Thought for today:
Why do we wait so very long before inviting a Higher Power to help us with our problems? We seem to exhaust all other options first.
If we are honest with ourselves we may find it’s because we secretly enjoy indulging in self-pity, resentment, and longing in “quiet desperation” for a solution to be handed to us. But “longing without action is a daydream”, and self-pity hides God from us.
Together these traits of self-pity and longing lead us down a pathway of regrets and self-loathing. In the end we discover that we are leaving our Higher Power out of the equation because it’s easier to feel sorry for ourselves and isolate.
Self-pity is a dangerous luxury to be avoided at all costs. This disease of ours loves us to be kept in isolation.
DA Promise Nine: “Acceptance and gratitude will replace regret, self-pity, and longing.”
Feeling overwhelmed and alone? Try inviting your Higher Power into your plans and “to do” lists.
Ask your Higher Power for help – ask for a teacher to guide you, or a way to delegate when you need help. Ask for the perfect sponsor for you, and go through the steps with that person. Ask for the perfect living situation, car, job for you.
This is not voodoo. It is a divine promise. The answers will materialize if we work for them. We just have to learn to ask the right questions.
Am I asking the right questions?
Meditation for today:
We are not meant to be maudlin sufferers. As the AA Big Book “Alcoholics Anonymous” describes (on page 417 in the Fourth Edition):
“And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation—some fact of my life —unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment.”
When I am disturbed there is something wrong in me, which I can work on, and surrender to God. I can ask God for guidance, and I can keep my eyes and ears open for God’s inspiration. I can accept that although I may not have all the answers, I am a channel for a Higher Power that is all knowing, and I am on the right path to find the answers.
Affirmation for today:
I accept everything in the universe as happening according to God’s plan. I trust in my inspiration as being that spark of God’s plan meant for me to incubate and nurture.
Prayer for today:
I pray for a release from self-pity. I pray for acceptance of the universe as it is, and my place in it. I pray for gratitude.
Recommended reading:
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Originally published in 1939, when A.A. membership numbered about one hundred, Alcoholics Anonymous has steadily grown in readership. By the time the second edition appeared in 1955, membership had reached over 150,000, and the Big Book, A.A. members’ fond title for their basic text, had reached a distribution of more than 300,000. At the time of the third edition, in March 1976, the worldwide membership of A.A. was estimated at 1 million or more. The basic text, pages 1-164, which had been the foundation of recovery for so many alcoholics remained, and still remains, unchanged. The General Service Conference-approved fourth edition of Alcoholics Anonymous was first printed in October 2001 and has been reprinted 30 times since then. This edition includes 24 new stories that provide contemporary sharing for newcomers seeking recovery from alcoholism in A.A. during the early decades of the 21st century. Sixteen stories are retained from the third edition, including the “Pioneers of A.A.” section, which helps the reader remain linked to A.A.’s historic roots and shows how alcoholics get sober today. More than 30 million copies of the first four editions of the Big Book have been distributed. This is the only A.A.W.S.-authorized e-book version of Alcoholics Anonymous.
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| This inspirational pendant has “God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change…Courage to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference…” engraved on the back piece of a two piece oval pendant. The front piece has the “Tree of Life” cut out so that the serenity prayer peaks through. A great, meaningful gift for yourself or a loved one. |
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