Daily Reflections
March 5
A LIFELONG TASK
“But just how, in these circumstances, does a fellow ‘take it easy?’ That’s what I want to know.”
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 26
I was never known for my patience. How many times have I asked, “Why should I wait, when I can have it all right now?” Indeed, when I was first presented the Twelve Steps, I was like the proverbial “kid in a candy store.” I couldn’t wait to get to Step Twelve; it was surely just a few months’ work, or so I thought! I realize now that living the Twelve Steps of A.A. is a lifelong undertaking.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
March 5
A.A. Thought For The Day
Sometimes we try too hard to get this program. It is better to relax and accept it. It will be given to us, with no effort on our part, if we stop trying too hard to get it. Sobriety can be a free gift of God, which he gives us by His grace when He knows we are ready for it. But we have to be ready. Then we must relax, take it easy, and accept the gift with gratitude and humility. We must put ourselves in God’s hands. We must say to God: “Here I am and here are all my troubles. I’ve made a mess of things and can’t do anything about it. You take me and all my troubles and do anything you want with me.” Do I believe that the grace of God can do for me what I could never do for myself?
Meditation For The Day
Fear is the curse of the world. Many are our fears. Fear is everywhere. I must fight fear as I would a plague. I must turn it out of my life. There is no room for fear in the heart in which God dwells. Fear cannot exist where true love is or where faith abides. So I must have no fear. Fear is evil, but “perfect love casteth out all fear.” Fear destroys hope and hope is necessary for all of humanity.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may have no fear. I pray that I may cast all fear out of my life.
Walk in Dry Places
March 5
A vision for you
A Positive attitude
One of the methods that helps in recovery is to see yourself as a sober person living a clean life. This is the “vision for you” that society’s founders offered in AA’s early days, and it’s still powerful today.
While being careful to avoid self-will, we can use this method with great success in living each day. Along with seeing ourselves sober, we can see ourselves living and working according to the best principles we know. We can see a business relationship improving. We can see some long-standing problems being solved. We can see a brighter side to negative situations that have persisted in spite of our best efforts to change them.
One author also talked about “seeing God on both sides of the table in any business negotiation.” We desire success, of course, but it’s also important to know that any negotiation ought to be successful for both parties. If we’re really practicing spiritual principles in all our affairs, there should be no desire to outmaneuver another person in any negotiation. There is always a price that is fair and satisfactory for both parties, and there are always terms suitable for both sides.
I will go through this day visualizing it as I think it should be according to the highest and best principles I know. I will put aside self-will and see everybody benefiting fro any negotiations in which I am involved.
Keep It Simple
March 5
I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today.
–William Allen White
Big changes are happening to us, but we can trust that changes will bring good things. After all, what have we got to lose? We have lived through the days and years of our addiction. Now, with the help of our Higher Power, the pain of those days has ended. We have no reason to worry.
Yet, recovery won’t make our lives perfect. Hard things still happened. But we never have to lose hope again. We never have to feel alone with our problems. What will come next? We don’t know the details, but we can be sure the future will be good if we stay on our path of recovery.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I know life holds many new things for me. Help me and protect me as I live in Your care today.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll trust that each day of my life will bring me good. I will share this idea with one friend.
“Forget regret, or life is yours to miss.”
-Jonathan LarsonIt is never too late to be what you might have been.
–George EliotGod, help me welcome all the new experiences in my life. Give me the courage to calmly walk my path today, knowing I’m right where I need to be.
–Melody BeattieNo one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
–Eleanor RooseveltThe past and the future are great places to visit, but you don’t want to live there.
–Tom Payne
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
March 5
IDENTITY
“Without freedom, no one really has a name.”
— Milton Acorda
Part of my identity involves my disease. I am an alcoholic and my name is … And with this recognition of who I am comes the liberty and freedom to live and create in God’s world. Who I am involves what I am; in the fusion of the two is my spiritual identity.
For years I ran from myself because I wanted to be different. I felt that I would not be acceptable or good enough for you. In running from me, I lost my identity; the seed of low self-esteem was sown.
With the spiritual recognition that I can only be who I am came the freedom of existence and identity. I am what I am!
Lord, You said once, “I am who I am.” Well, so am I!
Daily Inspiration
March 5
Shine and give praise, and it will encourage others to do the same. Lord, may my actions show those in my life that I appreciate and love them.
When we give in to fears and worries they will take charge of our lives. Lord, I place my trust in You so that I may experience every opportunity and not miss in life that which is meant for me.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
March 5
“I have always searched for my place and my people.”
