Today's Thought - March

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March 16

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly....
--Antoine de Saint Exupery

If we look at the world through suspicious or angry eyes, we'll find a world that mirrors our expectations - a world where tension will mount, arguments will abound, strife will be present where none need be. However, our experiences in some manner bless us, and we'll recognize that if we'll look upon them with gratitude. Everything in our path is meant for our good and we'll see the good when our hearts act as the eyes for our minds.

When we see with our hearts, our responses to the turmoil around us, the fighting children, the traffic snarls, the angry lovers, will be soft acceptance. When our hearts guide the action we can accept those things we cannot change, and change those we can. And the heart, as the seat of all wisdom, will always know the difference.

You are reading from the book:

Worthy of Love by Karen Casey

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March 17

A.A. Thought for the Day

People often ask what makes the AA program work. One of the answers is that AA works because it gets us away from ourselves as the center of the universe. And it teaches us to rely more on the fellowship of others and on strength from God. Are these things keeping me sober?

Meditation for the Day

God is the great interpreter of one human personality to another. Each personality is so different. God alone understands perfectly the language of each and can interpret between the two. Here I find the miracles of change and the true interpretation of life.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may be in the right relationship to God.

You are reading from the book:

Twenty-four Hours a Day for Teens by Anonymous

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March 18

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.
-- Seneca

When we reach a stressful time in our lives, our vision gets narrow. We fail to see the options and possibilities we have. If we give ourselves over to our worries and fears, our sight closes down even further. Finally, we reach the point of blindness to reality and to all the support around us. In our fearful blindness we say with conviction, "This is too difficult! There is nothing I can do."

Spiritual people strive to keep one eye on the horizon, even in a worrisome situation. They breathe deeply so they do not tighten up or close off their exchange with the world. They return to the relationship they have with their Higher Power, trusting the process to carry them through - and they open their eyes to quietly take in the possibilities before them.

Close to my Higher Power, I have a place of calm in the midst of difficulty and see the possibilities and dare to act upon them.

You are reading from the book:

Touchstones by Anonymous

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March 19

If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Most of us make trouble for ourselves by over-reacting to what others say or do. We have conditioned ourselves to see everyone else as "the enemy" rather than look within ourselves for the real cause of our distress.

If we can pause long enough to uncover our own hidden discomfort and distorted attitudes before we react with harsh criticism or vindictive silence, we can change our destructive first impulses into a loving interchange between individuals.

Today let me not be quick to criticize or condemn another. I will look at others as friends, not as foes, on my journey toward self-discovery.

You are reading from the book:

The Reflecting Pond by Liane Cordes

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March 20

Grief may be a pathway to our deepest connections.

People often say, "I don't want to burden you with my troubles, you have enough to worry about." Yet sharing our troubles with our partner or close friends lightens our burden and restores our balance. Telling someone our experiences and how we feel about them helps us find and create the meaning that lurks behind them, even though they at first seem only crazy and random. Sharing with others pulls us out of isolation and brings our friends and mate into the circle of our lives.

We may be surprised to feel the knots in our stomachs loosen when we tell our stories and recount our worries or grief. Grief may make us feel more alone than anything. But it may also be a pathway for our deepest connection with each other. When we reach out and talk with our friends or mate, we break down the wall of isolation and build bridges that connect us.

Tell your partner about any grief you carry today.

You are reading from the book:

The More We Find In Each Other by Merle Fossum and Mavis Fossum

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March 21

Change Me --Ruth C.'s Prayer

Change me, God,

Please change me.

Though I cringe,

Kick,

Resist and resent.

Pay no attention to me whatsoever.

When I run to hide

Drag me out of my safe little shelter.

Change me totally.

Whatever it takes.

However long You must work at the job.

Change me – and save me

From spiritual self-destruction.

You are reading from the book:

The 12 Step Prayer Book Volume 2 by Bill P. and Lisa D.

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March 22

In three words, I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on.
-- Robert Frost

If we've ever dug in a garden and unearthed an ants' nest, we can recall their first reaction to our unintended destruction: they do everything possible to save their lives and supplies. The ants scurry around, moving the larvae to an underground room. Exposed contents are then relocated to unseen passages. In a matter of minutes, the ants are again safely underground and ready to resume their daily routines.

