Daily Reflections
January 16
HITTING BOTTOM
Why all this insistence that every A.A. must hit bottom first? The answer is that few people will sincerely try to practice the A.A. program unless they have hit bottom. For practicing A.A.’s remaining eleven Steps means the adoption of attitudes and actions that almost no alcoholic who is still drinking can dream of taking.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 24
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
January 16
A.A. Thought For The Day
The A.A. program is more a way of building a new life than just a way of getting over drinking, because in A.A. we don’t just stop drinking. We did that plenty of times in the old days when we went “on the wagon.” And, of course, we always started to drink again, because we were only waiting for the time when we could fall off. Once we’ve gotten sober through the A.A. program, we start going uphill. In our drinking days, we were going downhill, getting worse and worse. We either go down or up. Am I going uphill, getting better and better?
Meditation For The Day
I will try to obey God’s will day in and day out, in the wilderness plains as well as on the mountaintops of experience. It is in the daily strivings that perseverance counts. I believe that God is Lord of little things, the Divine Controller of little happenings. I will persevere in this new way of life. I know that nothing in the day is too small to be a part of God’s scheme.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that the little stones which I put into the mosaic of my life may make a worthwhile pattern. I pray that I may persevere and so find harmony and beauty.
Walk In Dry Places
January 16
Material things matter
The Money Problem
Now and then we have heated discussions about the role of material things in sobriety. Someone is bound to say that money can’t buy happiness and that the spiritual has to come first.
But material things do matter in our lives, and we share with others the same desire to get ahead in life. We usually like good clothes, new cars, and steady pay checks. It is somewhat hypocritical to say that money and material things don’t matter when we obviously need money and would like to have more of it.
Our problem with money and material things occurred when we made a god of them, when we saw worldly success as the end-all and be-all of life. The proper function of money is to provide for smooth exchange of the goods and services we must use in order to live. Far from denouncing spiritual gifts that should be used properly, but not worshiped. More than likely, we can appreciate material things far more than we did while drinking, despite the exaggerated love we had then for worldly things.
I will neither despise material things nor make a god of them today. I will view them as part of God’s plan, as things to use.
Keep It Simple
January 16
Fair play is primarily not blaming others for anything that is wrong with us.
–Eric Hoffer
It’s tempting to blame others for our problems. Recovery asks us to answer for our actions. Admitting we are powerless over our actions. Admitting we are powerless over our alcohol and other drugs is a start.
Each of the Twelve Steps asks us to answer for our actions in some way. And the program shows us how to do this. Over time, we see that being responsible for our actions is the best way to live. Our self-confidence grows as we become more responsible. We start to see just how much we can do. We have gone from being drunks to being responsible people. If we can do this, then we can do anything!
Prayer for the Day: I pray to remember that I’m responsible for my actions. Blaming puts distance between me and other people. Higher Power, help me to play fair.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll list four times I’ve blamed someone else for a problem that was really my problem.
“Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by traffic from both sides.”
–Margaret Thatcher“Sharing what you have is more important than what you have.”
–Albert M. Wells, Jr.“Oh…I listen a lot and talk less. You can’t learn anything when you’re talking.”
–Bing CrosbySince love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul.
–Saint Augustine
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
January 16
PROCRASTINATION
“You cannot build a reputation on things you are going to do.”
— Mabel Newcomber
Procrastination is the addicts’ game. I will give up alcohol tomorrow. Soon I will take an inventory of my eating habits. Later I will talk to him about my anger and pain. Tomorrow and tomorrow — but it never happens!
The tragedy is that we not only bring pain and problems into our lives but we keep them there. Recovery requires action; sobriety and the spiritual program demand movement.
Today I will talk about my pain.
Daily Inspiration
January 16
When we hand over what we can’t handle to the One who can, miracles happen. Keep me free of stress, Lord, and in the best possible place to receive Your help.
There is no personal problem that you cannot solve. Lord, Your presence within me is all power. You are my help in every need.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
January 16
“If people are going to get back into balance, one of the things they have to do is seek the truth. They have to start really speaking the truth themselves, and that’s a difficult thing to do. The way it is now in the world, we don’t mind lying.”
–John Peters (Slow Turtle), WAMPANOAG
Well everybody’s doing it. Do unto others before they do unto you. If it wasn’t for back luck I would have no luck at all. These are excuses and rationalizations for giving up accountability. Be true to yourself. Seek the truth, The Great Spirit is the truth. The truth shall set you free. This is the truth. We cannot be free if we are dishonest nor can we live a balanced life if we are dishonest. As we grow, we need to start taking stands. All warriors take stands. The warrior’s belief is constantly being aligned to truth. The warrior will always know where he/she stands.
Great Spirit, help me today to seek Your truth, not my truth.
Today’s Gift
January 16
When you do something you are proud of, dwell on it a little, praise yourself for it.
—Mildred Newman
Each one of us is very good at something. Maybe it’s baseball or tennis where we display talent. Maybe we’re good in math or at giving reports. A few people are talented at being good listeners or helpful friends. To recognize our own talents we may need help from others. It’s always so much easier to see our faults, or the ways we don’t meet our own expectations.
But the fact is we are all skilled in many areas of our lives. To accept praise–better yet, to quietly give it to ourselves–is a sign of healthy growth.
What things have I done well lately?
Touchstones Meditation For Men
January 16
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
What good qualities lie within us? How do we choose to use them today? These simple questions point our way. Yet, on some days it seems so easy to get swept along with thoughts of future pain. And when we are not worrying about the future, we may fall into regrets about the past. Either way, we are distracted from our only opportunity to make a real difference – to be the kind of men we want to be in this moment, to learn from today’s experiment in living.
On this day, I will walk a little slower and will listen closely to the messages within me.
Daily TAO
January 16
ORDINARY
Umbrella, light, landscape, sky —
There is no language of the holy.
The sacred lies in the ordinary.
No one is able to describe the spiritual except by comparing it to ordinary things. One scripture describes the divine word as an “umbrella of protection.” Another says a god is light. Heaven is supposed to be in the sky, and even ascetics who have rejected sex use erotic images to describe enlightenment. People have to resort to metaphor to state the divine.
Even esoteric languages have been invented, and they mystify the outsider. Holy words always appear that way to the uninitiated. After one learns to read them, their message becomes assimilated. We no longer worry about the images, for we have found the truth that the words were indicating.