"Today's Hope" part 2
Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Midwest
Posts: 11,285
December 24
This is posted from the "Today's Hope" site of Alanon.
DAILY SLOGAN/SAYING
My quiet voice speaks the loudest.
- Richard Carlson
DAILY REFLECTION
One cannot have wisdom without living life.
- Dorothy McCall
Understanding circumstances, other people, even ourselves, comes with the passage of time and our willingness to be open to all the lessons contained within a moment. We must be willing to participate fully in the events that have requested our attendance. Then we can discover the longed-for clarity about life and our role in it. Immersion in the moment accompanied by reflective quiet times promises a perspective that offers us wisdom.
We all long for happiness, an easier life, and wisdom. We learn so slowly that both happiness and the easier life are generally matters of attitude. Therein lies our sought-after wisdom. How much simpler it makes living through even our most feared experiences when we have acquired the wisdom to know that the mind we carry into the moment, any moment, will be reflected in the outcome.
It takes patience and willingness to live fully enough to reap the benefits that accompany wisdom.
Daily share from the forum can be found here: Today's Sharing - Today's Hope
DAILY SLOGAN/SAYING
My quiet voice speaks the loudest.
- Richard Carlson
DAILY REFLECTION
One cannot have wisdom without living life.
- Dorothy McCall
Understanding circumstances, other people, even ourselves, comes with the passage of time and our willingness to be open to all the lessons contained within a moment. We must be willing to participate fully in the events that have requested our attendance. Then we can discover the longed-for clarity about life and our role in it. Immersion in the moment accompanied by reflective quiet times promises a perspective that offers us wisdom.
We all long for happiness, an easier life, and wisdom. We learn so slowly that both happiness and the easier life are generally matters of attitude. Therein lies our sought-after wisdom. How much simpler it makes living through even our most feared experiences when we have acquired the wisdom to know that the mind we carry into the moment, any moment, will be reflected in the outcome.
It takes patience and willingness to live fully enough to reap the benefits that accompany wisdom.
Daily share from the forum can be found here: Today's Sharing - Today's Hope
Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Midwest
Posts: 11,285
December 25
This is posted from the "Today's Hope" site of Alanon.
DAILY SLOGAN/SAYING
Our lives are defined not by the challenges we encounter, but by how we respond to those challenges.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
DAILY REFLECTION
Where There is Charity and Wisdom
- St. Francis of Assisi (paraphrased)
Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance.
Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor annoyance.
Where there is love and joy, there is neither greed nor selfishness.
Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt.
Daily share from the forum can be found here: Today's Sharing - Today's Hope
DAILY SLOGAN/SAYING
Our lives are defined not by the challenges we encounter, but by how we respond to those challenges.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
DAILY REFLECTION
Where There is Charity and Wisdom
- St. Francis of Assisi (paraphrased)
Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance.
Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor annoyance.
Where there is love and joy, there is neither greed nor selfishness.
Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt.
Daily share from the forum can be found here: Today's Sharing - Today's Hope
Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Midwest
Posts: 11,285
December 26
This is posted from the "Today's Hope" site of Alanon.
DAILY SLOGAN/SAYING
You drown not by falling into a river, but by staying submerged in it.
- Paulo Coelho
DAILY REFLECTION
Search out shortcomings and correct them.
- Anonymous
One of the hardest things to do is to look at our own shortcomings when we are angry at someone. It seems impossible to believe at such times that something may be wrong with us. This is the reason we are so often instructed to count to ten. When we find ourselves so out of sorts, so internally disrupted, there is usually something wrong with us.
It is our first obligation to take care of ourselves. It is out of love for ourselves that we withdraw and take a spot check inventory. The spot check inventory does not demean or humiliate us. On the contrary, the purpose is to speak with God briefly, check our vital signs, and clean out our connections.
I always need my connection with God. Nothing works without a clear, clean, strong, conscious contact with my Higher Power.
Daily share from the forum can be found here: Today's Sharing - Today's Hope
DAILY SLOGAN/SAYING
You drown not by falling into a river, but by staying submerged in it.
- Paulo Coelho
DAILY REFLECTION
Search out shortcomings and correct them.
