Today's Thought - April

[bluidkiti]

April 15

AA Thought for the Day

Since I've been putting sobriety into my life, I've been getting a lot of good things. I can describe it best as a kind of quiet satisfaction. I feel good. I feel right with the world - on the right side of the fence. As long as I put sobriety into my life, almost everything I take out is good. The satisfaction you get out of living a sober life is made up of a lot of little things. You have the ambition to do things you didn't feel like doing when you were drinking. Am I getting satisfaction out of living a sober life?
Meditation for the Day

It is a glorious way - the upward way. There are wonderful discoveries in the realm of the spirit. There are tender intimacies in the quiet times of communion with God. There is an amazing, almost incomprehensible understanding of the other person. On the upward way, you can have all the strength you need from that Higher Power. You cannot make too many demands on Him for strength. He gives you all the power you need, as long as you are moving along the upward way.
Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may see the beautiful horizons ahead on the upward way. I pray that I may keep going forward to the more abundant life.

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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April 16

There are persons who have some parts like me, but no one adds up exactly like me.

~Virginia Satir

Most of us feel pretty ordinary. We probably wish we were taller or shorter. Some of us are fat rather than thin. Few of us have perfect skin or teeth. Often we look at others, compare ourselves, and wish we were different. At these times. it's important to remember that each of us is special. We differ from others because we're created for different purposes.

Some of us will make a contribution to the world of sports, some to the art of music. Teaching or medicine will attract others and yet, no two of us will give to the world in the same way. Our unique mixture of looks, attitudes, and abilities will be special and very necessary to the people sharing our lifetime.

How can I give my special gift to the world today?

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

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April 17

You're never too old to grow up.

~Shirley Conran

Some of us have spent many years trying not to grow up. As children, we watched the adults around us. They may not have seemed happy. "Is life all hard work for grown-ups?" we wondered.

No, it's not all hard work. There are lots of good things about growing up. We can take charge of our life. We can learn to take care of ourselves. We can learn to share our feelings with good friends. We can make our world safe enough for us to express feelings again. We can learn how to love others. We do have choices.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, help me grow up into a happy, grateful adult.
Action for the Day

There are happy grown-ups. I'll find one to be my sponsor.

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

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April 18

Friendship with oneself is all-important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.

~Eleanor Roosevelt

In recovery, we make peace with ourselves, then we become our own friends. We have been at war with ourselves and in turmoil with our families, even while feeling like victims. This program lays out Twelve Steps we can follow to become friends with ourselves. In recovery, we may still feel self-hate when we constantly monitor our every action, when we react to our mistakes by berating ourselves, and when we dwell on past offenses. Would we put a friend through that?

A true friend will accept you as you are. He doesn't put you down or call you derogatory names. He'll give you honest feedback and won't put on a false front. He'll support you when you're in trouble. Being our own friend means doing these things for ourselves. Perhaps we can even embrace and be kind to the part of ourselves that is addicted and codependent.

Today, I will be a friend to my whole self - even the parts of me I have rejected.

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

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April 19

Making Room
for What Matters

I don't know about you, but my days usually fill up very easily without any effort at all on my part. The hours between waking and sleeping fly by. For years, I just went with the flow, let the days take me where they needed to, let the days roll into nights with me exhausted and feeling a little bit deprived, not having spent time doing the things that I really loved to do. Now, I try to be more intentional with my days.

These days, I try hard to make room for what really matters. I'll be honest: I do not always succeed. I'm a recovering workaholic, which means I have to try a lot harder than your average person not to work. But at least once, maybe twice a day, and sometimes even three, I do seriously attempt to make room for what matters. The things that matter to me change, and regardless of what those things are, making room for them may never come naturally. But I sure do feel better when I make it happen.

Try to make room for what matters to you today. Always remember: you matter to you.

