Daily Reflections
October 31
AVOIDING CONTROVERSY
All history affords us the spectacle of striving nations and groups finally torn asunder because they were designed for, or tempted into, controversy. Others fell apart because of sheer self-righteousness while trying to enforce upon the rest of mankind some millennium of their own specification.
-TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 176
As an A.A. member and sponsor, I know I can cause real damage if I yield to temptation and give opinions and advice on another’s medical, marital, or religious problems. I am not a doctor, counselor, or lawyer. I cannot tell anyone how he or she should live; however, I can share how I came through similar situations without drinking, and how A.A.’s Steps and Traditions help me in dealing with my life.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
October 31
A.A. Thought For The Day
I have more peace and contentment. Life has fallen into place. The pieces of the jigsaw puzzle have found their correct position. Life is whole, all of one piece. I am not cast hither and yon on every wind of circumstance or fancy. I am no longer a dry leaf cast up and away by the breeze. I have found my place of rest, my place where I belong. I am content. I do not vainly wish for things I cannot have. I have “the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.” Have I found contentment in A.A.?
Meditation For The Day
In all of us there is an inner consciousness that tells of God, an inner voice that speaks to our hearts. It is a voice that speaks to us intimately, personally, in a time of quiet meditation. It is like a lamp unto our feet and a light unto your path. We can reach out into the darkness and figuratively touch the hand of God. As the Big Book puts it: “Deep down in every man, woman and child is the fundamental idea of God. We can find the Great Reality deep down within us. And when we find it, it changes our whole attitude toward life.”
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may follow the leading of the inner voice. I pray that I may not turn a deaf ear to the urging of my conscience.
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As Bill Sees It
October 31
Comradeship in Peril, p. 302
We A.A.’s are like the passengers of a great liner the moment after rescue from shipwreck, when camaraderie, joyousness, and democracy pervade the vessel from steerage to captain’s table.
Unlike the feelings of the ship’s passengers, however, our joy in escape from disaster does not subside as we go our individual ways. The feeling of sharing in a common peril–relapse into alcoholism–continues to be an important element in the powerful cement which binds us of A.A. together.
<< << << >> >> >>
Our first woman alcoholic had been a patient of Dr. Harry Tiebout’s, and he had handed her a pre-publication manuscript copy of the Big Book. The first reading made her rebellious, but the second convinced her. Presently she came to a meeting held in our living room, and from there she returned to the sanitarium carrying this classic message to a fellow patient: “We aren’t alone any more.”
1. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 17
2. A.A. Comes Of Age, p. 18
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Walk In Dry Places
October 31
Be still, for a while, anyhow.
God’s will for us.
The bible reminds us: “Be still, and know that I am God.” What does this say to the recovering alcoholic who is struggling against a tidal wave of problems?
It must be a reminder that our true place and right work is part of a great purpose, though we may still not know who we fit into the larger plan. We can know, however, that God’s plan will include peaceful actions, just and moral solutions, and results that are wholly beneficial to all concerned.
One does not have to be a theologian to decide that staying sober is part of God’s will for us. That’s why we can expect the support of Higher Power at all times, even when we feel fearful and abused.
Aside from staying sober, each of us will have individual work and responsibilities in life. We should be careful not to measure anyone’s success– including our own– against worldly standards. If God is in charge, wherever we are and whatever we happen to be doing can a part of the divine will.
In keeping sober today, I’ll know that I’m carrying out God’s will. I’ll also be open to unexpected opportunities to carry out God’s directions.
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Keep It Simple
October 31
A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it is committing another mistake.
-Confucius
Step Ten tell us that when we are wrong, we must “promptly” admit it. We aren’t used to admitting our mistakes. We defend ourselves and blame others. This is call denial.
Denial is bad for two reasons. First, it keeps from learning from our mistakes, so we keep making them. Second, we don’t listen to others, so we close ourselves and become lonely.
What a relief it is to admit our wrongs! We don’t have to keep trying to do things the hard way. We can learn new way to think and act that will work better for us. We can let other people be our teachers.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me out of denial, so I can see the changes I need to make.
Action for the Day: Today, If I disagree with someone, I’ll promptly admit when I’m wrong. If I’m right, I’ll be gentle. I don’t have to prove anything.
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Each Day a New Beginning
October 31
It’s a simple formula; do your best and somebody might like it.
