Today's Thought - October

[bluidkiti]

October 1

Sharing what worked for us is far better than giving advice.

Everybody loves giving advice, but no one really loves getting it. Advice often sounds like control, and we want to be free to make our own decisions. However, we can appreciate hearing what worked for other people, and we aren’t intimidated by shared experiences. It behooves us to remember this when we are about to give advice to newcomers.

Remembering how it was for us when we first came to meetings will help us know how to approach others who are hurting as we were hurting when we first sought help. Confusion, hopelessness, and fear haunt every newcomer. The way others enfolded us in their hope when we had none made it possible to survive one day at a time. It’s our turn now to pass on that hope to others. The real gift in telling about our experiences rather than giving advice is that we too are strengthened each time we remember how far we have come.

I will be available to help a friend today. My experiences are all I really know, but that’s quite enough.

Today's reading is from the book A Life of My Own: Meditations on Hope and Acceptance*

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October 2

Society … as a rule … forbids any move which might bring human beings closer to each other.

~Jacques Lusseyran

Perhaps we’ve learned that we cannot fix others and have resolved to let go of our codependency, keeping the focus on what we can do to heal our own lives. In the process, we may have forgotten that who we are and what we do touches the lives of others. Detachment doesn’t mean cutting ourselves off from the rest of the human family. It doesn’t mean forgetting that love is an active verb.

We can acknowledge the impact of past actions on others and make amends where appropriate. We may have experience, strength, and hope to offer. By accepting the things we cannot change, we can offer compassion and moral support to the sick or to those seeking to transform their lives.

Today, I take responsibility for my actions toward others. I serve others with love and humility.

Today's reading is from the book Glad Day

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October 3

Healing

Let healing energy flow through your body.

The healing energy of God, the Universe, life, and recovery surrounds us. It is available, waiting for us to draw on it, waiting for us to draw it in. It’s waiting at our meetings or groups, on the words of a whispered prayer, in a gentle touch, a positive word, a positive thought. Healing energy is in the sun, the wind, the rain, in all that is good.

Let healing energy come. Attract it. Accept it. Let it soak in. Breathe in the golden light. Exhale. Let go of fear, anger, hurt, doubt. Let healing energy flow to you, through you.

It is yours for the asking, for the believing.

Today, I will ask for, and accept, the healing energy from God and the Universe. I will let it flow to me, through me, and back out to others. I am part of, and at one with, the continuous cycle of healing.

Today's reading is from the book The Language of Letting Go: Daily Meditations on Codependency*

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October 4

The easiest person to deceive is one’s own self.

~Edward Bulwer-Lytton

How much can we afford to lose? Of all the investments we might make, the most important and riskiest by far are in our personal relationships. Important because such investments put so much of our feelings, sense of self-worth, and serenity on the line. It is risky because the success of the relationship is so dependent on the other person’s willingness and ability to play fair.

No matter how committed we are to making it work, if our partners don’t have or won’t do what it takes—we are out of luck. The quality of a relationship simply cannot be healthier than both of the parties involved.

It isn’t cold or calculating to consider well the implications and ramifications of an important investment. It is fulfilling a primary responsibility to ourselves, to our partners, and to our Higher Power.

Today, I will examine my delusions about myself and the people I love: What’s really going on here?

Today's reading is from the book Days of Healing, Days of Joy: Daily Meditations for Adult Children*

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October 5

Out of difficulties grow miracles.

~Jean de la Bruyère

We in recovery know a lot about miracles. We go to meetings and sit among the miracles of our fellow recovering addicts. A meeting is a miracle in progress. Next time we go to a meeting we should take time to study the miracles around us. Where were these people before they received the miracle of sobriety?

We in recovery know the elements that make up a good miracle: willingness, honesty, openness to change, spiritual principles, laughter, tears, Higher Power, fellowship, and large amounts of action. When we throw these elements at our difficulties, miracles happen—sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly. We then are to give thanks for these miracles. Miracles are our Higher Power and others doing for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves. Miracles are gifts given and received. We should ask ourselves, “Am I willing to give up my difficulties—my old ways—and allow myself to be changed into a miracle?”
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, take my problems, issues, and bad attitudes, and use them to make a miracle. Today I will work with you and not against you.
Today's Action

When I go to my next meeting, I will listen to the miracles that surround me and give thanks for the miracle of these changed people.