- Anonymous
One of the hardest things to do is to look at our own shortcomings when we are angry at someone. It seems impossible to believe at such times that something may be wrong with us. This is the reason we are so often instructed to count to ten. When we find ourselves so out of sorts, so internally disrupted, there is usually something wrong with us.
It is our first obligation to take care of ourselves. It is out of love for ourselves that we withdraw and take a spot check inventory. The spot check inventory does not demean or humiliate us. On the contrary, the purpose is to speak with God briefly, check our vital signs, and clean out our connections.
I always need my connection with God. Nothing works without a clear, clean, strong, conscious contact with my Higher Power.
Daily share from the forum can be found here: Today's Sharing - Today's Hope
Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Midwest
Posts: 11,285
December 27
This is posted from the "Today's Hope" site of Alanon.
DAILY SLOGAN/SAYING
To let go means to give up coercing, resisting, or struggling, in exchange for something more powerful and wholesome which comes out of allowing things to be as they are without getting caught up in your attraction to or rejection of them, in the intrinsic stickiness of wanting, of liking and disliking.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn
DAILY REFLECTION
When I am lonely, I try to think of angels.
- Betty MacDonald
We need comfort when we feel lonely. Loneliness is often coupled with fear. We wonder, Can I handle what faces me today? Often we think we can't. But we don't ever have to face any situation alone, or handle any painful relationship in isolation. The "angels" who guide and protect us are as close as our thoughts.
Twelve Step programs give us the freedom to define our Higher Power in any way that suits us. Believing our Higher Power is an angel satisfies our need to have someone watching over us, protecting us wherever we are, loving us despite our failings.
We are nurtured or harmed by the thoughts we carry in our minds. Imagining an angel or a ring of angels to walk us through each day relieves our loneliness and dissipates our fears.
I have a friend in my Higher Power. We'll be together throughout this day.
Daily share from the forum can be found here: Today's Sharing - Today's Hope
DAILY SLOGAN/SAYING
To let go means to give up coercing, resisting, or struggling, in exchange for something more powerful and wholesome which comes out of allowing things to be as they are without getting caught up in your attraction to or rejection of them, in the intrinsic stickiness of wanting, of liking and disliking.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn
DAILY REFLECTION
When I am lonely, I try to think of angels.
- Betty MacDonald
We need comfort when we feel lonely. Loneliness is often coupled with fear. We wonder, Can I handle what faces me today? Often we think we can't. But we don't ever have to face any situation alone, or handle any painful relationship in isolation. The "angels" who guide and protect us are as close as our thoughts.
Twelve Step programs give us the freedom to define our Higher Power in any way that suits us. Believing our Higher Power is an angel satisfies our need to have someone watching over us, protecting us wherever we are, loving us despite our failings.
We are nurtured or harmed by the thoughts we carry in our minds. Imagining an angel or a ring of angels to walk us through each day relieves our loneliness and dissipates our fears.
I have a friend in my Higher Power. We'll be together throughout this day.
Daily share from the forum can be found here: Today's Sharing - Today's Hope
Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Midwest
Posts: 11,285
December 28
This is posted from the "Today's Hope" site of Alanon.
DAILY SLOGAN/SAYING
Stop looking for the bad news after the good news.
- Heard in a meeting
DAILY REFLECTION
In music, in the sea, in a flower, in a leaf, in an act of kindness... I see what people call God in all these things.
- Pablo Casals
The Third Step refers to "God as we understood Him." The pathways to meeting our Higher Power and to our spiritual awakening are all around. Every tree and every leaf on every tree as it rustles in the wind expresses God in our lives. When the little bird flies overhead or when it comes to visit the feeder, we are being visited by a spirit. When the sky boils with a storm, when lightning and thunder crash, we are witness to power greater than ourselves with a history beyond the centuries. The beautiful works of art created by our fellow human travelers on this journey through life are expressions of their courage to reach out and create something. A line of music moves us and we feel the spirit.
A child makes a drawing and gives it away. A neighbor helps you start your car. You treat the clerk at the checkout counter like a real person. Whatever word we use for God, if we decide to be open and receptive, we find God in the little details of our lives. Spiritual awakening is a wonderful daily occurrence.
God, open my senses to take in your presence more fully.
Daily share from the forum can be found here: Today's Sharing - Today's Hope
DAILY SLOGAN/SAYING
Stop looking for the bad news after the good news.
