Daily Reflections
October 29
OUR SURVIVAL
Since recovery from alcoholism is life itself to us, it is imperative that we preserve in full strength our means of survival.
-TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 177
The honesty expressed by the members of A.A. in meetings has the power to open my mind. Nothing can block the flow of energy that honesty carries with it. The only obstacle to this flow of energy is inebriation, but even then, no one will find a closed door if he or she has left and chooses to return. Once he or she has received the gift of sobriety, each A.A. member is challenged on a daily basis to accept a program of honesty. My Higher Power created me for a purpose in life. I ask him to accept my honest efforts to continue on my journey in the spiritual way of life. I call on Him for strength to know and seek His will.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
October 29
A.A. Thought For The Day
My relationships with my children have greatly improved. Those children who saw me drunk and were ashamed, those children who turned away in fear and even loathing have seen me sober and like me, have turned to me in confidence and trust and have forgotten the past as best they could. They have given me a chance for companionship that I had completely missed. I am their father or their mother now. Not just “that person the Mom or Dad married and God knows why.” I am a part of my home now. Have I found something that I had lost?
Meditation For The Day
Our true measure of success in life is the measure of spiritual progress that we have revealed in our lives. Others should be able to see a demonstration of God’s will in our lives. The measure of His will that those around us have seen worked out in our daily living is the measure of our true success. We can do our best to be a demonstration each day of the power of God in human lives, and example of the working out of the grace of God in the hearts of men and women.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may so live that others will see in me something of the working out of the will of God. I pray that my life may be a demonstration of what the grace of God can do.
Walk In Dry Places
October 29
Diminishing returns are still beneficial
Getting better.
There’s a “Cloud nine” effect that some of us had when we first found sobriety. Some call it the honeymoon stage. It includes a feeling of great joy and relief over having found, at last, an answer to drinking.
This gradually fades away, as it should under normal conditions. We then feel as though we’re in stages of diminishing returns, where the benefits The experience we have in getting sober is like that of people who recovery from a terrible physical illness. At first, they feel remarkably better for the first time. But then their recovery becomes taken for granted, and “feeling better” isn’t as remarkable as it was when they first recovered.
We should not expect it to be. Instead, we can focus on the contentment and well-being that living sober and steady improvement give us.
I may not have anything today like the excitement that accompanied early recovery. I’ll be satisfied with the normal blessings of good living.
Keep It Simple
October 29
Each morning puts a man on trail and each evening passes judgment.
-Ray L. Smith
In many ways, the Tenth Step is very natural. We continue to take a personal inventory. And when we’re wrong, we promptly admit it.
At the end of each day we ask ourselves, “How did my day go?” As we think about our day, we bring order to our life. The Tenth Step teaches us about order. It also teaches us how to correct mistakes. We do this by admitting our wrongs. This way, we have no backlog of guilt. It’s good to start each day fresh, free from quilt. Admitting our wrongs is a loving thing to do. It’s another way the program teaches us to love ourselves.
Prayer for the Day: Today, I’ll face many choices. Higher Power, be with me as I choose. When the day is done, remind me to think about how I lived today. This will help me learn.
Action for the Day: Tonight, I’ll list three choices I made today. Would I make the same choices again?
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
October 29
RACISM
“I want to be the white man’s brother not his brother-in-law.”
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
Addiction is always about separation, ego, isolation and prejudice. The disease makes us feel different, “less than” and we cover those feelings with false humility or we assume an arrogant and bombastic manner. Pride and feelings of inferiority put us on the defensive. It is not unusual for us to seek a scapegoat for our anger. Drinking alcoholics can be vindictive and prejudicial in their attitude towards minorities: Blacks, gays and Jews. It is a strange quirk of circumstance when a minority seeks to victimize another minority — because alcoholics are a minority group!
Sobriety is about a change in attitude and behavior. The spiritual acceptance of self must lead inevitably to the acceptance of others. The false pride and arrogance of our drinking days must give way to the vulnerable strength of sobriety. Now we are able to embrace our brother, regardless of color, class or creed.
Lord, teach me to seek You in my fellow man and greet You in the stranger.
Daily Inspiration
October 29
Make more room for love in your life. Lord, may I love myself and what I do, may I love others, and how they better my life, and above all, may I love You more each day.