Today's reading is from the book God Grant Me: More Daily Meditations from the Authors of Keep It Simple*

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October 6

Then through the thunderous silence, we may be able to hear a still, small voice, and words will be born anew.

~Madeleine L’Engle

A recovering addict described his isolation like this: “I used to walk into my apartment at the end of the day and be acutely aware that no one was there. I wanted to cry because I felt so lonely. It never occurred to me that I wasn’t alone—because I was there.”

There’s a difference between being alone and being isolated. Learning how to be alone is a risk, but it’s worth taking. When we are content with what we’re doing, solitude restores us. Looking out the window at a tree or a cloud is productive if it nurtures us.

We find out who we are by spending time alone. It gives us the chance to think, to dream, to talk with our Higher Power. It enables us to know the wonder of who we are. Alone, we can experience self-acceptance, direction, wisdom, and peace. Alone, we can be created anew. But to isolate is to risk self-destruction. Which will it be today?

I will take time for myself today. I need not fear being alone because I never am.

Today's reading is from the book Answers in the Heart

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October 7

Making Progress

Bring the body, the mind will follow.

~Anonymous

Progress is a word of action, but for us it must never be hurried. We are told, “the idea is to make improvement, not finish first at a destination.” There’s no need to rush. We can take time to think about the direction we’re going. Sometimes spiritual progress may seem slow to us, but if we honestly work the program, that progress is sure.

We can also take the time to examine the progress we have made. When we realize how far we have come, it makes it possible for us to continue. Practicing the Eleventh Step will help us slow down and calm our urgent need to always be rushing around.

I must never stand still. Even when I stop and look at my progress, that is an action that gives me the courage to continue.

Today's reading is from the book Easy Does It: A Book of Daily Twelve Step Meditations*

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October 8

My life is unmanageable whenever I take control.

~Anonymous

A spiritual paradox: When we give up control of our life, we gain it; when we hold on to control, we lose it. This idea goes against the grain. Even in the depths of our addiction, having suffered defeat time after time, we clung desperately to the idea that we were still in control, that we were still self-sufficient. When at last we saw the unmanageability of our life and surrendered to a Higher Power, we discovered that control was restored and life manageable.

The choice is always ours. We can lose control anytime we decide to run things. Or we can maintain control of our life by making a daily decision to turn it over to God.

Today I ask for the manageability that comes only from giving up control.

Today's reading is from the book In God's Care: Daily Meditations on Spirituality in Recovery*

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October 9

Most of us spend our energy seeking the highs in an effort to avoid the lows. Unfortunately, these false highs are not really nourishing.

~Niro Asistent

Emotional highs energize us. All of us experience them. Most of us crave them, but unfortunately they are short-lived. When external circumstances elevate our mood, their absence brings us back down. Highs like these set us up for disappointment.

Recovery can change this aspect of our lives. Using the Twelve Steps, we are able to experience highs as a natural response to our interior activity. Feeling as good as we want to feel, every day, is possible when we decide to use the Steps: to look to our Higher Power for knowledge of what to do on a daily basis, to seek comfort when we are filled with fear, to receive courage when amends are in order. Our emotions will reflect how consistently we use the Steps. We can be energized by highs every day if we so desire.

I can feel a nourishing high today if I use the tools of the program to guide me.

Today's reading is from the book A Woman's Spirit: More meditations for Women*

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October 10

If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can’t it get us out?

~Will Rogers

When we are in the midst of our worst problems, we often behave stubbornly, trying harder to gain control of what is out of control. Because we feel alone, or because we insist on doing things our own way, we repeatedly apply the same solutions that repeatedly produce the same problems. We forget that as human beings we require the help of others to live happy and healthy lives. We need all the help we can get. Without the input and wisdom of others, we are stuck with our limited or mistaken ideas.

Perhaps today we are faced with problems that have no clear solutions. We can’t see an obvious way around them, and we can’t see a new answer. The sooner we accept our true nature and bring others into our questions, the sooner we will be able to consider new ideas and take in the wisdom of our friends.

Today, I resolve to talk to my friends about what is weighing on my mind.