- Heard in a meeting
DAILY REFLECTION
In music, in the sea, in a flower, in a leaf, in an act of kindness... I see what people call God in all these things.
- Pablo Casals
The Third Step refers to "God as we understood Him." The pathways to meeting our Higher Power and to our spiritual awakening are all around. Every tree and every leaf on every tree as it rustles in the wind expresses God in our lives. When the little bird flies overhead or when it comes to visit the feeder, we are being visited by a spirit. When the sky boils with a storm, when lightning and thunder crash, we are witness to power greater than ourselves with a history beyond the centuries. The beautiful works of art created by our fellow human travelers on this journey through life are expressions of their courage to reach out and create something. A line of music moves us and we feel the spirit.
A child makes a drawing and gives it away. A neighbor helps you start your car. You treat the clerk at the checkout counter like a real person. Whatever word we use for God, if we decide to be open and receptive, we find God in the little details of our lives. Spiritual awakening is a wonderful daily occurrence.
God, open my senses to take in your presence more fully.
Daily share from the forum can be found here: Today's Sharing - Today's Hope
Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Midwest
Posts: 11,285
December 29
This is posted from the "Today's Hope" site of Alanon.
DAILY SLOGAN/SAYING
When you can't decide if you made the right choice, you probably didn't make either the best or worst choice.
- Heard in a meeting
DAILY REFLECTION
Coping with Families
There are many paths to self-care with families. Some people choose to sever connections with family members for a period of time. Some people choose to stay connected with family members and learn different behaviors. Some disconnect for a time, and then return slowly on a different basis.
There is no one perfect way to deal with members of our family in recovery. It is up to each of us to choose a path that suits us and our needs at each point in time.
The idea that is new to us in recovery is that we can choose. We can set the boundaries we need to set with family members. We can choose a path that works for us, without guilt and obligation or undue influence from any source, including recovery professionals.
Our goal is to detach in love with family members. Our goal is to be able to take care of ourselves, love ourselves, and live healthy lives despite what family members do or don't do. We decide what boundaries or decisions are necessary to do this.
It's okay to say no to our families when that is what we want. It's okay to say yes to our families if that feels right. It's okay to call time out and it's okay to go back as a different person.
God, help me choose the path that is right for me with family. Help me understand there is no right or wrong in this process. Help me strive for forgiveness and learn to detach with love, whenever possible. I understand that this never implies that I have to forfeit self-care and health for the good of the system.
Daily share from the forum can be found here: Today's Sharing - Today's Hope
DAILY SLOGAN/SAYING
When you can't decide if you made the right choice, you probably didn't make either the best or worst choice.
- Heard in a meeting
DAILY REFLECTION
Coping with Families
There are many paths to self-care with families. Some people choose to sever connections with family members for a period of time. Some people choose to stay connected with family members and learn different behaviors. Some disconnect for a time, and then return slowly on a different basis.
There is no one perfect way to deal with members of our family in recovery. It is up to each of us to choose a path that suits us and our needs at each point in time.
The idea that is new to us in recovery is that we can choose. We can set the boundaries we need to set with family members. We can choose a path that works for us, without guilt and obligation or undue influence from any source, including recovery professionals.
Our goal is to detach in love with family members. Our goal is to be able to take care of ourselves, love ourselves, and live healthy lives despite what family members do or don't do. We decide what boundaries or decisions are necessary to do this.
It's okay to say no to our families when that is what we want. It's okay to say yes to our families if that feels right. It's okay to call time out and it's okay to go back as a different person.
God, help me choose the path that is right for me with family. Help me understand there is no right or wrong in this process. Help me strive for forgiveness and learn to detach with love, whenever possible. I understand that this never implies that I have to forfeit self-care and health for the good of the system.
Daily share from the forum can be found here: Today's Sharing - Today's Hope
Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Midwest
Posts: 11,285
December 30
This is posted from the "Today's Hope" site of Alanon.
DAILY SLOGAN/SAYING
By going to meetings and working the Steps, I may be able to make compost out of my pile of garbage.