Today's reading is from the book She Recovers Every Day: Meditations for Women*

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April 20

Avoiding self-pity

Our troubled lives and mixed-up emotions can easily draw pity from those who would help us. Sometimes we even exaggerate our history or current situation to get more pity. In the program we share our feelings to avoid self-pity because we know how destructive it can be.

When we say, "This too shall pass," for example, we are not giving our fellows the brush-off. Rather we are saying, "Don't wallow in self-pity; it's a killer. We've all experienced similar situations. Your Higher Power loves you and it will pass!"

Have I stopped pitying myself?

Higher Power, help me to remember that pity leads only to self-pity and that I want to change that pattern.

Today I will work on avoiding self-pity by...

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

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April 21

God Steps In

I came in with only one bag. The personnel from the VA rehab facility took me shopping. I had holes in my bras. I had no clothes. I had nothing. I later became a secretary in volunteer services. I received awards and was voted in as president by the recovery group. I was like, What is this going on? There were just so many miracles happening in my life. And I was like, This is happening!

God just stepped in when I walked through that door. Somebody said that sometimes God reaches out right where you are, pulls you out of that area and pulls you into recovery. You never know where he's pulling you to.

You just know when you get there. That's where you belong. That is just what he did to me.

Today let me trust that when I let go and let God, I am carried to new heights.

~Karen A., U.S. Air National Guard, 1980–1991

Today's reading is from the book Leave No One Behind: Daily meditations for Military Service Members and Veterans in Recovery*

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April 22

Reflection for the Day

Our spiritual and emotional growth in recovery doesn't depend so deeply upon success as it does upon our failures and setbacks. If we bear this in mind, a relapse can have the effect of kicking us upstairs, instead of down. People have no better teacher than Old Man Adversity, except in those cases where we refuse to let him teach us. Do I try to remain always teachable?
Today I Pray

May I respect recovery and its unending possibilities for spiritual and emotional growth, so that I can view a relapse as a learning experience, not "the end of the world." May relapse for any one of our fellowship serve to teach not only the person who has slipped, but all of us. May it strengthen our shared resolve.
Today I Will Remember

If you slip, get up.

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

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April 23

A crisis is an opportunity to rely on our Higher Power.

When we came to this program, we were told right away that a Higher Power is watching out for us and that we can look to that Power whenever we want guidance or peacefulness. Let's not resist this invitation.

Most of us had daily crises before turning to this program for help. Our attempts to control other people caused many of these crises. So did our reactions to the natural ebb and flow of human existence. Now we have to take the plunge and begin to rely on our God, however we understand God, to show us the way to handle every experience that's part of our Divine unfolding.

I will look to God today, and every experience will make sense in the whole of my existence.

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

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April 24

Religion and art spring from the same root and are close kin. Economics and art are strangers.

~Willa Cather

As adults, we have become more practical about meeting our economic needs and responsibilities. Perhaps we've gone so far in the process of learning to be fiscally responsible that we've become greedy or cynical. Some of us may have forgotten that there are things more sacred than monetary success.

Creativity, play, love, connection to a Higher Power, joy - all of these are among our needs. They are as important to our spirits as food and shelter are to our physical survival. If we've given up on our creative side because "it doesn’t pay" or because we're "not good enough to succeed," we may be denying the spirit within us the nourishment it yearns for. We must determine what success means to each of us; we need not be limited by others' definitions or goals. Creative expression is its own reward. It is the voice of our soul.

Today, I express my creativity in something I do, simply for its own sake.

Today's reading is from the book Glad Day

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April 25

Letting Go of Anger

In recovery, we often discuss anger objectively. Yes, we reason, it's an emotion we're all prone to experience. Yes, the goal in recovery is to be free of resentment and anger. Yes, it's okay to feel angry, we agree. Well, maybe…

Anger is a powerful and sometimes frightening emotion. It's also a beneficial one if it's not allowed to harden into resentment or used as a battering ram to punish or abuse people.

