Today's Thought - June

[bluidkiti]

June 1

The truest measurement of my growth and accomplishments is in remembering where I came from, where I’ve been, and where I’m going.

~Joan Rohde

Our daily routines can be so absorbing that we lose perspective on how we used to live. That’s okay. We need to be present to the moment. However, it benefits us to remember occasionally what our lives used to be like. Never getting too far from the insanity of our past helps us be grateful for the gifts that have become commonplace now.

We’ve grown as the result of recovery. For many of us, very little in our lives looks or feels the same. We have new friends, sober relationships, more self-esteem, and a positive direction.

A true gift of this new life is that we have hope. We know we can do great things. We know we lived through our traumas because we had not yet fulfilled our purpose, our part of God’s destiny. And we know we’ll get the guidance we need to fulfill that destiny if we remain committed to the program’s principles.

I am in a “growing” state of mind. My life is a rich and purposeful play directed by my Higher Power.

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

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June 2

Acceptance frees us.

Conflict can result from trying to change a person or situation that we don’t like. And conflict causes stress and agitation, both of which limit our lives. They steal our ability to be open to opportunities for growth and change.

Why is it so hard to accept situations we don’t like? Twelve Step programs tell us it’s because of our ego. We feel diminished when others don’t agree with our plan or our opinion. Our self-worth is tied to other people’s reactions.

But we can change. We can let the success stories we hear in this program inspire us to let others be. We will discover how much better we feel when we’re not on the battlefield with our friends and loved ones.

I don’t have to have conflict with other people today. I can let others be themselves and do what feels right to them. I’ll feel more at ease too.

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

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June 3

If you tell the truth, you don’t need to remember anything.

~Mark Twain

One thing that’s a lot easier in our life now is this—we can keep our story straight! We are learning that there’s one really good way to get along with people: Keep it simple. Just tell the truth.

It’s hard to do at first. We might think, “If people see the real me, what will happen?” We might be afraid of what will happen if we don’t lie or make excuses.

But telling the truth works! We find out we never did fool anyone anyway.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, make me honest.
Action for the Day

I’ll list all the ways honesty will help me in recovery. I’ll sign up to give a meeting on honesty.

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

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June 4

I loaf and invite my soul, I lean and loaf at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.

~Walt Whitman

How foreign the thought is to many men that we might make progress by loafing. Yet we probably have experienced it. We have felt more in tune with ourselves after taking a break. After an especially relaxing weekend, we feel more alive or clearer about ourselves. At those times, we have invited our soul and have been rejuvenated.

Centuries of spiritual practice from different ideologies have taught the need for quiet relaxation in some form to invite the soul. Some have practiced a Sabbath day each week, others a time of prayer every day—even several times a day. Others have practiced a daily period of deep meditation. Simply a period of loafing, with no particular goal in mind, may invite conscious contact with our Higher Power.

I pray for the ability to set aside my busy pace of life, my worrying and fretting, and my “take charge” attitude for a period of time today.

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

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June 5

Wisdom never kicks at the iron walls it can' t bring down.

~Olive Schreiner

God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change. Many times—yesterday, last week, today, and even tomorrow—we'll come face-to-face with a seemingly intolerable situation. The compulsion to change the situation, to demand that another person change the situation, is great. What a hard lesson it is to learn we can change only ourselves! The hidden gift in this lesson is that as our activities change, often the intolerable situations do, too.

Acceptance, after a time, smooths all the ripples that discourage us. And it softens us. It nurtures wisdom. It attracts joy and love from others. Ironically, we often try to force changes that we think will "loosen" love and lessen struggle. Acceptance can do what our willpower could never accomplish.

As we grow in wisdom, as we grow in understanding, as we realize the promises of this program, we'll stand ready, as women, to weather all our personal storms. Like the willow in the wind, we'll bend rather than break. And we'll be able to help our sisters become wise through our example.

My lessons are not easy. But they will ease my way. Better days begin today.

