Today's Thought - April

[bluidkiti]

April 1

Talk doesn’t cook rice.

~Chinese Saying

Some of us are crazy about self-help books, inspirational tapes, and personal improvement seminars. We’ll buy or sign up for anything, whatever the price, if it promises revolutionary insights or a foolproof new system. We want relief in a day and deliverance in a weekend. And we want the expert of the hour to do it for us.

There’s nothing wrong with wishing, of course. But there’s a lot wrong with kidding ourselves as a way of life. Think about it: If progress could be bought, we wouldn’t need to be meditating. If personal transformation resulted from collecting new ideas, we’d have been transformed long ago. Exploring is great. And looking for all the inspiration and wisdom we can find is necessary for growth. But changing is doing. All the plans and schemes for improvement put together won’t change a thing if we don’t put the principles into daily practice. Even catchy words are just words.

Today, I will take the best plan I have and put it into action. Today, I will say less and do more.

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

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April 2

Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.

~Confucius

Our program asks us “to be fearless and thorough from the very start.” We are warned that some of us will hold on to old ideas and that the result will be nil unless “we let go absolutely.” Recovery asks that we put our heart into our programs. How? By working the Steps. By calling group members to see how they’re doing or to let them know how we’re doing. By meeting with our sponsors so they can get to know us and guide us in working the Steps.

This is just what we need. We must not sit on the sidelines of the program. We should not settle for the illusion of commitment that we got by drinking and drugging. We need to surrender, to let go absolutely and enjoy the ride.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, I give my heart and soul to you to do with as you want. Place me where I can do the most good.

I pray for willingness to let go absolutely.
Today's Action

For today I will work at stepping into the day with all my heart. I will work at having the attitude and actions of letting go absolutely.

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 3

What I wanted
Was to be myself again.

~Sandra Hochman

When we lose faith in our feelings, we lose faith in ourselves and become outer-directed. We look to the world to tell us what to do and how to feel. We seek approval and love from others so we can prove to ourselves that we’re worthy. Paradoxically, to be outer-directed is to be self-absorbed. Because we feel so unsure of who we are, we cannot let go and be spontaneous, be real.

The task in recovery is to reclaim ourselves by becoming inner-directed. This means looking within for the direction we need. When we’re just learning to trust our feelings, this can be truly agonizing. It means trusting the reality of our needs and our right to express them. Only then can we find the faith in ourselves and in life that we have lacked.

To become inner-directed takes self-acceptance and self-love. It also takes time. But there is no real peace otherwise, for it is the only way to find ourselves.

I can be true to my own feelings. I am my own best teacher because I know what I truly need.

Today's reading is from the book Answers in the Heart, Daily Meditations for Men and Women Recovering from Sex Addiction

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April 4

Slippery Places

If you sit in the barber chair long enough, you’re bound to get your hair cut.

~Anonymous

In recovery, we stay aware and keep in contact with our Higher Power. We keep our addictions in check with our Step work. We now know the difference between what is right and wrong for us. We know we are weak and powerless over our addictions. We know it is only by the grace of our Higher Power that we can keep ourselves clean and sober.

So we learn to stay away from slippery places and slippery people. We know we are always just one step away from relapse. We have learned how our wills, uncontrolled, will always look for shortcuts to happiness. When our contact with our Higher Power is weak, we begin to listen to the voices that call us back into the dark days before the program. Our minds play tricks on us. They only let us remember the true and beautiful moments, not the dark and ugly days and nights before the program.

I will stay clear of slippery people and places.

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

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April 5

One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.

~Eleanor Roosevelt

We are not here without purpose. We are being called to fulfill a destiny. When we look around, we’ll see men and women who have been invited to share this spirit-filled journey. As sharing, caring members of the recovering community, we’ll see God is orchestrating our life and our growth as individuals.

Our program has given us the gift of rebirth. We have memories of more difficult, pain-filled times. Many of us through some miracle escaped death. We’ve been given another chance for a good life.