Anger is a warning signal. It points to problems. Sometimes, it signals problems we need to solve. Sometimes, it points to boundaries we need to set. Sometimes, it's the final burst of energy before letting go, or acceptance, settles in.

And, sometimes, anger just is. It doesn't have to be justified. It usually can't be confined to a tidy package. And it need not cause us to stifle ourselves or our energy.

We don't have to feel guilty whenever we experience anger. We don't have to feel guilty. Breathe deeply. We can shamelessly feel all our feelings, including anger, and still take responsibility for our behaviors.

I will feel and release any angry feelings I have today. I can do that appropriately and safely.

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

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April 26

Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow; it only saps today of its strength.

~A. J. Cronin

Many adult children are expert worriers. No topic is so small that we can't blow it up into something big. The merest hint of an ill wind can trip the hair-trigger mechanism that gets us going. It takes years to develop such a reflex. Originally, we may have legitimately worried that what we loved would be taken from us or never be given to us in the first place.

But worry can become a way of life - we may not know how to live any other way. In the grips of this delusion, we might assume that if we don't worry about something, it will happen for sure. As if worry had the power to ward off tragedy! We might as well wear garlic around our necks to repel evil spirits.

As opposed to cautious realism, chronic worry is indiscriminate and irrational. We don't worry about disasters because they're so likely to happen - we worry because that's what we know how to do. Worry doesn't prevent the loss of anything except our own peace of mind.

I recognize that habitual worry is a learned response from long ago. Today, I choose serenity.

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

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April 27

It’s the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter.

~Marlene Dietrich

A recovery friend once said, "There have been only two people in my life that I've called up at 4 a.m.: my mom, to get me out of jail, and my sponsor, to help keep me from drinking and ending up in jail."

Many of us may also remember calling up a recovery friend in the wee hours of the morning and hearing a calm, caring voice on the other end of the phone. Or we may have had the experience of having a recovery friend call us in the middle of the night and perhaps even spending the night on our couch.

We create safety for each other when we can't create it for ourselves. This is the nature of recovery. Having friends and fellowship that will be there for us whenever there is a need is a gift and a privilege. We should honor it well.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, thank you for the fellowship and for friends who will be there for me during the best of times and especially during the worst of times.
Today's Action

I will take time and think about which of my recovery friends have helped me the most. I will call and thank them for their care and kindness.

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

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April 28

In the important decisions, we should be governed, I think, by the deep inner needs of our nature.

~Sigmund Freud

We make decisions all the time, and every one, large or small, changes us. Since change is frightening, making a decision can be frightening, too. We can make the process easier by asking ourselves the right questions: "Do I really want to do this? Will it benefit my life? Is it realistic?" Such questions help us know our true feelings, which are the most important part of any decision.

Wrong decisions are often made by focusing on external things: "If I do this, it will please my partner. I'm doing it because I want excitement and intrigue. I'm in it for the money. I want the power and status. Maybe I'm running away from something I don't want to face - but so what?"

As addicts, it is important for us to avoid impulsivity and all-or-nothing thinking. We can take our time and talk our feelings through with our friends or our group, trying to see the bigger picture. If we are still unsure of the right thing to do, we can ask for our Higher Power's help, decide, and then trust the outcome.

The only wrong decision is one made for the wrong reasons.

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

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April 29

Lessons from Pain

The will of God will never take you where the grace of God will not protect you.

~Anonymous

Today we are living free from compulsions and addictions, but that happiness won't ever let us forget the times we cried from pain. We went through a lot of suffering in order to surrender. All that suffering wouldn't matter if we hadn't become willing to make a spiritual change. We learned valuable lessons from the pain.

In recovery, we learn that pain changes our lives. We gain an understanding of honest values from our suffering. Until we stopped hurting, we couldn't make progress toward a richer life and appreciate the gift of love and service.

I have learned that happiness is getting away from suffering. Even to crave happiness is painful. Finding happiness helps me get rid of pain and find peace of mind.

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