Daily Reflections
September 26
OUR CHILDREN
The alcoholic may find it hard to re-establish friendly relations with his children. In time they will see that he is a new man and in their own way they will let him know it. From that point on, progress will be rapid. Marvelous results often follow such a reunion.
-ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 134
While on the road to recovery I received a gift that could not be purchased. It was a card from my son in college, saying, “Dad, you can’t imagine how glad I am that everything is okay. Happy Birthday, I love you.” My son had told me that he loved me before. It had been during the previous Christmas holidays, when he had said to me, while crying, “Dad, I love you! Can’t you see what you’re doing to yourself?” I couldn’t. Choked with emotion, I had cried, but this time, when I received my son’s card, my tears were tears of joy, not desperation.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
September 26
A.A. Thought For The Day
Continuing the consideration of the term “spiritual experience”: “The acquiring of an immediate and overwhelming God-consciousness, resulting in a dramatic transformation, though frequent, is by no means the rule. Most of our spiritual experiences are of the educational variety, and they develop slowly over a period of time. Quite often friends of newcomers are aware of the difference long before they are themselves. They finally realize that they have undergone a profound alteration in their reaction to life and that such a change could hardly have been brought about by themselves alone.” Is my outlook on life changing for the better?
Meditation For The Day
Look at the world as your Father’s house. Think of all people you meet as guests in you Father’s house, to be treated with love and consideration. Look at yourself as a servant in your father’s house, as a servant of all. Think of no work as beneath you. Be ever ready to do all you can for others who need your help. There is gladness in God’s service. There is much satisfaction in serving the highest that you know. Express your love for God in service to all who are living with you in your Father’s house.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may serve others out of gratitude to God. I pray that my work may be a small repayment for His grace so freely given me.
Walk In Dry Places
September 26
The Limited and Unlimited
Spiritual growth.
In our human experience, we face one imitation after another. We are always up against limited time energy, limited knowledge.
Yet everything we’re learning tells us that all of these are without limit in the universal. In terms of energy, for example, we know that we would be rich beyond belief if we could really tap the sun’s energy that rushes to the earth.
What we call human progress may really refer to the gaining of knowledge that enables us to shake off limitations. We actually did that by becoming sober in our 12 Step program. Now we’re learning to extend our limits in many other ways; and though we are human and limited, we surely have not begun to each any limits as far as God is concerned. Limited though we seem to be, we’re part of a Universe that is without limits.
I’ll focus today on the possibility of extending my limits, knowing that this is what God has planned for me.
Keep It Simple
September 26
The distance doesn’t matter; only the first step is difficult.
—Mme. Marquise du Deffand
During our addiction, we were on a path leading to death—death of our spirit, mind, and body.
On that path, we tired not to think about where it would lead. We didn’t want to get there. We just followed the path toward death, with one drink, pill, snort or toke at a time.
Now we’ve chosen a new path for our lives. Making that choice was hard. We knew only the old path. We were afraid to change. But we did it. That was the hardest part.
We are excited to follow our new path. We know it leads to good things. We can follow the map—the Twelve Steps—and enjoy the trip. It will last as long as we live, and the map will guide us.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thanks for helping me choose the path of life.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll study the map for my life by reading the Twelve Steps
“Love is the ability and willingness to allow those that you care for to be what they choose for themselves without any insistence that they satisfy you.”
–Wayne DyerEvery second of every moment is a new beginning. I can start my day over any time I choose. I can also begin my life anew at any time. This very moment can be a new beginning!
“Nothing we learn in this world is ever wasted.”
–Eleanor Roosevelt“Our worth is determined by the good deeds we do, rather than by the fine emotions we feel.”
–Elias L, Magoon“It is only possible to live happily-ever-after on a day-to-day basis.”
–Margaret Bonano“The best way to secure future happiness is to be as happy as is rightfully possible today.”
–Charles W. Eliot
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
September 26
PAIN
“You can’t hold a man down without staying down with him.”
– Booker T. Washington
I know who was holding me down in my life. I was. I know who was bringing pain and sadness in my life. I was. I know who was making me the victim of addiction. I was. I would beat myself up and then complain about the bruises!
I did this because I could not “see”. I had not accepted or understood the implications of my alcoholism. Today I am beginning to take care of myself because I have accepted my disease. I do not choose today to be the enemy in my life — I have surrendered to live. I do not want to hurt anymore. I do not want to hide in guilt and fear anymore. I do not choose to be my victim today.
God, I thank You for the freedom to determine my life and my victories.
Daily Inspiration
September 26
An ordinary day can become profound by realizing your importance to others and acting on it. Lord, may I be dependable to those who depend on me without complaints or resentments.
Rejoice. This is the day the Lord has made. Lord, my days pass so quickly. May I have a generous heart and the time to see the needs of those around me.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
September 26
“No one likes to be criticized, but criticism can be something like the desert wind that, in whipping the tender stalks, forces them to strike their roots down deeper for security.”
–Polingaysi Qoyawayma, HOPI
You move toward and become that which you think about. Creating a vision is what guides our lives. If we get off track with our vision, then we experience conflict. Conflict is nature’s way of telling us we are not in harmony. Criticism can be a way for one human being to help another. Often our Elders will give us criticism. This feedback is intended to be helpful. Criticism from our Elders helps us grow strong.
Great Spirit, today, if I need it, please provide me positive criticism.
