Each day a new beginning

[caressa]

When you send out real love, real love will return to you.
^*^
Real love is selfless love. It expects nothing in return. It is not conditional. It doesn't keep score. It is too seldom given. Many of us came into the program hurting, feeling unloved, looking desperately for love, unable to love selflessly. But we are learning.
We are climbing the same mountain, all of us. Our particular paths will cross the paths of many others before reaching the top, where we will find full enlightenment. And any path we cross has a special contribution to make to our own progress. We can be grateful for all intersecting paths, no matter how adverse they seem at the time. We can offer all our fellow travelers real love, and our own trip will benefit manyfold.

We need not be ashamed of our desire for love. Nor need we feel shame that we've bargained for it. But we do need to understand that the kind of love we seek can only be gained when we quit searching for it and simply offer it to all the people in our midst.
...................I will look into the hearts of all the people I encounter today and offer them love. I'll receive that which I give.

====================

Walk in dry places______The only reason to drink
Staying sober
"There's only one real reason I can ever have for taking a drink, and that's because I want to."
This remark at a meeting sums up AA's position on why we drink. We never really drink because of pressures and troubles. We drink because we want to, because we feel like taking a drink.
It's true that a serious crisis, like going into bankruptcy, may make us conscious of an urger to drink. But we know that we're also likely to have such urges in the face of good fortune. The alcoholic who would drink over a bankruptcy would also probably get drunk if he or she won the lottery.

By refusing to accept all of these alleged "reasons" for drinking, AA simplified our problem so we can deal with it. We either want to drink or we don't want to drink, period. Even if we want to drink... and some members do.. AA can show us how to stay sober and eventually lose such desires.
...................Nothing has the power to make me drink today.



received with thanks from my friend Brenda


Every thought you think sends waves into motion.

Every word you speak reaches millions of ears.

And every act you perform literally rearranges the stars.

Now, ... what was it you wanted me to do for you?

~~~ The Universe ~~~

[TxRainwater]

Thanks Caressa, big huggzzzzzzzz

Each day a new beginning

Rigidity is prevented most of the time as love and compassion mesh us
into tolerant human beings.

----

Looking outward with love, offering it freely to our friends
and family, makes fluid, and fertile our existence. Each expression
of love engenders more love, keeping tender our ties to one another,
encouraging more ties.

The more flexible our lives, the more easily we'll be
attracted to an unexpected opportunity. And flexibility is fostered
by a loving posture. As we approach the world, so it greets us. We
are not mere recipients of life's trials and tribulations. We find
what our eyes are wanting to see. When our focus is rigid and narrow,
so are our opportunities.

The Steps are leading us to be freer with our love, more
tolerant in our expectations. The level of our compassion, fully
felt and fully expressed, is the measure of our emotional
health. Rigid attitudes, rigid behavior, rigid expectations of
others recede as the level of our emotional health rises. Our
approach to life changes and so do the results we meet.

.............I will love others. It's my only assignment in life, and
it guarantees the security I crave.

[TxRainwater]

Each day a new beginning

Each day provides its own gifts.
~~
We are guaranteed experiences that are absolutely right for us today. We are progressing on schedule. Even when our personal hopes are unmet, we are given the necessary opportunities for achieving those goals that complement our unique destinies.

Today is full of special surprises, and we will be the recipient of the ones which are sent to help us grow.... in all the ways necessary for our continued recovery. We might not consider every experience a gift at this time. But hind-sight will offer the clarity lacking at the moment, just as it has done in many instances that have gone before.

We are only offered part of our personal drama each day. But we can trust our lives to have many scenes, many acts, points of climax, and a conclusion. Each of us tells a story with our lives, one different from all other stores and yet necessary to the telling of many other stories too. The days ahead will help us tell our story. Our interactions with others will influence our outcomes and theirs. We can trust the drama and give fully to our roles.

...................Every day is a gift exchange. I give, and I will receive.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
love and light,
Brenda

[caressa]

Each day is a new beginning, so have a great one is on my answering machine. Each day is what I make of it. I am given choices. It is the first day of the rest of my life when I live in the now. Each twenty-four hours, begins in the moment, no matter what time of day it is. A day can start any time.

Many more, one day at a time moments for 2005, and many happy and prosperous days in the year 2006.