–Wendy Rose, HOPI/MIWOK
For every human being to feel connected, we must have the feeling of belonging. That is one of the values and benefits of a culture: it creates the feeling of belonging. If for some reason, while you were growing up, you did not develop the feeling of belonging, a search will be triggered and a restlessness will be present in your heart. You will have a hole inside you, something missing, until you find your place and your people. Remember, we can get this feeling of belonging when we realize we belong to the Great Spirit and that He really loves us a lot.
My Creator, today, I belong to You. Let me feel Your presence. Thank You.
Journey to the Heart
March 5
Operate from Desire, Not Will
There are times when we need to force ourselves to put one foot in front of the other and do what needs to be done. But when we operate that way for too long, we can be separated from our heart, separated from our desires, instincts, and healthy inclinations. Separated from that part of us that lives and loves naturally. Separated from joy.
After years of grieving the loss of my son, I needed to come back to life. To do that, I had to force myself through the motions of living, those acts that I knew would create a good life for myself and my daughter. I was operating from sheer will, and that will was struggling hard to overcome the desire to give up. After a time of doing that though, I noticed that forcing myself forward had come habitual. Somewhere along the journey, I had forgotten about relaxing, trusting my heart, trusting my desires to carry me through. I became tired. Tired of forcing myself. Tired of pushing through.
I realized something else. It was safe to let go of willing my way through life. I had climbed the mountain. I was over the top. I was coming alive again. I had survived the toughest time. It was okay to relax and trust the guidance and desires of my heart. It was safe to relax and enjoy life again, to celebrate being alive.
If you’ve been operating from will, that was probably what you needed to do at that point in your life. It helped you survive, learn the lessons, get to the place you are now. But it no longer fits, not on a journey of joy. Not on the journey to the heart.
Let desire and inclination replace will. Let your heart and soul lead you forward. Then trust that they will, and trust where they lead. Let living from your heart’s desires reconnect you to joy.
Today’s Gift
March 5
The farmer may only be planting a seed, but if he opens his eyes he is feeding the whole world.
—Omaha Bee
A traveler journeying through a small village came upon some workers building an impressive structure. “What are you doing?” he asked. The first worker, a young, impatient man, replied in disgust, “I am making three dollars an hour and I’m getting very tired!” The visitor asked another man the same question. “I’m mixing concrete, as you can plainly see,” came the sarcastic reply. Finally, a woman working nearby left her wheelbarrow full of bricks and approached the stranger. “We are building a hospital,” she said with pride. “Now we will be able to care for all the region’s people. Babies will be born here. Lives will be saved.”
The stranger looked at the woman with admiration and spoke directly to her. “I know, for this is my hospital. Only you hold the vision of what it is you are creating.” The wealthy benefactor then put the woman in charge of construction so his hospital would be built by one who truly understood.
Will I see the importance of even the small things I do today?
Touchstones Meditation For Men
March 5
If not for the beast within us we would be castrated angels.
—Hermann Hesse
Let’s not confuse the surrender, humility, and serenity of this program with the perfection of angels. Today we are more alive because we are no longer destroying ourselves, or numbing ourselves, or shaming ourselves. We are men with the strength we need to meet the problems and excitements of the day. We may also get ourselves into trouble by our shortsightedness or mistaken ideas. That is why we need to continue to take inventory of ourselves and continue to be accountable.
We are on a spiritual path that leads toward fuller manhood. We accept the beast within. More than that, we like him and take pleasure in him. He has the same source as our spiritual strength. As we get better acquainted with him, he brings a sense of awe and mystery about the untamed parts of ourselves. He instills us with zest and vitality that we release as explosions of energy and power. He is in the music we love and in our dancing. He comes out in our daydreams and night dreams – in our labor and sweat. And he is in our trickery and humor.
I am filled with gratitude for the beast within.
Daily TAO
March 5
UNBOUND
Bird song flies unfettered
Over blue sky and green fields.
Once you feel Tao run,
Give way, give way.
What is it like to feel Tao? It is an effortless flowing, a sweeping momentum. It is like bird song soaring and gliding over a vast landscape. You can feel this in your life : Events will take on a perfect momentum, a glorious cadence. You can feel it in your body : The energy will rise up in you in a thrilling crescendo, setting your very nerves aglow. You can feel it in your spirit : You will enter a state of such perfect grace that you will resound over the landscape of reality like ephemeral bird song.
When Tao comes to you in this way, ride it for all that you are worth. Don’t interfere. Don’t stop — that brings failure, alienation, and regret. Don’t try to direct it. Let it flow and follow it. When the Tao is with you, put aside all other concerns. As long as the song lasts, follow. Just follow
Daily Zen
March 5
In the Ch’an perspective wisdom is a state
That is free from attachments,
Free from measurement,
Free from self-reference
And empty of vexation.
– Sheng Yen