Thought for today:

A member shares:

“Whenever I used to complain about my life situation to my sponsor, he would always say something like ‘Hey, there are no guarantees!  You are lucky you have a roof over your head and food in your belly!   Consider these things an opportunity for growth!’  Then he’d laugh, and I’d feel like punching something, but eventually I’d laugh too, because he put it all into perspective.

“From then on, I started looking at all of life’s challenges as opportunities for growth, and nothing mattered as much as learning from those challenges.  Dealing with creditors, family members with addictions, mental health issues, compulsions to go on a spending spree, ‘suicidal ideation’ – I’ve been through all of these things.  They were all extreme symptoms of, or excuses  for, running from life.  But they were also opportunities to use the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Tools, and turn a negative into a positive.”

When we wrestle with the program we are actually re-wiring our brains to think differently about our lives – our time, money, and love.  With each new tool we try to use comes an “opportunity for growth”, and the circuit gets stronger.

For instance, instead of panic, depression, or regret, we can pick up the phone, keep our records up to date, or help another person.  Each of these things gets us out of ourselves, and creates space for healing circuits to be generated.

We become different people over time: people who don’t have to debt any more.  We win when we use of our will power to engage with the program of recovery.  And as we do this, we  learn that our old misery is optional!

Ours is a disease of the attitudes, and as we use the Tools of recovery, we improve those  attitudes.

Am I willing to do the work of DA, even if it takes a little effort and growth on my part?

Meditation for today:

The lotus flower accepts nourishment from the murkiest of water.  It is surprising to see it finally bloom, the water is so foul.  Yet it climbs to the top of the water, and petals emerge slowly.

It is the nature of all growth to seem limitless, never ending.  Therefore, take growth in course, and do not try to rush or delay it if possible.  Learn from the trials, knowing you are on your own personal path to change and blossom.

You will evolve and adapt at each turn.  It is the natural way of all life to look beyond, and to change into a new creation.  This awakening happens slowly, as we ‘Let Go and Let God’.  When we allow this freedom, our Higher Power reveals the best possible path to for us to bloom.

Affirmation for today:

Just for discipline, I will do one thing today for my recovery that would appall me if I thought I would have to do it for a lifetime.

Prayer for today:

I pray that I surrender to the program of recovery, withholding nothing, and that I let DA carry me through any the difficult times. I pray that this release becomes a daily habit, renewing my soul.

Further Reading:

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values is a book about living life well.  At one point, Buddhist monks hike easily through the mountains while the young man following them struggles at each turn to keep up.  Amazed at the much older monks’ resilience, he comes to understand that it is their attitude that keeps them happy and moving.  It is  not “keeping your eye on the end goal” that gets you where you need to be, it is the joy of the journey itself.

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