Peace comes not from having no problems, but from being able to deal with them. Lord, bless me with the confidence and wisdom to grow from life’s challenges.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
October 29
“Mothers must protect the lives they have helped to bring into the world.”
-Haida Gwaii, Traditional Circle of Elders
Every child is subject to the seeds each adult plants in his/her mind.
If we plant praise and “you can do it”, the child will grow up with certain predictable behavior patterns.
If we plant ideas that there’s something wrong with you or you’re good for nothing, the child will grow up with predictable behavior patterns.
We need to honor and respect the mothers who protect the children and plant positive seeds for their growth.
Great Spirit, bless each mother and give her courage and faith.
Today’s Gift
October 29
There is nothing so moving – not even acts of love or hate – as the discovery that one is not alone.
—Robert Ardrey
Our fears are normal. Some of us fear going to a new school and making new friends. Taking an important test causes jitters in the bravest looking person. Maybe staying alone in the house for the first time has you looking under beds and in closets every time you hear a strange noise. Our fears are merely reminders that we’ve forgotten to let God help us out.
So often we think we’re alone, but we never are. We each have a Higher Power just waiting to be relied on. Nothing is too difficult or fearful for us to handle with the help of our Higher Power. When we develop the habit of letting God ease our way, our fears are gone.
Today, which fear can I replace with trust in my Higher Power?
The Language Of Letting Go
October 29
Acceptance
A magical potion is available to us today. That potion is called acceptance.
We are asked to accept many things: ourselves, as we are; our feelings, needs, desires, choices, and current status of being. Other people, as they are. The status of our relationships with them. Problems. Blessings. Financial status. Where we live. Our work, our tasks, our level of performance at these tasks.
Resistance will not move us forward, nor will it eliminate the undesirable. But even our resistance may need to be accepted. Even resistance yields to and is changed by acceptance.
Acceptance is the magic that makes change possible. It is not forever; it is for the present moment.
Acceptance is the magic that makes our present circumstances good. It brings peace and contentment and opens the door to growth, change, and moving forward.
It shines the light of positive energy on all that we have and are. Within the framework of acceptance, we figure out what we need to do to take care of ourselves.
Acceptance empowers the positive and tells God we have surrendered to the Plan. We have mastered today’s lesson, and are ready to move on.
Today, I will accept. I will relinquish my need to be in resistance to my environment and myself. I will surrender. I will cultivate contentment and gratitude. I will move forward in joy by accepting where I am today.
Touchstones Meditation For Men
October 29
It is senseless to speak of optimism or pessimism. The only important thing to remember is that if one works well in a potato field, the potatoes will grow. If one works well among men, they will grow. That’s reality. The rest is smoke.
—Danilo Dolci
We can get so mired in our pessimism and negativity! What is the point in it? We even get committed to our pessimism, and we challenge the world – or God – to give us reason for hope. In our pessimism, we don’t notice we have chosen a negative place to stand. Recovery means loosening our grip on negativism. We are then free to do the work we need to do. We can slowly take the risk of believing that positive things will happen too.
Any man can see the results in his own life. When we work well at this program, when we are faithful to it, we do grow. We see this truth in one another’s lives. The work is not always easy. We sometimes wish to avoid it or find a reason to not even try. But there is no doubt, when we look around us, that the effort is rewarded with fulfilling lives.
God, please remove pessimism from me so I may continue my work.
Daily TAO
October 29
MATURITY
Immortality does not beget wisdom.
Only mortality begets maturity.
There are people in this world who have had enough adventures for several lifetimes. They are the closest conception we can have of immortals. Yet some of these people are hopelessly immature. After all, whenever life became difficult for them, they changed to a new path and by luck the new one was always rich and fruitful. Life came so easily that they took more than one helping.
Unfortunately, maturity only comes from the threat of mortality. Success only comes from the threat of failure. Without pressure, we would not plan, utilize wisdom, or exercise care. We realize that we have only a very short time to make an achievement, to prove that our existence was worthwhile, and so we strive harder. An immortal can never conceive of such effort.
It would be good if our religious traditions provided us with a foolproof way through life. After all, we live somewhat haphazardly : Our lives are a tapestry woven of both mistakes and successes. Religion doesn’t always provide us with a meaningful pattern. We must make our decisions the best that we can, and as we mature, we can see our way better.