Daily Reflections
February 12
“THE ROOT OF OUR TROUBLES”
Selfishness–self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of all our troubles.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 62
How amazing the revelation that the world, and everyone in it, can get along just fine with or without me. What a relief to know that people, places and things will be perfectly okay without my control and direction. And how wordlessly wonderful to come to believe that a power greater than me exists separate and apart from myself. I believe that the feeling of separation I experience between me and God will one day vanish. In the meantime, faith must serve as the pathway to the center of my life.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
February 12
A.A. Thought For The Day
As we look back on all those troubles we used to have when we were drinking, the hospitals, the jails, we wonder how we could have wanted that kind of life. As we look back on it now, we see our drinking life as it really was and we’re glad we’re out of it. So after a few months in A.A., we find that we can honestly say that we want something else more than drinking. We’ve learned by experience that a sober life is really enjoyable and we wouldn’t go back to the old drunken way of living for anything in the world. Do I want to keep sober a lot more than I want to get drunk?
Meditation For The Day
My spiritual life depends on an inner consciousness of God. I must be led in all things by my consciousness of God and I must trust Him in all things. My consciousness of God will always bring peace to me. I will have no fear, because a good future lies before me as long as I keep my consciousness of God. If in every single happening, event and plan I am conscious of God, then no matter what happens, I will be safe in God’s hands.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may have this ever-consciousness of God. I pray for a new and better life through this God consciousness.
Walk In Dry Places
February 12
Do it sober
Practicing Principles
There may be a hidden meaning in that bumper sticker that reminds us to “Do it Sober,” but we can also read it to mean that real sobriety should guide everything we do today.
Real sobriety is emotional sobriety. We have it when our principles protect us from overpowering feelings growing out of greed, fear, and resentment. Even without the bottle, an attack of fear or resentment can distort personal judgment and lead to foolish mistakes. Whatever we do, whether it’s sweeping a factory floor or leading a corporate board meeting, we should do with confidence and calm self-control.
When we work in this way, we help others. We only harm them if we bring bitterness and resentment into their space. True emotional sobriety helps us set a better example and assures others that AA really works in people’s lives. One AA member was pleasantly surprised when he was complimented for remaining calm in confrontations with angry people. HE realized that his AA principles had been at work in his workplace, helping him to maintain a calm dignity that made him assertive and effective. Whatever we do sober, we always do better.
Today I’ll remind myself to stay emotionally as well as physically sober. So-called Dry Drunks are not slips, but they destroy my effectiveness and should have no place in my life.
Keep It Simple
February 12
We are always the same age inside.
—Gertrude Stein
Deep inside, we each have a child’s spirit. We still have many of the feelings we had when we were young. Some of us have a hurting child inside. There’s sadness, fear, or anger that hasn’t gone away. We’re still lonely, no matter how many people care about us. Our inner child needs special help to heal. We can be good parents to our inner child. We do this by being gentle and caring with ourselves. In time, this child can be a happy center in our hearts.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, please heal the child inside of me a little more each day. Help my inner child be alive, free, and full of joy.
Action for the Day: Right now, I’ll close my eyes for a minute. I’ll think kind thoughts about myself. Than I’ll say out loud, “Inner child, I love you. I’ll take good care of you.” I’ll do this two more times today.
The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.
–Chinese ProverbPerseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.
–Walter ElliottThere is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience.
–French ProverbYou cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
February 12
FREEDOM
“Freedom comes from human beings, rather than from laws and institutions.”
— Clarence Darrow
The disease of alcoholism does not live in bottles or books. It lives in people. Drug problems are people problems. Sobriety exists in the man, not the theory.
In this sense recovery must be experienced, rather than simply talked about. The Program is essentially not written in books or taught in lecture rooms but is lived in the lives of people; the program stems from the heart of man.
I believe the program is that spark of divinity that God has bestowed upon all of us — and we must discover it within.
Teach me to remember that to think a smile without revealing a smile is to be grumpy.