-Dorothy Baker
We’re never guaranteed success by others’ standards. However, if we do our best according to the standards we think God has in mind, we’ll be successful. And from God we’ll always receive unconditional love and acceptance.
In the past many of us were haunted by fears that our best wasn’t good enough. And not infrequently those fears hindered our performance, thus validating our fears. We can slip back into those immobilizing fears if we don’t attend, with vigilance, to the program and its suggestions.
Our higher power will help us do whatever task lies before us. And no task will be ours except those for which we’ve been readied. Our job is simply to go forth, taking God as our partner, and set about completing the task. We will not falter if we remember where our strength rests, where the guidance lies.
Self-esteem is one of the byproducts of a job done with God’s help. An additional byproduct is that we learn more quickly to rely on God’s direction and strength the next time, thus reducing the time we give to fear.
I can be successful today, in every endeavor, if I let God manage my moves.
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Alcoholics Anonymous
October 31
THE PERPETUAL QUEST
– This lawyer tried psychiatrists. biofeedback, relaxation exercises, and a host of other techniques to control her drinking. She finally found a solution, uniquely tailored, in the Twelve Steps.
Soon after a friend of mine was killed by a drunk going the wrong way on the freeway, a truck driver talked about driving long hauls drunk. I was horrified and repelled, until I paused to recall that I used to drive when I couldn’t walk straight. When my friend was killed, my A.A. friends said, “Don’t drink! Don’t think! Go to meetings!” I went to a meeting where I sobbed and gnashed my teeth, but I didn’t drink.
p. 396
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
October 31
Tradition Three – “The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.”
Ed not only stayed, he stayed sober – month after month. The longer he kept dry, the louder he talked – against God. The group was in anguish so deep that all fraternal charity had vanished. “When, oh when,” groaned members to one another, “will that guy get drunk?”
p. 144
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Xtra Thoughts
October 31
Let go your memories of a dark past in order to have a bright future.
-unknown
The solution is simple. The solution is spiritual.
-unknown
F A I T H = Fantastic Adventures In Trusting Him.
The greatest gift that you can give yourself is a little bit of your own attention.
-Anthony J. D’Angelo
The best gifts are those which expect no return.
-Norwegian proverb
“The pleasure you get from your life is equal to the attitude you put into it.”
-Unknown
One person says, “When I feel far from God, I ask myself: Who moved?” God is always there. Today I will pray for the wisdom to stay close to my spiritual source, the Creator Spirit.
-unknown
“If you think you’re having a bad day, think again, and again and again and again until something good comes to mind.”
-Rev. Larry Hickey
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Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
October 31
SAINTS/SINNERS
“Every saint has a past and every sinner a future.”
-Oscar Wilde
I must not allow the painful things of my past to affect what I can do today. Guilt is a killer if I allow it power in my life. I have made my amends. I have apologized to those I hurt. Today I begin the rest of my life.
Alcoholism produces behavior that causes guilt and shame. In this sense it is different from so many other diseases. The shame and guilt I felt for years grew out of my alcoholic behavior and I need to remember that I am not responsible for being alcoholic. It is not my fault. However, with the knowledge and acceptance of the disease comes a determination to live responsibly. I have a sense of responsibility in my recovery. Spirituality involves being a responsible person. The awareness and acceptance of my past can help create a loving future.
Today I understand that in the failures of the past are sown the seeds of greatness.
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Bible Scriptures
October 31
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
-Psalm 139 : 9.10
“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let you heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”
-Psalm 27:14
For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
-Philippians 2:13
Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
-Hebrews 13:1-2
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
-Hebrews 13:5-6
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Daily Inspiration
October 31
Allow yourself the right to say no when the world asks too much of you. Lord, help me to stay focused on my goals and responsibilities so that I have time for that which is important to me.
Our time here is short and there is still so much to be done. Lord, please let me do a little more for You today so that the world may be a little better because of me.
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A Day At A Time
October 31
Reflection For The Day
If I’m to continue growing in The Program, I must literally “get wise to myself.” I must remember that for most of my life I’ve been terribly self-deceived. The sin of pride has been at the root of most of my self-deception, usually masquerading under the guise of some virtue. I must work continually to uncover pride in all its subtle forms, lest it stop me in my tracks and push me backward once again to the brink of disaster. When it comes to pride, do I believe, in Emerson’s words, that “it is impossible for a man to be cheated by anyone but himself … ?”