We’re asked only to try to help someone else discover a second chance, too. When we do, we know it’s not coincidence that we’re here sharing recovery at this time. We have work ahead of us, work that we don’t want to turn our back on. We know this work is God’s will for us and is meant to bring peace, joy, and gratitude.

Today I will remember that I am necessary to others, that my life is not an accident, and that God has a purpose for me.

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

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April 6

One cannot have wisdom without living life.

~Dorothy McCall

Living life means responding, wholly, to our joys and our pitfalls. It means not avoiding the experiences or activities that we fear we can't handle. Only through our survival of them do we come to know who we really are; we come to understand the strength available to us at every moment. And that is wisdom.

When we approach life tentatively, we reap only a portion of its gifts. It's like watching a movie in black and white that's supposed to be in Technicolor. Our lives are in color, but we must have courage to let the colors emerge, to feel them, absorb them, be changed by them. Within our depths, we find our true selves. The complexities of life teach us wisdom. And becoming wise eases the many pitfalls in our path.

Living life is much more than just being alive. I can choose to jump in with both feet. Wisdom awaits me in the depths.

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

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April 7

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.

~Rachel Carson

Where do we turn for contemplation and contact with a spiritual source? Many men find it in nature. They look out the window at a handsome tree. They go for a walk outdoors, feed the birds, let themselves be awed by the sight of the moon on a dark night. The natural world offers our most direct, tangible contact with something eternal. We are part of something much larger than ourselves, something that endures for the ages.

The beauty of nature inspires awe, which is a form of reverence. We walk along a canyon rim and God is there. We walk through prairie grasses and wildflowers teeming with wildlife, the wind blows in our faces, and our spirits rise. These natural beauties endure forever.

Today, as I look at the natural world, I see God.

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

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April 8

AA Thought for the Day

But even faith is not the whole story. There must be service. We must give this thing away if we want to keep it. The Dead Sea has no outlet and it is stagnant and full of salt. The Sea of Galilee is clear and clean and blue, as the Jordan River carries it out to irrigate the desert. To be of service to other people makes our lives worth living. Does service to others give me a real purpose in life?
Meditation for the Day

Seek God early in the day, before He gets crowded out by life’s problems, difficulties, or pleasures. In that early, quiet time gain a calm, strong confidence in the goodness and purpose in the universe. Do not seek God only when the world’s struggles prove too much and too many for you to bear or face alone. Seek God early, when you can have a consciousness of God’s spirit in the world. People often only seek God when their difficulties are too great to be surmounted in any other way, forgetting that if they sought God’s companionship before they needed it, many of their difficulties would never arise.
Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may not let God be crowded out by the hurly-burly of life. I pray that I may seek God early and often.

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 9

We are only as sick as the secrets we keep.

~Anonymous

It is dangerous for us to keep secrets. Shame builds, and we’ll want relief. We may turn to alcohol or other drugs. True relief comes by talking about our secrets, by sharing who we really are with others. Our program helps us live a life based on honesty. Our program helps us battle shame. We don’t keep secrets anymore. We start our meetings and share what we tried to keep secret before. “Hi, my name is … and I’m an alcoholic.” Hi, my name is … and I’m an addict.” We keep telling our secret, and the shame gets less and less.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, I pray to live an honest life.
Action for the Day

I’ll list any secrets I’ve been keeping. I’ll talk with my sponsor about them.

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

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April 10

Train Wreck

I have been out-maneuvered by The Addict, who keeps turning the right thing into the wrong thing. A train wreck (or two) is coming; I can feel it. A train wreck is coming if someone (or two) doesn’t get onto the right track, fast.

I am hunkered down behind the protective wall I’ve erected in my heart and head, awaiting the disaster that seems impossible to avoid. I don’t know the scope of the devastation looming ahead—I don’t know when it will occur, or which one of us will be crushed first.

Caught up in this slow-motion nightmare, I’m chugging along toward some unknown tragedy—maybe even my child’s death—yet I can’t think of what I need to do to stop it. I cower here, stunned into inaction by events that are too frequent, too awful, and too out of control. Caught up for too long in the tailwind of my child’s wild ride with addiction, I have been dragged and battered and bruised. I wonder if I’ll still be standing at the end of this ordeal, whenever that might be and wherever this might go.

