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Post by majestyjo on Jul 20, 2017 19:59:06 GMT -5
July 18
More important than learning how to recall things is finding ways to forget things that are cluttering the mind. Before going to sleep at night, empty your consciousness of unwanted things, even as you empty your pockets.
--Eric Butterworth
Many of us may make lists of things we need to do. We may refer to a calendar for our scribbled notations of places to go and people to see. We may look over our course syllabus for chapters to read or papers to write. Or we may keep it all in our heads, mentally checking off each item as it's done.
But tonight we can put away the lists, close the calendar book, put away the course syllabus, and empty our minds of obligations, tasks, and duties. Unless we want to keep our heads spinning during a sleepless night, we must learn to turn off the achieving and doing sides of our minds and give room to the relaxing and spiritual sides. We can take away the items cluttering our minds, one at a time. Tomorrow will arrive in its own time; tonight is the time for us to relax.
Tonight I can close my eyes and visualize putting aside each item. I will achieve total relaxation and peace.
You are reading from the book:
Night Light by Amy E. Dean
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Post by majestyjo on Jul 20, 2017 19:59:37 GMT -5
July 19
One comes, finally, to believe whatever one repeats to one's self, whether the statement is true or false.
--Napoleon Hill
Our inner dialogue can have awesome power. It often determines the behavior that defines who we are. We do, of course, have some choice as to the direction this inner dialogue will take. It's as easy to affirm our self-worth with positive messages as it is to tear ourselves down with negative ones. And yet, many of us fall so easily into negative patterns of thought.
As with so many aspects of our life, we become proficient at what we regularly practice. The regular, preferably daily, use of positive affirmations can make such a profound contribution to our well-being and willingness to grow and learn, that it can change the course of our life. All we have to do is develop the discipline to make these positive messages habitual. In so doing, we bring our vision of ourselves in line with God's, Who accepts us completely as we are.
The messages I give myself today will remind me that I am a capable and lovable child of God.
You are reading from the book:
In God's Care by Karen Casey
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Post by majestyjo on Jul 20, 2017 20:00:10 GMT -5
July 20
Better Relationships
I pray for the opportunity to form better relationships now that I am in recovery.
The Program has revealed a need to completely overhaul my attitudes about intimate and personal relationships.
Most of the time I never really needed better partners, I just needed to be a better person.
You are reading from the book:
The 12 Step Prayer Book Volume 2 by Bill P. and Lisa D.
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Post by majestyjo on Jul 21, 2017 21:35:04 GMT -5
July 21
One faces the future with one's past.
-Pearl S. Buck
We are never divorced from our past. We are in company with it forever, and it acquaints us with the present. Our responses today reflect our experiences yesterday. And those roots lie in the past.
Every day is offering us preparation for the future, for the lessons to come, without which we'd not offer our full measure to the design, which contains the development of us all.
Our experiences, past and present, are not coincidental. We will be introduced to those experiences that are consistent with our talents and the right lessons designated for the part we are requested to play in life. We can remember that no experiences will attract us that are beyond our capabilities to handle.
You are reading from the book:
The Promise of a New Day by Karen Casey and Martha Vanceburg
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Post by majestyjo on Jul 22, 2017 19:30:58 GMT -5
July 22
Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.
--C. S. Lewis
We often try to turn our will and our life over to the care of God, as we understand God, but we're not always successful. We are human. We change our mind. We talk ourselves out of our good resolutions. We forget. We fall back into old, destructive habits of mind and mood.
But all we have to do is make a decision. We don't have to do the actual turning over. We are, in fact, incapable of sustaining this action. But we can, very simply, make the decision. Surprisingly, when we do, turning over our will often gets taken care of for us. We find that we are indeed enjoying what seems to be God's will for us. The secret lies in making the decision as often as needed. We can decide daily or even hourly. We can, in fact, rely on God every time we need help.
This day and every day, I will decide to rely on God all over again.
You are reading from the book:
In God's Care by Karen Casey
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Post by majestyjo on Jul 23, 2017 14:56:34 GMT -5
July 23
Ousting the Green Demon
Victory over Jealousy. We hear of successful people who drop their old friends after moving up the ladder. Maybe, however, it wasn't their choice. Maybe they were driven to do so because their friends' jealousy made the friendship unworkable. We have little trouble accepting a stranger's good fortune; it's a different feeling, however, when friends and co-workers move ahead of us.