Daily Inspiration
February 12
Closeness with family makes us one in heart and mind. Lord, help me to fill our home with love and make it our safe haven from the troubles of the world.
Forget what you have done for others and remember what they have done for you. Lord, a gift is given freely with no expectation. May I become a truly giving person.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
February 12
“.the spirit still has something for us to discover – an herb, a sprig, a flower – a very small flower, maybe you can spend a long time in its contemplation, thinking about it.”
–Lame Deer, LAKOTA
The world today is about hurry up! Get there faster! Work harder, produce more, hurry up, eat quickly, be on time, don’t get stressed- headaches, conflict, drink to calm down, go to training on stress management, time management – STOP! STOP! STOP! STOP! STOP! STOP! STOP! Go spend 5 minutes with a flower or a plant. Look at it – think about it – look at its beauty, smell it, close your eyes and smell it again. Touch it; touch with your eyes closed. Listen to it; listen to it with your eyed closed. Slow your mind down. Think about the little things. Now close your eyes and pray.
Great Spirit, this feeling of calmness that I have, let me have it all day long.
Today’s Gift
February 12
Moving Forward
Much as we would like, we cannot bring everyone with us on this journey called recovery. We are not being disloyal by allowing ourselves to move forward. We don’t have to wait for those we love to decide to change as well.
Sometimes we need to give ourselves permission to grow, even though the people we love are not ready to change. We may even need to leave people behind in their dysfunction or suffering because we cannot recover for them. We don’t need to suffer with them.
It doesn’t help.
It doesn’t help for us to stay stuck just because someone we love is stuck. The potential for helping others is far greater when we detach, work on ourselves, and stop trying to force others to change with us.
Changing ourselves, allowing ourselves to grow while others seek their own path, is how we have the most beneficial impact on people we love. We’re accountable for ourselves. They’re accountable for themselves. We let them go, and let ourselves grow.
Today, I will affirm that it is my right to grow and change, even though someone I love may not be growing and changing alongside me.
Touchstones Meditations For Men
February 12
I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to the light I have.
—Abraham Lincoln
With too much focus on control, we men have been preoccupied by our overemphasis on outcomes. We say winning is everything, and the way we play the game doesn’t matter. We give honor to a man who has accumulated great wealth, regardless of how he has lived. We develop sexual problems because we focus on performance and achieving orgasm rather than on the joy of loving.
As our integrity grows, our emphasis changes. It is not crucial that we always be right, only that we be honest. We do not have to be winners or high achievers so much as we have to be real human beings. Conquest is not as important as connection. We do not always have to compare ourselves and be better than the next guy. We can exchange and appreciate the communication.
Today, I will grow in my relationships with others by being more true to myself and less driven toward a particular outcome.
Daily TAO
February 12
PERSEVERANCE
Invisible lines.
The fisherman repairs his net
And the fish are nearly caught.
If a fisherman does not have a properly repaired net, then his trip is useless. Preparation is the major part of his endeavor. Only when the fisherman keeps his nets intact, keeps his boat repaired, and studies the conditions of fish and water does going out to fish become a mere formality. Then fish fall into his hands as if guided by invisible lines.
When it seems as if nothing encouraging is happening to us, it is important to remember such perseverance. Work may be drudgery, maintaining a home may be routine, and we may find our goals quite distant. But we must persevere and prepare nevertheless. That will bring a steady pace toward our goals, and buoy our faith in rough and threatening times.
To taste the fruit of perseverance requires maturity and experience. We need to cultivate patience, planning and timing. We build our resources even when circumstances seem to be against us. We don’t neglect anything we have set in motion. If we nurse our plans through good times and bad, our plans will eventually succeed with the inevitability of fish caught in a net.
Daily Zen
February 12
Awakening is where there is
No birth, no extinction;
It is seeing into the
State of Suchness,
Absolutely transcending
All categories constructed by mind.
– Lankavatara Sutra