Today's reading is from the book Stepping Stones: More Daily Meditations for Men*

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October 11

AA Thought for the Day

“Who are you to say there is no God? This challenge comes to all of us. Are we capable of denying that there is a design and purpose in all of life as we know it? Or are we willing to admit that faith in some kind of Divine Principle is a part of our make-up, just as much as the feeling we have for a friend? We find a Great Reality deep down within us, if we face ourselves as we really are. In the last analysis, it is only there that God may be found. When we find this Reality within us, we are restored to our right minds.” Have I found the Great Reality?
Meditation for the Day

“Behold, I make all things new.” When you change to a new way of life, you leave many things behind you. It is only the earth-bound spirit that cannot soar. Loosen somewhat the strands that tie you to the earth. It is only the earthly desires that bind you. Your new freedom will depend on your ability to rise above earthly things. Clipped wings can grow again. Broken wings can regain a strength and beauty unknown before. If you will, you can be released and free.
Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may be freed from things that hold me down. I pray that my spirit may soar in freedom.

Today's reading is from the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day: A Spiritual Resource with Practical Applications for Daily Life*

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October 12

No yesterdays are ever wasted for those who give themselves today.

~Brendan Francis

We often find ourselves yearning for tomorrow. We get carried away thinking about the next day's big game or camping trip. We find ourselves daydreaming about how much fun we'll have with friends or what animals we'll see in the park.

The next day comes and perhaps the excitement about the game diminishes because our friends can't make it or the camping trip is cancelled because of bad weather. We feel cheated and begin regretting the missed opportunities of yesterday.

When we find ourselves concentrating only on tomorrow, we need to stop and look around. We'll begin to notice the joke a friend is telling, or the bird flying overhead. We will begin appreciating the joys of the moment.

When we live in the moment, we have no expectations about the next moment, and without expectations, we can't be disappointed, only surprised.

What is delightful about this moment right now?

Today's reading is from the book Today's Gift: Daily Meditations for Families*

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October 13

Love doesn’t make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.

~Franklin Jones

Before recovery, anger, self-pity, and sadness often filled our hearts. The world went on. We came to hate the ride. In recovery, love fills our hearts. We begin to love life. Love is really caring about what happens to other people.

Love is what makes the ride worth it.

We find much love in our program. People really matter to us. We really matter to others. For many of us, we learn how to love in our meetings. The program teaches love because the program is love.
Prayer for the Day

I pray that I’ll welcome love into my heart and others into my life. Love brings me closer to my Higher Power.
Action for the Day

I’ll list all the people I love and why they matter to me.

Today's reading is from the book Keep it Simple: Daily Meditations for Twelve Step Beginnings and Renewal*

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October 14

We all carry it within us; supreme strength, the fullness of wisdom, unquenchable joy. It is never thwarted and cannot be destroyed. But it is hidden deep, which is what makes life a problem.

~Huston Smith

How does a man lose touch with his strength, his wisdom, his joy? Perhaps it is in the nature of humanity. Our most profound qualities are hidden deep. They never go away, but we cannot always find them. There may be nothing wrong with ourselves as men when we lose touch. It doesn’t have to mean that we are “bad guys” for getting depressed or for feeling inadequate. Who doesn’t have that problem? It is the nature of life that we sometimes feel this way. This program helps us unearth the resources hidden within us.

When we cannot find those reassuring feelings of strength and wisdom and joy, we may think they are gone forever. We even doubt we ever had them or could have them again. But they are still there. They cannot be destroyed. And when we regain contact we know they have been with us all along.

I will have faith that the innermost places in me can never be destroyed.

Today's reading is from the book Touchstones: A Book of Daily Meditations for Men*

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October 15

Being cured

Friends and associates may see us as people who are super-sober: they think we have the problem licked, that we’re cured. They’re uneasy when we say, “I am an alcoholic; I am an addict.” They would prefer us to say, “I was.”

We would like to believe them, but in our hearts we know that it’s not possible for us to drink or use any longer. By saying we are addicted, we remind ourselves of who we are and where we came from.

Am I grateful for being sober, even though I can never be cured?

Higher Power, grant me the acceptance to understand that I am not cured. Relieve my temptation to believe those well-meaning people who are convinced that I am no longer an addict.

Today I will enjoy being clean and sober by…

Today's reading is from the book Day by Day: Daily Meditations for Recovering Addicts*