If the green demon of jealousy strikes during the day, we can come to terms with it in several ways. First, accept no guilt that it happens, because jealousy is part of the human condition. Next, depersonalize it by remembering that good fortune comes to all people in various ways. Then check your own gratitude level to make sure that it hasn't been sinking. This serves as a reminder that there's no shortage of the things that really make for happiness and personal well being in life.
We can easily tell when we've been able to oust the green demon. We'll be able to be relaxed and gracious while extending congratulations for another person's good fortune. And months down the road, we'll be genuinely sympathetic - not vindictive - If the other person's luck turns sour.
While I don't expect to feel jealousy today, I accept the fact that it can happen. Should it appear, I'll work calmly to deal with it.
You are reading from the book:
Walk in Dry Places by Mel B.
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Post by majestyjo on Jul 24, 2017 22:37:22 GMT -5
July 24
The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.
-- Flora Whittemore
We often hear the phrase, "When one door shuts, another opens." It means everything has a beginning and an end. When our travels on one path are completed, another path lies ahead.
It's not easy to feel a door close. Relationships, friendships, careers, and lives end. Although we may not understand why a door closes, it's important to remember our Higher Power has everything to do with it. By the same token, we may not understand why certain doors open, revealing opportunities we may have longed for. Again, our Higher Power feels we are ready to pursue that new experience.
The doors that open and close today help prepare us for our experiences tonight. The doors that open and close tonight will help us grow toward tomorrow. We are not mice in a maze, randomly pursuing paths for a reward of cheese. We are children of our Higher Power, guided towards our chosen goal through the many doors we open and close along the way.
Have I learned there is a reason for everything in my life? Can I trust that my path has been prepared for me by my Higher Power?
You are reading from the book:
Night Light by Amy E. Dean
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Post by majestyjo on Jul 25, 2017 21:28:54 GMT -5
July 25
No matter what faces us - an unhappy relationship, a serious operation or illness, a feeling of uselessness or helplessness - it is vital to realize that there is a solution.
We must not expect that the solution to our problem will bring us immediate peace of mind. Focusing our energies and emotions on the answer, not the problem, will, however, alleviate much of the futility and frustration we feel.
A medical doctor, George S. Stevenson, wrote, "The solution may not give you everything you want. Sometimes, it may give you nothing but a chance to start all over again. But whatever little it gives you is much more than you give yourself by letting your emotions tear you apart."
Today I will focus my energies and emotions on the solution, not the problem. I will allow the solution to flow through me, with the help of my Higher Power, knowing there is a satisfactory answer to my difficulty.
You are reading from the book:
The Reflecting Pond by Liane Cordes
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Post by majestyjo on Jul 26, 2017 21:38:20 GMT -5
July 26
Some days I feel like a tightrope walker.
- Jeannette N.
We all perform a balancing act, trying to keep perspective on what's important and what is not. Sometimes we fall - crazy drivers cut into our lane, the supermarket line takes forever, the baby's crying. At those times a minor insult at work or a cross word from a friend is just too much, and we lose our cool - and our balance.
During our years of active addiction we were impulsive, living in an all-or-nothing, black-and-white world, completely out of balance. Minor slights became major issues. We were subject to any whim our distorted thoughts cooked up.
We've had lots of practice being out of balance, so we have to work harder to regain it, but now we have the tools to change. Our program gives us a new focus, reminds us of what's important in our lives. We're reminded, too, of our powerlessness over people, places, and things. These ideas are new to us at first. We thought we had to control everything and everyone around us, and so we failed. But now we're learning how to keep our balance, and recover it when we've lost it. With practice, we'll get better every day. Now, we're learning how to let go and let God.
Today help me remember what's important. Help me keep my balance.
You are reading from the book:
Body, Mind, and Spirit by Anonymous
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Post by majestyjo on Jul 27, 2017 17:59:30 GMT -5
July 27
. . . what we want more deeply than winning.
When our relationship is in conflict, we may think that our partner always has the last word. We think it would feel good, just once, to come out on top. If our relationship is like a poker game, the winner takes all. We scramble to be the winner at almost any cost. If our partner wins, we feel like the loser. If we score a point, then our partner feels like the loser. In the end, if either one has lost, what have we won? Certainly not serenity.
