Recent Posts
08/12 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY
"Quiet minds can not be perplexed or frightened," wrote Robert Louis Stevenson, "but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm."
In The Program, we hear many warnings against harboring resentments, and rare is the person who doesn't occasionally yield to resentment when he feels wronged. We must remember that we have no room for resentment in our new way of life. Rather than exhausting myself by fighting resentment with grim determination, I can reason it out of existence by uncovering its cause with a quiet mind. WILL I TRY TO BELIEVE THAT THE BEST ANTIDOTE FOR RESENTMENT IS THE CONTINUAL EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE?
TODAY I PRAY
Praise God from whom all blessings flor. Praise God for our human sensitivity which, although it can feel the smallest, pin-***** hurts, can also feel the warmth of a smile, Praise God for our human insight which can peel the wraps from our resentments and expose them for what they are.
TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
I am grateful for feelings.
It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end. ~Ursula K. LeGuin
08/10 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY
We've been our own worst enemies most of our lives, and we've often injured ourselves seriously as a result of a "justified" resentment over a slight wrong. Doubtless there are many causes for resentment in the world, all of them providing "justification." But we can never begin to settle all the world's grievances or even arrange things so as to please everybody. If we've been treated unjustly by others or simply by life itself, we can avoid compounding the difficulty by completely forgiving the persons involved and abandoning the destructive habit of reviewing our hurts and humiliations. CAN I BELIEVE THAT YESTERDAY'S HURTS IS TODAY'S UNDERSTANDING, REWOVEN INTO TOMORROW'S LOVE?
TODAY I PRAY
Whether I am unjustly treated or just think I am, may I try not to be a resentful person, stewing over past injuries. Once I have identified the root emotion behind my resentment, may I be big enough to forgive the person involved and wise enough to forget the whole thing.
TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
Not all injustice can be fixed.
It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end. ~Ursula K. LeGuin
It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end. ~Ursula K. LeGuin
08/06 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY
Sometimes through bitter experience and painful lessons, we learn in our fellowship with others in The Program that resentment is our member one enemy. It destroys more of us than anything else. From resentment stem all forms of spiritual disease, for we've been not only mentally and physically ill, but spiritually ill as well. As we recover and as our spiritual illness is remedied, we become well physically and mentally. AM I AWARE THAT FEW THINGS ARE MORE BITTER THAN TO FEEL BITTER? DO I SEE THAT MY VENOM IS MORE POISONOUS TO ME THAN TO MY VICTIM?
TODAY I PRAY
I ask for help in removing the pile of resentments I have collected. May I learn that resentments are play-actors, too; they may be fears -- of losing a job, a love, an opportunity; they may be hurts or guilty feelings. May I know that God is my healer. May I admit my need.
TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
Resentments are rubbish; haul them away.
It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end. ~Ursula K. LeGuin
08/04 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY
One of the best ways to get out of the self-pity trap is to do some "instant bookkeeping." For every entry of misery on the debit side of our ledger, we can surely find a blessing to mark on the credit side: the health we enjoy, the illnesses we don't have, the friends who love us and who allow us to love them, a clean and sober 24 hours, a good day's work. If we but try, we can easily list a whole string of credits that will far outweigh the debit entries which cause self-pity. IS MY EMOTIONAL BALANCE ON THE CREDIT SIDE TODAY?
TODAY I PRAY
May I learn to sort out my debits and credits, and add it all up. May I list my several blessings on the credit side. May my ledger show me, when all is totaled, a fat fund of good things to draw on.
TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
I have blessings in my savings.
It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end. ~Ursula K. LeGuin
08/03 REFLECTION FOR THE DAY
The Twelve Steps were designed specifically for people like us -- as a short cut to God. The Steps are very much like strong medicine which can heal us of the sickness of despair, frustration and self-pity. Yet we're sometimes unwilling to use The Steps. Why? Perhaps because we have a deep-down desire for martyrdom. Consciously and intellectually, we think we want help; on a gut level, though, some hidden sense of guilt makes us crave punishment more than relief from our ills. CAN I TRY TO BE CHEERFUL WHEN EVERYTHING SEEMS TO BE LEADING ME TO DESPAIR? DO I REALIZE THAT DESPAIR IS VERY OFTEN A MASK FOR SELF-PITY?
TODAY I PRAY
May I pull out the secret guilt inside that makes me want to punish myself. May I probe my despair and discover whether it is really an imposter -- self-pity with a mask on. Now that I know that the Twelve Steps can bring relief, may I please use them instead of wallowing in my discomforts.
TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
The Twelve Steps are God's stairway.
It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end. ~Ursula K. LeGuin
Self-pity is one of the most miserable and consuming defects I know. Because of its interminable demands for attention and sympathy, my self-pity cuts off my communication with others, especially communication with my Higher Power. When I look at it that way, I realize that self-pity limits my spiritual progress. It's also a very real form of martydom, which is a luxury I simply can't afford. The remedy, I've been taught, is to have a hard look at myself and a still harder one at The Program's Twelve Steps to recovery. DO I ASK MY HIGHER POWER TO RELIEVE ME OF THE BONDAGE OF SELF?
TODAY I PRAY
May I know from observation that self pitiers get almost no pity from anyone else. Nobody -- not even God -- can fill their outsized demands for sympathy. May I recognize my own unsavory feeling of self-pity when it creeps in to rob me of my serenity. May God keep me wary of its sneakiness.
TODAY I WILL REMEMBER
My captor is my self.
It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end. ~Ursula K. LeGuin
Albert Schweitzer