A Day At A Time
September 26
Reflection For The Day
Is freedom from addiction all that we’re to expect from a spiritual awakening? Not at all. Freedom from addiction is only the bare beginning; it’s only the first gift of our first awakening. Obviously, if more gifts are to come our way, our awakening has to continue. As it does continue we find that slowly but surely we can scrap the old life — the one that didn’t work — for a new life that can and does work under any and all conditions. Am I willing to continue my awakening thorough the practice of the Twelve Steps?
Today I Pray
May I remember how it was when my only goal in life was to be free of my addiction. All the words and phrases I used were stoppers – “giving it up,” “quitting,” cutting myself off.” Once I was free, I began to realize that my freedom had more to do with “beginning” than “stopping.” May I now continue to think in terms of starters — “expanding,” “awakening,” “growing,” “learning,” “becoming.”
Today I Will Remember
My stopping was a starting point.
One More Day
September 26
The modern sympathy with invalids is morbid. Illness of any kind is hardly a thing to be encouraged in others.
–Oscar Wilde
When chronic illness strikes, there are no rules of social behavior we can fall back on. Nothing prepares us for the harsh reality of illness. There is a very delicate balance here. We want those who love us to understand, and we want them to help, but not to pity us.
We need to face squarely the changes that chronic illness brings, both for our loved ones and for us. By openly talking to each other abo0ut our problems of adjusted and loss, we can become less preoccupied with our losses and think more about the future. We will be less concerned with being “in-valid>’ We can move forth to a meaningful and valid life.
Facing the changes caused by chronic illness can, in the long fun, serve to make me stronger.
One Day At A Time
September 26
LETTING GO
“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”
–Joseph Campbell
It’s hard to give up old habits. Although my former solutions to dealing with stress, anger, and emotional and physical pain had never worked and only made the problems worse, they were familiar. I had high hopes the results would be different each time. I wasn’t too surprised when it didn’t happen because this was familiar ground.
Then I heard about this program, half-heartedly joined and began working the Twelve Steps. It was scary! Things began happening to me that I’d never dreamed possible. I was given abstinence! I had not planned for that to happen. How could I, when I had no idea what abstinence would really be like?
At first I felt very anxious, sure the abstinence would be snatched from me just as I was beginning to feel comfortable with it. While I enjoyed abstinence and not having to focus on my eating disorder’s requirements, I often felt like I was in foreign territory without a map. I couldn’t plan my life like I had before because my life was busy evolving in ways I couldn’t imagine.
But the longer I worked the program, the happier my life became. To my utter shock I’ve recently discovered that I, a control freak and ultimate planner of everything, have begun to enjoy the unpredictability that my Higher Power has so graciously put in my life.
Before the program I never appreciated spontaneity; I couldn’t. Now, a day without plans is an opportunity.
One day at a time …
I will pray to let go of my will and instead to be open to my Higher Power’s will for me.
~ Rhonda
Today’s Gift
September 26
There is no hope of joy except in human relations.
—Antoine de Saint Exupery
It is hard to imagine being really joyful and excited without our family and friends. We can imagine a birthday party with no one but us attending. Even if we got many gifts, we would feel empty if there were no one around with whom to share our excitement.
Our joy comes from each other. Even the hard times furnish us with wonderful memories for later in life. We share the good and the bad, and the rewards of both. When our lives together seem too difficult, when it’s too hard to share, too crowded to think, when there are too many disagreements, we can find comfort by looking at one another once again and seeing all the ways we are truly alike, and what we share every moment that we sometimes take for granted–our food, our thoughts, the very air we breathe.
What are the things we share right now?
Touchstones Meditations For Men
September 26
To try to extinguish the drive for riches with money is like trying to quench a fire by pouring butterfat over it.
—Hindu proverb
In recovery, we learn what we truly want and what is only a symbol of our desires. Do we truly want to use our energies pursuing success, or are we seeking approval from others? Do we truly want money so much, or are we attempting to escape the basically insecure nature of life? Do we truly enjoy the pleasure of food so much, or are we in search of comfort for our emotions?
Our desires, our wants, and our anxieties are spiritual issues. What at first we think we want may only hide deeper, more vulnerable, and painful feelings. When we admit the deeper fears and desires, we move closer to the spiritual truths of our lives. We can search for acceptance within ourselves and from God. We can learn to have spiritual peace in an insecure world. We can learn to accept the love of others even though we know we’re not perfect.
Today, I will ask myself what I want and listen with courage to my answer. It will lead me in my spiritual progress.
Daily TAO
September 26
MODESTY
Have you ever had a knot in your shoelace?
You have to bend down to untie it.
Difficulties in life confront us all; people respond in their own ways to adversity. Some succumb, some grow boisterous. Some marshall their determination, some respond with trickery. All too often, hardship will mow a person down.
When confronted with difficulty, those who follow Tao respond with modesty : they conform to the situation. They bow before it, and they concentrate upon it until they find a solution. They do not apply undue force; neither do they acquiesce meekly to fate. They examine the situation and carefully undo it. In the same way you bend down to untie a knot in your shoelace, they bend down to find guidance.
Even modesty can become an error if we become meek and insecure. Some people become so humble that they become self-defeating. They are talented but their personalities are so split that they cannot achieve their potential. Therefore, there must be limits even on modesty. It works. Like anything else, it must be applied in the right manner.
Daily Zen
September 26
And when That is seen in its
Immanence and transcendence
Then the ties that have bound the
Heart are loosened, the doubts
Of the mind vanish, and the law
Of karma works no more.
– Mundaka Upanishad