What do we really want in our relationships? Do we want to stay in the fight until we score the final knockout? No. We want companionship and connection. To get beyond the game, one partner must stand up and say what she or he wants more deeply than winning. When we stand in favor of communication, our relationship improves.
Name what you really want in your relationship.
You are reading from the book:
The More We Find In Each Other by Merle Fossum and Mavis Fossum
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Post by majestyjo on Jul 28, 2017 20:58:10 GMT -5
July 28
I find it awfully hard to give myself a break. I don't know where that attitude comes from.
--Walker I.
"I can't. I shouldn't. It's my fault." These self-abasing and self-defeating thoughts are expressions of shame. Because repeated thoughts turn into beliefs and long-held beliefs turn into actions, thoughts rooted in shame can lead to tragedy.
People who live in shame come to believe that it is not okay to make a mistake. They imagine they should know what to do without having to learn it. They think their wrong judgments mean they themselves are wrong.
But it is human to make mistakes. If we acknowledge we are human, we are defining ourselves as people who always have something to learn (Thomas Edison failed to perfect the light bulb until his ten-thousandth try). We are saying we have to keep going if our plans don't work out right away (Walt Disney went bankrupt seven times before he met with success).
"Thou shalt not be human" is the command of shame. What rubbish! How can we be anything else? Why would we want to be?
I pray I will live comfortably with human limitations. I will try to accept from myself what I accept from others.
You are reading from the book:
Days of Healing, Days of Joy by Earnie Larsen and Carol Larsen Hegarty
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Post by majestyjo on Jul 29, 2017 15:46:54 GMT -5
July 29
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.
-- Abraham Maslow
When we can take a long view of our problems, we can sometimes see that we're using inappropriate tools to try to solve them. What's necessary for us to do is to move away, to detach. That may show us a whole new context into which our problem fits, and in which it may not even be a problem.
Detachment is hard to achieve when we're deeply hooked into a situation. When we send ourselves drastic messages like "now or never!" we're pressing our noses right up against the problem - a position in which it's difficult to maintain a balanced view. To stop and say, "If not now, then perhaps some other time," unhooks us and lets us remember that life is richer and more varied than we thought when we were hooked.
Crisis thinking can be like a hammer - it flattens everything. This can be our way of trying to control the outcome of our individual struggle. But when we remember that we make up only small parts of one grand and beautiful design. We can surrender our problems to it.
To be a competent worker, I will seek out the tools that are best suited to my task.
You are reading from the book:
The Promise of a New Day by Karen Casey and Martha Vanceburg
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Post by majestyjo on Jul 30, 2017 20:58:59 GMT -5
July 30
As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.
--Proverbs 23:7
How we view our circumstances directly affects how we feel about them. Being in debt can cause us to cast dark shadows over our world - shadows that create a sense of doom and gloom. I can't get out from under it; I can't go on vacation; I can't get my hair cut, buy a shirt, go out to dinner, get season tickets. I would go to school but ...
Most of us were told as children not to say can't and to never say never. We rephrase our negative thoughts and statements in the positive and in the present, as if the positive already exists. Our outlook and, amazingly, our circumstances brighten considerably. Ideas about how to move forward pop into our head, replacing excuses with a powerful energy - an energy that moves us toward accomplishing our goals.
Today I will ask myself whether I see the glass as half empty or half full.
You are reading from the book:
Letting Go of Debt by Karen Casanova
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Post by majestyjo on Jul 31, 2017 18:55:20 GMT -5
July 31
Attitudes and Limitations
To a large extent, the way we think determines who we are and what happens to us.
We cannot harbor poisonous thoughts without their effects visibly showing in our lives. If we dwell on our inadequacy and ineffectiveness, for example, circumstances will prove us correct because we will invite self-defeating events to us.
On the other hand, replacing destructive thoughts with hope-filled, optimistic ones brings peaceful and confidence-producing circumstances to us. We will radiate competence and joy.
We would be wise, therefore, to take the advice of twentieth century author Orison Swett Marden: "Stoutly determine not to harbor anything in the mind which you do not wish to become real in your life. Shun poisoned thoughts, ideas which depress and make you unhappy, as instinctively as you avoid physical danger of any find – replace all these with cheerful, hopeful, optimistic thoughts."
