Good Morning!!!
God grant me the Serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change;
Courage to change
the things I can;
and Wisdom
to know the difference.
Thy will, not mine, be done.
*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
January 7, 2024
AT THE TURNING POINT
Half measures availed us nothing.
We stood at the turning point.
We asked His protection and care
with complete abandon.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 59
Every day I stand at turning points.
My thoughts and actions can propel me toward growth
or turn me down the road to old habits and to booze.
Sometimes turning points are beginnings,
as when I decide to start praising,
instead of condemning someone.
Or when I begin to ask for help instead of going it alone.
At other times turning points are endings,
such as when I see clearly the need
to stop festering resentments or crippling self-seeking.
Many shortcomings tempt me daily;
therefore, I also have daily opportunities
to become aware of them.
In one form or another,
many of my character defects appear daily:
self-condemnation, anger, running away, being prideful,
wanting to get even, or acting out of grandiosity.
Attempting half measures to eliminate these defects
merely paralyzes my efforts to change.
It is only when I ask God for help, with complete abandon,
that I become willing – and able – to change.
******************************
Can We Choose?
We must never be blinded by the futile philosophy
that we are just the hapless victims
of our inheritance, of our life experience,
and of our surroundings–
that these are the sole forces
that make our decisions for us.
This is not the road to freedom.
We have to believe that we can really choose.
“As active alcoholics, we lost our ability to choose
whether we would drink.
We were the victims of a compulsion
which seemed to decree
that we must go on with our own destruction.
“Yet we finally did make choices
that brought about our recovery.
We came to believe
that alone we were powerless over alcohol.
This was surely a choice, and a most difficult one.
We came to believe that a Higher Power
could restore us to sanity
when we became willing
to practice A.A.’s Twelve Steps.
“In short, we chose to ‘become willing,’
and no better choice did we ever make.”
1. Grapevine, November 1960 – 2. Letter, 1966
******************************
Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired
This tried and true slogan helps us
to stay in touch with our feelings and needs.
Sometimes the onset of anxiety
or a sudden drop in mood can be traced
to our having forgotten to eat so
our blood sugar levels are off kilter.
Sometimes we may be carrying a resentment,
or feeling lonely, or we are just too tired.
Taking a little time out from our busy day
to ask ourselves if we are
feeling too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired,
gets us in touch with our feelings.
When we know what we are feeling
we can make choices
and take the appropriate action
to get our needs
for food, companionship, or rest, met.
Being too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired,
are conditions that leave us more vulnerable
to the temptations that lead us away
from our program of recovery.
Part of recovery is learning to pay attention
to these inner signals
and practice appropriate ways
to meet our needs and resolve issues
in a manner that will enhance
our abstinence and serenity.
By Anonymous
*******
"When we stop taking responsibility for how we feel,
we project how we feel onto others.
One of the fundamental insights
about emotional maturity
is that we are responsible for our own emotional lives.
No one makes us feel any particular way.
If ten people are subjected
to the same emotional environment,
they will all feel different
about what was said to them.
What happens is mostly on automatic pilot
because we are not conscious of it."
~ Adyashanti
The Way of Liberating Insight
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