How do we react when some catastrophe or unplanned event occurs? Do we want to crawl under a rock or are we as resilient as the ants? Instead of moaning over postponed plans or the loss of something in our lives, we can try to be like the ants and learn how to best work with circumstances that come our way.

Life doesn't stop for us to lick wounds or add fuel to grievances. Hours pass, we grow older, nature continues. Every event is part of life's cycle. We can't run away from anything. We must meet life head-on and adjust to its ebb and flow.

I can look at an unplanned event in my life as part of life's cycle. I need to trust that life will go on.

You are reading from the book:

Night Light by Amy E. Dean

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March 23

Make yourself at home.

It was night, only a few months after I'd begun my skydiving adventure. It was too cold to stay in my tent; I had rented a cabin near the drop zone. Now I'd come back to hang out for a while, before retiring for the night.

One of the skydivers I'd met recently was sitting in a lawn chair, under the tarped area between the rows of trailers that had been turned into team rooms and student training areas. The evening lights had been turned on. He was wrapped up in a sleeping bag, reading a book under the hazy glow. He was one of the full-time skydivers, who had been attracted to the gypsy lifestyle of the skydiving community as much as the sport itself.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm in my living room, reading a book," he replied. "Do you like the view of the backyard?" he asked, making a gesture toward the rolling hills that cascaded gently in the background. "That's my patio," he said, pointing to a small area just around the corner. "The morning sun hits there. It's a warm place to sit and eat breakfast. Sometimes I sleep in that tent," he said, pointing off to the side." And sometimes I take my sleeping bag and curl up under the stars in the landing area, over there."

I looked around, almost envious of his freedom.

Sometimes, we get so busy and involved creating a "home" for ourselves that we create a structure that's too safe, limiting, and confined. We forget about our real home, the planet earth. It's good to sleep indoors. It's nice to make ourselves comfortable in our home. But don't let your cozy nest become a locked, confining box.

Stretch your arms, Push the lid off the box. Get out into the world. Walk around. Move about. See the hills, the lakes, the forests, the mountains peaks, the valleys, the rivers.

See how big your world can be. See how connected everything is. See how connected you are, too – to all that is. Make yourself comfortable, wherever you are. Make yourself a home and be at home in the world.

God, help me relax and make myself at home in your bountiful world.

You are reading from the book:

More Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie

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March 24

The most important thing we are doing right now is thinking nice thoughts.
--Jim and Marie Burns

Just thinking nice thoughts sounds so simplistic, doesn't it! Surely there is more in life to contemplate than that. But the power of nice thoughts, the impact just such a simple decision can have on our lives and the lives of everyone around us, is awesome.

Having nice thoughts and only nice thoughts is a significant departure for most of us. Far more commonly we quietly or vocally judged every man, woman, and child in our presence. Stopping ourselves from judging, in fact, stopping a judgment in its tracks, will reveal how swamped our thinking has been by the critical, mean-spirited side of us.

Seldom do we cultivate a quiet, peaceful mind. Seemingly out of control, our minds race from one idea, one judgment, and one negative opinion to another one of equal harm to ourselves and the entire human community. Perhaps we didn't realize that every thought we harbor has an impact, whether it's voiced aloud or not. We can't lay the blame for this violent, mean world solely on others. We've had a part in it, too. Every time we favor a nasty thought rather than a nice thought, we add to the turmoil around us. The good news is that we can choose between the two at will.

I will add to the tenor of the world today by my thoughts. I pray that I may choose them carefully.

You are reading from the book:

Keepers of the Wisdom by Karen Casey

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March 25

If you want to change who you are, change what you do.

***

The Big Book is like a cookbook - you can read it all day long and starve. You have to take the action.

***

If you stay humble, you will not stumble.

***

Our neighbor's window looks much cleaner if we first wash our own.

***

Yesterday is a canceled check, tomorrow is a promissory note, today is cash in hand, spend it wisely.

You are reading from the book:

Keep Coming Back Gift Book by Meiji Stewart

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March 26

When I came in, they told me, "Let us love you until you can learn to love yourself."
--Anonymous

It takes a long time to learn to love ourselves. So many things we've done seem hard to forgive. We might be trying to dig out from under tons of negative garbage, negative images. Fortunately, our friends in this program do love us. That will sustain us as we try to get the picture of ourselves back into proper focus.

