink will change my whole world? Am I deliberately going back to the suffering of that alcoholic world? Or am I going to hang onto the happiness of this sober world? Is there any doubt about the answer? With God’s help, am I going to hang onto AA. with both hands?
Meditation for the Day
I will try to make the world better and happier by my presence in it. I will try to help other people find the way God wants them to live. I will try to be on the side of good, in the stream of righteousness, where all things work for good. I will do my duty persistently and faithfully, not sparing myself. I will be gentle with all people. I will try to see other people’s difficulty and help them to correct it. I will always pray to God to act as interpreter between me and the other person.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may live in the spirit of prayer. I pray that I may depend on God for the strength I need to help me to do my part in making the world a better place.
Walk in Dry Places
April 13
No Conditional Sobriety
Admission of Powerlessness
Sobriety in AA is unconditional. This means that there’s never been a reason for drinking, no matter how bad our circumstances may become. As the AA pioneers were fond of saying, “THERE’S NOTHING THAT DRINKING WON’T MAKE WORSE.”
How do we know if we’ve been setting conditions on sobriety? It’s revealed to us in our own thinking. If we believe, for example, that a certain setback such as the ending of a relationship is just cause for drinking, we have made our sobriety conditional.
In such cases, what we need to do is clear up our own thinking on the subject. Maybe further inventory is needed, or perhaps we should let ourselves learn from the experience of others. Self-honesty is also important in getting priorities in order.
The decision to choose unconditional sobriety brings additional benefits in helping us to organize our lives. Once we completely understand that sobriety is all-important, it becomes easier to make other decisions that bear on keeping sober. We find ourselves choosing the ideas and activities that enhance sobriety, while rejecting other things that could threaten it.
I’ll never waver in a moment from my relief that I must continue to seek sobriety…… unconditionally. There is nothing that could ever justify my taking a drink.
Keep It Simple
April 13
No labor, however humble, is dishonoring.
–The Talmud
Work is good for the heart. Work is good for our minds. It can give us something to focus on besides ourselves. Labor doesn’t just mean having a job. It may mean planting a garden or helping a friend. It certainly means working our program. Hopefully, it’s a labor of love. We can get into trouble if we have to much time on our hands. We can turn it into mischief or self-pity. We can get bored. Being bored is a matter of choice. We’ll never be bored if we ask ourselves, “How can I make this world a better place?” We can turn our answers into action.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, teach me to use my time wisely. Help me be well-balanced between labor and fun. I need both.
Action for the Day: I’ll list five ways that labor and fun can help me get closer to my Higher Power. And I’ll look for people and things to fill my time in positive ways.
According to my experience, the principal characteristic of genuine happiness is peace, inner peace.
–His Holiness the Dalai Lama
God, help me remember to be peaceful first, no matter what situation I face.
–Melody Beattie
“When human beings stand by one another, testify to their faith, and witness each other’s pain, miracles happen. If we are loved enough, we are emotionally healed and spiritually made whole.”
–Marianne Williamson
God, teach me to let go of worry about money.
–Melody Beattie
“Don’t go through life, GROW through life.”
–Eric Butterworth
Look for opportunities to speak words that help and heal.
–Roy Shaver
Father Leo’s Daily
Meditation
April 13
REALITY
“I tend to be suspicious of people whose love of animals is exaggerated; they are often frustrated in their relationship with humans.”
–Yila (Camilla Koffler)
Anything can be used to avoid dealing with reality. People can use alcohol, food, drugs, people, sex, gambling – and yes, even animals – to avoid dealing with their loneliness and feelings of isolation.
The key to addiction is to be found in the obsessive and compulsive behavior patterns that stop us from reaching our full potential as human beings. We cannot relax with who we are because of our exaggerated and painful lifestyles. We cannot truly love ourselves because of our obsession with the “it” that seems to be controlling us. At some point we need to see the obsession and begin to talk about it.
In order for me to be a spiritual person I must free myself from compulsive attitudes.