Sometimes we have to let go of what’s killing us, even if it’s killing us to let go.

Today's reading is from the book Tending Dandelions, Honest Meditations for Mothers with Addicted Children

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April 11

I’d like to get away from earth awhile
And then come back to it and begin again.

~Robert Frost

Do we think it’s weak to need a break? Do we ignore the need to recharge our batteries? Responsibility for our own lives requires us to recognize the need to restore our energy. Maybe our former escape from the world was by using food, or drugs, or spending money, or sexual release, or preoccupation with another person.

Now, since we are developing the ability to be with ourselves, we can take a break from the world and come back restored. This meditation time generates more energy for our lives. Recreation with friends, a walk, a movie, or a concert does the same. Taking responsibility to get away is a good cure for self-pity and exhaustion.

Today, I will be aware of my need to restore my energy.

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

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April 12

Dealing with depression

When we felt depressed, we used to take the “quickest” escape route: getting high or drunk. But we found that we couldn’t escape feelings for very long and that using drugs or alcohol leaves us feeling no better, and often worse, both physically and emotionally.

At times like these, it would be more helpful to simply acknowledge the feelings without using the substances. It would be more useful to remember our Higher Power, the program, and our fellow members.

Can I use the program to help deal with feelings of depression?

Higher Power, when I feel depressed, help me use my program, avoid self-medication, and reach out for help.

I will practice dealing with feelings of depression today by…

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

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April 13

Reflection for the Day

On studying the Twelve Steps, many of the first members of the program exclaimed, “What an order! I can’t go through with it.” “Do not be discouraged,” we’re told at meeting after meeting. “No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.” Can I believe, in the words of Browning, that my business is not to remake myself, but to make the absolute best of what my Higher Power made?
Today I Pray

Even if I am an old hand at the program, may I not forget that the Twelve Steps do not represent an achievement that can be checked off my “things to do” list. Instead, they are a striving for an ideal, a guide to getting there. May I keep my mind open to deepening interpretations of these principles.
Today I Will Remember

Progress rather than perfection.

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

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April 14

Our principles determine our behavior.

Giving other people power over our actions, and not respecting or remembering our own values, is part of our problem. If she uses drugs again, we get mad and hurt. If he fails to come home when promised, we get anxious and imagine the worst. For years, perhaps, we have let the behavior of others control how we feel and what we do. We simply reacted without thinking.

Our friends in the program remind us there is another way to live. We can decide how we want to act. Pausing for a moment before reacting to any affront or situation will give us a chance to take charge of ourselves and thus our actions. In the process, we’ll begin redefining or recalling the values that are important to us. Learning to live by our values will simplify every action we’ll take today.

Going to my own core for guidance on who I will be today will help me to know peace.

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

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April 15

The urge for adventure seems instinctive to the human species. Our natural impulses of curiosity, creativity, problem solving, and exploration have helped us colonize our planet. We have found ways to survive and thrive, even in places with the most extreme, hostile conditions. Technological advances continue to offer us the equipment and resources to survive harsh circumstances in relative safety. Deep sea and outer space investigations continue to capture our imagination, and every day, what once was science fiction becomes our current reality.

Whether it is a weekend camping trip, longer vacation travel, or a full-fledged expedition, the unknowns and uncertainty inherent in adventure pull us out of ourselves, expand who we are, and allow us to marshal inner resources we did not know existed. Now that we are in recovery, we have the opportunity to discover such possibilities. No longer consumed with just satisfying our addiction, we can choose to explore new frontiers. Saving money to travel for a few months, or getting it together to visit a destination we have always dreamed of seeing, can now become reality. Name the place, create the space, and enjoy the novelty we will face!

Every day, I am grateful for the new adventures sobriety allows me to undertake.

Today's reading is from the book Cornerstones, Daily Meditations for the Journey into Manhood and Recovery