Today I Pray
May I know that button-popping pride is inappropriate for me as a recovering addict. It hides my faults for me. It turns people off and gets in the way of my helping others. It halts my progress because it makes me think I’ve done enough self-searching and I’m “cured.” I pray to my Higher Power that I may be realistic enough to accept my success in The Program without giving in to pride.
Today I Will Remember
Pride halts progress.
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One More Day
October 31
The human body is the best picture of the human soul.
-Ludwig Wittgenstein
As people walk down the street, we can usually spot those with a sense of pride in themselves. How people look is often an indicator of their self-esteem. The changes in our lives challenge us to continue feeling good about ourselves despite stress or diminished health. Any change can be frightening. Unfortunately, sometimes we let problems overtake us, and we begin to look and act like people who feel unwell.
We can take stock of our lives at this time and remember how much we can still do well. We are capable individuals; we can make our own decisions about how we want to conduct our lives. This renewed awareness strengthens our self esteem, and the image we convey to others is one of pride.
There are some things I just cannot change. Today, I will dwell on what I can do for myself.
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One Day At A Time
October 31
SERVICE
“Service is the rent that you pay for room on this earth.””
-Shirley Chisholm
Midway through my first fourth step someone asked me to sponsor her. I was thrilled and eager to share my experience, strength and hope. As my work with my sponsee progressed, something began to happen in my own program. All that I had learned and was sharing with my sponsee reminded me of where I came from and how far I had progressed. I found that my recovery was strengthened through this process of giving away my experiences in program. This service allowed me to keep what I had received.
It is vital for me that I serve the program of OA in all different manners: as a sponsor; as a leader of a step meeting; as treasurer of a local meeting; and by reaching out to newcomers, people in relapse, and others in the OA fellowship. The more I give, the more I receive.
One day at a time …
I will give service to the OA fellowship so that I may remain in recovery.
~ Cindi L.
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Elder’s Meditation of the Day
October 31
“One is not born a Tewa but rather one is made a Tewa … once made, one has to work hard continuously throughout one’s life to remain a Tewa.”
-Alfonso Ortiz, SAN JUAN PUEBLO
Being Indian is being spiritual.
It is not the color of our skin.
Being Indian is how we think.
We need to learn our culture, our language, our dances, our traditions, and customs.
It is one thing to know these things, but another to live them.
We need to spend time with the Elders and get their guidance.
We need to go to the mountains, woods, and desert to pray.
Being spiritual is the way for us to think right.
Walking the Red Road and thinking right is the greatest gift we can give to our children.
Grandfather, help me to Walk the Talk.
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Journey To The Heart
October 31
Something Important Is Happening Now
There’s never a time when nothing is happening.
Something is always taking place. Growth is occurring. We’re evolving, transforming, working things out, incorporating our last lesson, preparing for our next. Something is happening. We just don’t always see it. And that’s how it’s meant to be.
When we see, when we know too much too soon, it’s easy to let our heads get in the way. We think we have to control, have to force, have to make it happen, have to do something.
In a gentle but wise way, the universe takes into account our fears and our natures. It doesn’t let us know too much too soon. It doesn’t spoil the surprise. It doesn’t want us to spoil it either.
Open your heart to the universe. Trust that something is always happening. And often, it’s much different and better than you think.
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Today’s Gift
October 31
The only sense that is common in the long run is the sense of change – and we all instinctively avoid it.
—E. B. White
Nature reveals to us a world that is always changing. No two sunsets are alike. Winter brings invigorating days while spring brings new buds and blossoms every day. Summer brings lazy warmth and star-filled evenings while fall brings crisp afternoons and a sense of nostalgia.
Even though nature shows us a constantly changing world, we often resist the changes in our own lives. Changes can be both hard and sad, yet they are a part of life. Perhaps we are moving on to a new school or a new neighborhood, or perhaps we are feeling the changes that come with a divorce in the family.
With every change we say a sad goodbye to something old, something familiar – in the same way we feel sadness for summer’s end when the first leaves begin to fall. Yet every change also offers us the excitement and potential of a new season – with its own opportunity for new smells, special gifts, and invigorating days.
How have I changed today?
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The Language Of Letting Go
October 31
All Our Needs
And my God shall supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory…
-Phil. 4:19
This verse has helped me many times. It has helped me when I have wondered where my next friend bit of wisdom, insight, or meal was coming from.