God, I meditate on the “comfortableness” of freedom.
Daily Inspiration
April 13
Grow and learn from every situation no matter how insignificant because to stand still is really going backwards. Lord, may my spirit always remain young and vibrant and my enthusiasm for each new day remain alive.
It is the optimist that opens new doors and takes advantage of even the smallest of life’s opportunities. Lord, may my spirit shine and my eyes be open so that I may discover all that life offers.
Elder’s Meditation
of the Day
April 13
“Once you make a friend, a friend never leaves you, even to death. So a friend is really hard to find.”
–Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA
Once, an Elder told me he made a decision to be my friend. He said this friendship wasn’t based on my behavior or how I acted; he said the friendship was based on his decision. He decided to be my friend. This friendship has happened like he said. Even if I don’t see him for a long time, or if I get mad at him, he has never changed his decision. This is true friendship.
Great Spirit, I’m glad you are this kind of Friend.
Today’s Gift
April 13
Nobody can be in good health if he does not have all the time fresh air, sunshine, and good water.
—Chief Flying Hawk
Before this part of the world was colonized by Europeans, native Americans thrived here, living in wigwams and teepees, spending their time in the fresh air and sun, and drinking pure, fresh water from springs, streams, and rivers. They lived long, healthy lives and almost never were sick–precisely because they knew how important the natural elements were.
When we feel depressed or nervous, nature is a good listener. We can take a walk in the sun, listen to the small birds, or twigs cracking under our feet, or simply the sound of our shoes on the pavement. We don’t need to live in teepees to follow the Indians’ example today. But getting out in the sunshine and fresh air every day, even on really cold days, rejuvenates us. Sunlight is healing, fresh air cleanses our lungs and brings more oxygen to the blood and brain. When we think enough of ourselves to take a walk when we need it, even that small amount of self-consideration is also healing.
Have I given myself time to live outside today?
Touchstones
Meditations For Men
April 13
Are you willing to be sponged out, erased, cancelled, made nothing? Are you willing to be made nothing? Dipped into oblivion? If not, you will never really change.
—D. H. Lawrence
Many men have a self-centered attitude about change. They say, “Lift yourselves up by your bootstraps! Take charge! Be aggressive!” They have only a beginner’s understanding of what real change is. When we try to change ourselves by our own methods, we simply give rebirth to our already limited controlling ideas. We recycle and intensify our problems.
This program has given us a profound possibility for change. We discover we are able to move beyond our compulsion to control by surrendering. The promises for recovery are clear and bright, if we yield to this program totally – but they do not come on our timetable. We yield. We allow ourselves to be helped. We allow change to overtake us. We earnestly seek to do our part. And change comes! It comes – not when we say, “Now I deserve, it,” but when we are ready to accept it.
Today, I surrender again. Each day I learn to surrender and grow deeper.
Daily TAO
April 13
RECIPROCITY
Hands grasp, but also give.
Mouth tastes, but also speaks.
Nose breathes, but also smells.
Eyes see, but also show.
Ears hear, but also balance.
The hands teach us not to be selfish. The mouth teaches us to give thanks in word and song. The nose teaches us to learn from our environment. The eyes teach us to show compassion and sincerity.
All parts of ourselves both give and receive. They function on a principle of reciprocity inherent in their very character. If our senses are so noble, shouldn’t we be as well?
The eyes of a dedicated person show an inner fortitude and charisma that the eyes of the ordinary do not. Scientifically, we know that an eye is an eye, a mere organ, yet experimentally we know that the eyes are virtual windows to the soul. For us to achieve similar depth of character, we must live according to the inherent nobility of our natures. Each one of our senses is not simply an information-gathering faculty but is a channel of expression as well.
Daily Zen
April 13
If you want to go to the pure land,
Then purify your mind.
When your mind is pure,
Then whatever you see will be pure
And wherever you go
You will find the Buddha realm.
– Vimalakirtinirdesa Sutra