Today's reading is from the book Each Day a New Beginning: Daily meditations for Women*

[bluidkiti]

June 6

Helping “slippers”

Why do some of us suffer? Some of us have found stability in this fellowship, but others seem unable to, and still others must first experience untold hardships before they can accept it. Many times our hearts have ached at the seeming failure of Twelfth Step work.

We watch others suffer needlessly and sometimes die. We watch others repeatedly slip, and our hearts cry out to them. But remember, it could just as easily have been us. Let us reach out with humility; let us make the effort even if we can’t control the outcome.

Am I learning to live one day at a time?

When we surrender to our Higher Power, we put our lives in our Higher Power’s hands. Higher Power, help me express and show gratitude for the ways you lead my daily life.

Today I will try to help a person who has slipped by…

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

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June 7

Reflection for the Day

I believe today that I have a right to make spiritual progress. I have a right to be emotionally mature. I have a right to take pleasure in my own company, and that makes me more pleasant to be with. I also have a right to become willing—deeply willing, entirely willing—to make amends to all those I’ve harmed. Because I can now accept myself the way I am, I can accept other people the way they are—not entirely, but to a much greater degree than in the past. Have I begun to make friends with my Higher Power and thus with myself?
Today I Pray

May my Higher Power show me that it’s okay to like myself, even while trying to repair old wrongs and rebuild from splinters. May I keep telling myself that I am different, now, I have changed, I am a better and wiser and healthier person, I have made some good choices. As this “new person,” may I find it easier to make atonements for what happened long ago and in another spiritual place. May those I have wronged also find it easier to accept my amends.
Today I Will Remember

It’s okay to like myself.

Today's reading is from the book A Day at a Time: Daily Reflections for Recovering People*

[bluidkiti]

Jine 8

Fear not that life shall come to an end, but rather fear that it shall never have a beginning.

~Sebastian R. N. Champort

Our fears lock us up if we let them. They can prevent us from tasting adventure, from experiencing new wonders. We are often terrified of unknowns and fret about what might happen if we try something new. We worry if new people will like us—if we'll fit in.

It is natural to be cautious about the unknown, and anything new is just that. But we can keep our caution from becoming fear by taking action, with the faith that we never encounter anything we can't handle in some way.

Unknowns are merely joys we haven't met. We hold the keys to our own cages and can free ourselves when we use our courage and inner strength to overcome our fears.

What new joy can I discover beneath my fear today?

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

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June 9

If I don’t paint for one day, I don’t feel well physically or mentally.

~Raphael Soyer

Simple disciplines and routines that we establish in our lives can be nourishing and health-giving. Taking a morning walk, preparing a healthful breakfast, writing journal pages, setting aside time for meditation, attending a meeting of a Twelve Step fellowship, phoning a sponsor or sponsee—perhaps our daily routine includes one or more such activities.

At times we may be distracted from the disciplines we’ve created or tempted to rebel against them. We may mistakenly equate following a routine with dullness or lack of growth. In fact, the opposite is true. Routines can serve our recovery, creativity, and freedom. When our lives are rocked by change, whether positive or negative, our daily routines can help us to stay centered. Keeping to them faithfully sustains and strengthens us.

Today, I am faithful to routines that support my physical, mental, and spiritual health.

Today's reading is from the book Glad Day

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June 10

Having boundaries doesn’t complicate life; boundaries simplify life.

~Beyond Codependency

There is a positive aspect to boundary setting. We learn to listen to ourselves and identify what hurts us and what we don’t like. But we also learn to identify what feels good.

When we are willing to take some risks and begin actively doing so, we will enhance the quality of our life. What do we like? What feels good? What brings us pleasure? Whose company do we enjoy? What helps us to feel good in the morning? What’s a real treat in our life? What are the small, daily activities that make us feel nurtured and cared for?

What appeals to our emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical self? What actually feels good to us?

We have deprived ourselves too long. There is no need to do that anymore, no need. If it feels good, and the consequences are self-loving and not self-defeating, do it!

Today, I will do for myself those little things that make life more pleasurable. I will not deny myself healthy treats.

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

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June 11

You may drive out Nature with a pitchfork, yet she will hurry back.