Today I will make it a habit to continually replace pessimistic thoughts with optimistic ones. I will dwell on what is uplifting so that I may increase my courage and confidence as well as better my circumstances.
You are reading from the book:
The Reflecting Pond by Liane Cordes
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Post by majestyjo on Jul 31, 2017 20:07:34 GMT -5
My heart is full of gratitude today. I am free today to experience this day fully and to follow my spiritual path. I have been given a new day to live, to grow, to give love and to feel love. --Ruth Fishel
God help me to stay sober and clean today!
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Post by majestyjo on Aug 1, 2017 16:21:33 GMT -5
August 1
Saving the World
Today may my prayers help me realize
I cannot control everything.
To put the world in order,
We must first put the nation in order;
To put the nation in order,
We must first put the family in order;
To put the family in order,
We must first set our hearts right.
-- Confucius
You are reading from the book:
The 12 Step Prayer Book Volume 2 by Bill P. and Lisa D.
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Post by majestyjo on Aug 2, 2017 19:10:11 GMT -5
August 2
Courage is very important. Like a muscle, it is strengthened by use.
--Ruth Gordon
All of us fear the unfamiliar at times; and it's nothing to be ashamed of to occasionally feel frightened by everyday events. We can still forget that God is always with us and, thus, allow fear to take over.
We're learning in recovery, though, that we can empower ourselves through the magic of belief. Acting as If we feel that extra bit of courage and that we sense God's presence protecting us can dissipate our fears and bring us new confidence. In doing this, we will gradually come to know the inner resources God has given us. The more we acknowledge our courage, the more it becomes a working part of our life.
We often unnecessarily complicate matters by thinking we have to face things by ourselves. We forget that our spiritual program offers us ready relief from the terror of feeling alone. God offers us the strength and courage to meet each challenge. We only have to accept.
I will remember God's presence today and discover the courage to face my fears.
You are reading from the book:
In God's Care by Karen Casey
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Post by majestyjo on Aug 3, 2017 19:58:42 GMT -5
August 3
The Four Absolutes
by the Oxford Group, used by early AAs before the Twelve Steps were written
Absolute Honesty
Both with ourselves and with others, in word, deed, and thought.
Absolute Unselfishness
To be willing, wherever possible, to help others who need our help.
Absolute Love
You shall love the Lord with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. And. . . you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Absolute Purity
Purity of mind, of body, and of purpose.
You are reading from the book:
The 12 Step Prayer Book Volume 2 by Bill P. and Lisa D.
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Post by majestyjo on Aug 4, 2017 20:53:33 GMT -5
August 4
All music is what awakes from you when you are reminded by the instruments.
--Walt Whitman
A small group of friends sat in a room around a record player. It was a heavy old thing, with parts that had to be operated by hand and only one speaker - nothing like a modern stereo at all, but more like an antique phonograph. The record - a recording of their favorite music - was old, too, and scratched, its grooves worn smooth as a stone in some places. The tone arm skipped and scratched, and the sound was tinny, hard on the ears.
Most of the friends squirmed in their seats as they listened, and several grumbled that it was impossible to hear the music with such inferior equipment.
But one of the group sat listening, her eyes closed, swaying to the music and humming softly to herself.
"How can you enjoy this?" the others asked.
"Ah," she said with a mysterious smile. "I am listening beyond the recording to the music I know is there!"
You are reading from the book:
Today's Gift by Anonymous
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Post by majestyjo on Aug 5, 2017 9:06:39 GMT -5
August 5
Having loosened our grip on the past, we are free to reach for the future.
--Ann D. Clark
Everyday of our lives we think of some situation we wish we had handled differently. Perhaps we left a job we now miss, disciplined a child needlessly, or responded rudely to a friend. Our Fourth Step inventory abundantly details our many regrets, but the past is gone. We can't take back the job or the punishment or the rude responses. However, we can make certain the Tenth Step we do every night is not filled with similar regrets.
Recovery has given us a second chance. Let's not waste this gift by hanging on to what can't be changed. We all know what we don't like about our behavior in the past. That's all we need to remember when we decide how to behave in the present. We won't be ashamed in the future, if we take charge of our present.
Today is a new beginning. Whatever happened in my past need not control what I do with today. Today is mine to be proud of.
You are reading from the book:
A Woman's Spirit by Karen Casey
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. I will be back looking for Lin and others.