Everything I need today shall be supplied to me.
People, jobs, what we have to our immediate disposal, are not our source.
We have tapped into a Greater Source, a source of infinite and immediate supply: God and His Universe.
Our task is to allow ourselves to come into harmony with our Source. Our task is to believe in, and look to, our true Source. Our task is to release fear; negative thinking, limitations, and short supply thinking.
Everything we need shall be provided to us. Let it become a natural response to all situations, and all situations of need.
Reject fear. Reject short supply and limited thinking notions. Be open to abundance.
Cherish need because it is part of our relationship to God and His Universe. God has planned to meet our every need, has created the need within us, so God can supply.
No need is too small or too great. If we care and value our need, God will too.
Our part is taking responsibility for owning the need. Our part is giving the need to the Universe. Our part is letting go, in faith. Our part is giving God permission to meet our needs by believing we deserve to have our needs – and wants – met.
Our part is healthy giving, not out of caretaking, guilt, obligation, and codependency, but out of a healthy relationship with ourselves, God, and all of God’s creations.
Our part is simply to be who we are, and love being that.
Today, I will practice the belief that all my needs today shall be met. I will step into harmony with God and His Universe, knowing that I count.
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More Language Of Letting Go
October 31
Practice awareness of God
I can remember the moment when I was willing to be truly vulnerable with life again. I was walking around a beach town, talking to my friend. I was talking about my safe little life back in Stillwater, Minnesota, where I thought I had everything under control. I had avoided living in big cities and thought small town living would be safe. In that small town, working for its daily newspaper, I had found all the potential held in life. I got that big break that put me, an unknown author, on the New York Times best-seller list. And my son had died. Small town life wasn’t as limiting as I feared or as safe as I had hoped.
I told my friend about the time, many years later, I was wandering around the Middle East. I was talking to my daughter on a cell phone. She was on her cell,too, driving through the heart of Los Angeles.
“Aren’t you scared over there?” she asked. “Isn’t your life in danger?”
Just then a man honked at her. I heard him scream through her window, “If you don’t get that car out of the way, I’m going to have you killed.”
“Complete safety is an illusion,” I said to my friend. “Maybe the only time we’re really safe is when we’re willing to acknowledge how vulnerable we really are, no matter what we’re doing, and be okay with that.”
“Ask God to be with me,” I said to an older woman who was my mentor at the time.
“Foolish child,” she said. “You don’t have to ask God to be with you. He’s already there, wherever you are.”
God, help me feel safe, comfortable, and in your presence wherever I am today.
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Touchstones Meditation For Men
October 31
Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem.
—Richard J. Foster
As we have reached for instant cures, one-minute answers, and quick highs, we have developed lifestyles that foreclosed deeper possibilities. For instance, when we fail to stay and resolve conflicts in a relationship, we miss the joys of a renewed understanding. Our spiritual development comes in steps, small but meaningful increments that build over a period of time. Many of us have not been patient men and our newfound spiritual life is teaching us that the quickest, most efficient answer isn’t always best.
Today, our greatest temptation may be to grab for the fast solutions rather than allowing time for small but important steps to occur. When we are frustrated, it will help to remember the difficulty may lie in our insistence on a quick answer. Sometimes simply being true to ourselves and standing as a witness while the answer develops are all that is asked of us.
I will have faith that time is on my side and it will teach me valuable things.
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Daily TAO
October 31
DIVINATION
How can divination
Exceed imagination?
You may be contemplating a very bold move in your life. It might be taking a chance on love. It might be deciding to move across the world to begin a new career. It might be combining things that have never been put together before to make a new invention. What you’re contemplating is so surprising to you that you wonder whether or not to do it.
Traditionally, people turned to divination. But how can any system of divination really help you? Whether it is turtle shells, yarrow stalks, crystal balls, psychics, or spirit possession, are the forces “out there” really going to provide any true reassurance? Depending on divination means giving up control over your own life. It’s also avoiding responsibility — you are able to say it wasn’t your fault if things don’t work out.
Imaginative action is very important in life. Without it, we are less than human. For imagination to come into being, we need decisiveness and control. Unless we have these two factors, we cannot manifest the concentration to bring something new into being. We should not surrender our right to decide the course of our lives to vague propitiations of the unknown. We should explore every new possibility that appeals to us and, with wise action, build the force of our characters.