- Heard in a meeting
DAILY REFLECTION
Ordinary Moments
Ordinary moments enrich our lives. Our spiritual life is on the same plane as our everyday relationships. It's not just something within our mind or feelings, and it's not just lofty and in the clouds. Spirituality is between people and in all relationships. Its growth depends on the way we relate to each other as intimate partners. We find it in our relationship to ordinary things like the bread we eat and the water we drink. Spirituality is found in the ways we honor our body with food and touch, work and rest, and in the ways we honor each other.
We jointly extend our spirituality through relationships with others. As we become friends with others or as we welcome people into our home, we receive them with hospitality because God is found in each of them. When we reach out to others or receive them as guests, they in turn enrich and bless our lives. This spiritual practice of hospitality has ancient roots all over the world. It teaches us to relate with generous hospitality to all guests who appear at our door.
Do something generous for someone today.
Daily share from the forum can be found here: Today's Sharing - Today's Hope
DAILY SLOGAN/SAYING
By going to meetings and working the Steps, I may be able to make compost out of my pile of garbage.
- Heard in a meeting
DAILY REFLECTION
Ordinary Moments
Ordinary moments enrich our lives. Our spiritual life is on the same plane as our everyday relationships. It's not just something within our mind or feelings, and it's not just lofty and in the clouds. Spirituality is between people and in all relationships. Its growth depends on the way we relate to each other as intimate partners. We find it in our relationship to ordinary things like the bread we eat and the water we drink. Spirituality is found in the ways we honor our body with food and touch, work and rest, and in the ways we honor each other.
We jointly extend our spirituality through relationships with others. As we become friends with others or as we welcome people into our home, we receive them with hospitality because God is found in each of them. When we reach out to others or receive them as guests, they in turn enrich and bless our lives. This spiritual practice of hospitality has ancient roots all over the world. It teaches us to relate with generous hospitality to all guests who appear at our door.
Do something generous for someone today.
Daily share from the forum can be found here: Today's Sharing - Today's Hope
Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Midwest
Posts: 11,285
December 31
This is posted from the "Today's Hope" site of Alanon.
DAILY SLOGAN/SAYING
Celebrate endings, for they precede new beginnings.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
DAILY REFLECTION
I didn't really have a plan for a career, but I learned how to run our business quite successfully one day at a time.
- Joann Reed
Whether we have a specific plan for how we anticipate our lives unfolding or we react to opportunities spontaneously, we have to take whatever comes in small increments anyway. Life only happens a day at a time, regardless of who we are. Being "leveled" in this way is good for one's humility. It's also a relief to many of us. Living way into the future prevents us from appreciating whatever is happening at this moment.
There can be joyful excitement in the decision to squeeze the thrill out of every minute that comes to us. If we are practiced in living just one day at a time, we'll not find this difficult. But many of us get caught in the struggle to control outcomes, circumstances, and people far into the future. Living a day at a time can feel like taking a giant step backward.
With practice, we'll realize that living more slowly actually extends our lives because we're able to truly experience each of the moments. Learning this, at any age, is a gift. Let's rejoice in it.
Today offers me twenty-four hours of moments to be appreciated. I will do my best to love them.
Daily share from the forum can be found here: Today's Sharing - Today's Hope
DAILY SLOGAN/SAYING
Celebrate endings, for they precede new beginnings.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
DAILY REFLECTION
I didn't really have a plan for a career, but I learned how to run our business quite successfully one day at a time.
- Joann Reed
Whether we have a specific plan for how we anticipate our lives unfolding or we react to opportunities spontaneously, we have to take whatever comes in small increments anyway. Life only happens a day at a time, regardless of who we are. Being "leveled" in this way is good for one's humility. It's also a relief to many of us. Living way into the future prevents us from appreciating whatever is happening at this moment.
There can be joyful excitement in the decision to squeeze the thrill out of every minute that comes to us. If we are practiced in living just one day at a time, we'll not find this difficult. But many of us get caught in the struggle to control outcomes, circumstances, and people far into the future. Living a day at a time can feel like taking a giant step backward.
With practice, we'll realize that living more slowly actually extends our lives because we're able to truly experience each of the moments. Learning this, at any age, is a gift. Let's rejoice in it.
Today offers me twenty-four hours of moments to be appreciated. I will do my best to love them.
Daily share from the forum can be found here: Today's Sharing - Today's Hope
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