~Horace

Birds don’t chirp because they want to please their listeners. They chirp because they’re birds, and they do it whether anyone listens or not. Like them, we are what we are—many of our best qualities are results of our individual natures, and the influence of other people has little to do with it.

Jane drinks because she’s an alcoholic, not because her husband is a nag. Kim is affectionate with her husband because she’s affectionate with everyone she loves. Kim is a toucher and a patter—that’s her nature. Kevin enjoys home building and repair projects. Kevin’s family may or may not deserve or appreciate his skill—but that’s not why he’s doing it.

We have little power to change anyone’s nature—even our own. It is a delusion to imagine that if others love us they would change or would do things the way we want them to. No one can manipulate a lion or chirp like a bird. Fundamental orientations to life are not amenable to manipulation.

As I grow in self-acceptance, I am learning to accept other people as they are.

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

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June 12

I really do believe that every human being has serious value. I’m in most people’s corner.

~Elaine Brown

To look past people’s flaws and see them as basically good is rare. There are many days when it is hard to look past our own flaws and see the goodness that lies behind our moods.

But we seem to be able to do just that when we sit in our meetings. We look past the illness of addiction; we look past each other’s character defects and keep reminding each other of the good that is part of us all. We cannot afford to let others give up on themselves. Our recovery is based on a collective “we.” If one of us does not have faith in themselves, then we allow shame to plant a seed.

There will be times we want to hide in our character defects; we will want to hide in shame. At these times we must remember, if we really believe we are good people, then aren’t we responsible to be good people? We must always ask ourselves, “Am I refusing to be in my own corner?”
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, you are always in my corner. Help me to believe in myself and others. Help me to see past my character defects and to be responsible.
Today's Action

Today I will write down three times I thought I wasn’t “good enough” so that I could avoid responsibility.

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

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June 13

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist when you grow up.

~Pablo Picasso

To be an artist is to be tuned in to and turned toward the new, saying yes to life in all its diversity and richness. Healthy children face life with openness and creativity. They make things, play make-believe, and create a world of beauty and delight.

We are still children if we dare to welcome the creative force within us and relate it back to the spontaneity and newness of our childhood. There may be shadows and even darkness to overcome, but if we are brave we can rediscover that childlike energy and freshness.

Picasso went on creating for over ninety years. He kept the child alive in himself for our delight. Even if we do not have his talent, we can be inspired by his example—to bring to life the creative child in us again.

I am glad to be getting in touch with the creative child who is still alive within me.

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

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June 14

Effort

We are responsible for the effort, not the outcome.

~Anonymous

During our addictive years, it was a common practice to work things backward. We were known to eat our dessert before our main meal, to celebrate before we won, to assume the outcome before the event.

The problem with this behavior is that it takes no account of reality. Things move from beginning to end. The alphabet reads from A to Z. This seems so simple, but it can be tricky for people who are used to taking shortcuts. Our program is best utilized by starting with Step One and moving through each Step in sequence. We often hear of people Two-Stepping the program, moving from Step One immediately to Step Twelve. This practice often causes relapse.

It is essential that I put all my effort into every Step. If I do, the outcome will take care of itself. All I affect is my effort, and that will always speak for itself.

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

[bluidkiti]

June 15

To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand.

~José Ortega y Gasset

This universe is full of marvels. No one can begin to count them. Science, using advanced technology, uncovers more wonders of nature all the time. And for every one science explains, a dozen more come along to excite and baffle us. Even so, some of us, worshipping facts, tend to make a religion of science even when the “facts” keep changing. We would do better to make a religion of what science can’t even begin to explain. When we deaden our curiosity and abandon our sense of wonder, we lose touch with our Maker.

What a pity. For it is by observing the miracles of nature, the imponderables, that we can begin—just barely—to get a sense of the majesty of creation and the Force behind it. It’s when we realize there’s no way we can understand, that a glimmer of wisdom comes. And, if we’re lucky, a sense of awe.

Today I will yield to wonder and give thanks that I am part of something bigger than I can imagine.

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