The thing we must get locked firmly in our mind is that it's all right to be who we have been and who we are now. We know how to repair the damage now. Our program shows us the way to recovery, the way back to genuine esteem in ourselves as God's creations. God made us, and always loves us just the way we are.

I will try to love myself, remembering that God and other people love me as I am.

You are reading from the book:

In God's Care by Karen Casey

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March 27

How can I believe in a Higher Power? I was taught that God is just an idea that weak people use as a crutch.
--Alcoholics Anonymous member

After we admit how serious our addiction is, we have to face our fear and sadness. Without the help of a Higher Power, we are hopeless. That's why we each must find a Higher Power that can give us the help we need.

Some of us don't like Step Two because we think it asks us to believe in somebody else's idea of God. It doesn't. It doesn't even ask us to believe in our own idea of God. The most important thing is to find a Higher Power – not necessarily the Highest Power – to help us stay sober, one that can teach us to succeed in sobriety and one that we trust.

We don't have to understand this Higher Power. We just have to believe that it works.

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, I ask You to come into my life and show me how to trust and understand You.

Today's Action

Today I will make a list of three people or things that know more about recovery than I do. I will circle the one I trust the most.

You are reading from the book:

God Grant Me... by Anonymous

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March 28

Nothing is so bad that relapse won't make it worse.
--Anonymous

The stories we hear in meetings often shock us. It seems hard to believe that some members could have harmed themselves in such ways. We hear about arrests, bankruptcies, loss of family and home, lost jobs, violence, jail, physical injury – the list goes on. Most of us said to ourselves, "I never was that bad. Maybe I don't really belong here."

Our sponsors and fellow members quickly straightened us out. We were comparing our histories with other members. We were told to identify with the stories, not compare. Some of us had been lucky that worse things hadn't happened to us while we were using. We were reminded those things hadn't happened to us "yet." If we relapsed, the "yets" were waiting.

Today I'll remember to identify, not compare. I don't want to relapse and go through THE YETS.

You are reading from the book:

Easy Does It by Anonymous

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March 29

Life guarantees a chance - not a fair shake.
--Bernie Y.

Life is not fair. Most of us know that, but few of us accept it. Something in us often clings to the idea that ultimately, the gifts will all be evenly divided. Mostly we want to be paid back for the injustices of the past. Many of us expect - no, demand - redress from fate. We think life should "make it up" to us somehow. That's why it's so hard for us to go on discovering, again and again, what we already know: Life is not fair.

The good job that should have been ours, the accident that crippled a loved one, unwanted childlessness - these things are not fair. But life is like soil, not like seed. The chance of a harvest is there, but only if we plant the seed. And even then we may not get the harvest we expected or wished for - not on our own timetable. It is an act of faith, and of great courage, to keep on sowing seeds when we don't know what we're going to get. But it's the only chance we have. We need to stop expecting the soil to provide the seed.

Today, I will be grateful to be alive. This day offers a chance for a fuller life, and I will accept what comes of my efforts.

You are reading from the book:

Days of Healing, Days of Joy by Earnie Larsen and Carol Larsen Hegarty

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March 30

In order to arrive at possessing everything, desire to possess nothing.
- St. John of the Cross

Expectations can cause havoc in our daily living. We all have a basic right to be treated with dignity and respect, but that doesn't mean life will always go our way. The twists and turns of life often carry us up rivers of disappointment to shores we never chose to visit.

Facing life as fully involved travelers, without expectations about outcomes, is perhaps the brightest way to travel. Making plans without setting up for certain outcomes makes us flexible people who learn to go with the flow. It has been said that there is a direct proportion between our level of expectation and the amount of stress we have in our lives. Trusting the results to a larger plan allows us to relax and enjoy the adventure of the journey.

As we grow closer to our Higher Power, we find we can let go. We are more peaceful and confident, less frantic and controlling. Trusting that our Higher Power will protect us, no matter what we encounter on our journey, helps us face the future with a calm and loving heart.

Today let me relax into life and let go of my expectations.

You are reading from the book:

Body, Mind, and Spirit by Anonymous