Today's Thought - June

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June 1

Truth

Great is truth. Fire cannot burn it nor water drown it.

~Alexandre Dumas

The importance of truth is stressed often during our Twelve Step discussions. Truth is the foundation of all knowledge. It is the standard by which all our actions are judged. Truth can never be bought. There is no happy medium in truth. All things must be either true or false. Unless an activity begins with truth, it will be impossible to progress successfully. The advice "truth or silence" warns us of the possible harm from hurriedly made statements. Love and kindness must accompany truth even if we, as the giver or receiver, are pained by the truth.

Our program teaches us that truth can do no more than present things as they really exist.

For me to work my program successfully, I must always work from a foundation of truth.

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

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June 2

The grace of God is courtesy.

~Hilaire Belloc

"When all else fails, courtesy will prevail" is a time-honored saying. And our daily experiences bear witness to its truth. It's not a major decision to choose kindness in our actions, and there's nothing very difficult about offering sincere attention to another's conversation. And yet, the frequency with which so many of us dishonor people by rudeness, interruptions, and mean-spiritedness would suggest courtesy is indeed very elusive and difficult.

Our self-centeredness prevents our courteousness. We are often so concerned with how others are supposed to treat us, that we deprive ourselves of the joy of simply offering someone an unexpected kindness.

How fortunate we are that God doesn't hold back comfort until we meet certain standards. And how fortunate that we can discover the rich rewards of acting according to God's will by the smallest acts of kindness toward the people around us.

My courtesy will prevail today.

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

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June 2

Solitude is my time to talk to myself. Without it I get dull like a bird without a song.

~Abby Warman

In solitude we rest and are rejuvenated. Solitude is a moment alone, with our Higher Power as our only companion. Why must we have solitude? Many of us came to this program having been isolated from others, perhaps for years. But being isolated and being alone with God are far different experiences. In our isolation, we often dwelled on the injustices we suffered. Over a drink or a drug, we wallowed in self-pity. That wasn't solitude. We weren't listening for the voice of our Higher Power. Now, in our alone time, we can hear it.

Withdrawing from the bustle around us for a few moments with God will quickly enlighten us. We will save much valuable time when we follow the suggestions, the feelings, we get from our visit with God in the quiet spaces of the day.

I will sing to God's tune today if I take time to listen for it. In my quiet time I will quiet my mind and listen to my heart.

Today's reading is from the book A Woman's Spirit: More meditations for Women*

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June 3

Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans.

~John Lennon

We have plans and dreams about our future. We hope to accomplish certain goals in our lives. Maybe we want to buy a house or get a promotion. We have a future with our life partner, or we are looking for a life partner. But life is never so cut-and-dried that we should expect everything to go according to our plans. We live better and healthier if we hold loosely to our anticipations; the path we walk in reality is never the exact path we envisioned. Life is an adventure in which sometimes things turn out even better than we hoped, and sometimes we have to cope with great disappointments.

Surprisingly, after we deal with the unexpected, we are often grateful for what it brought or what we learned. How often have we heard someone say he is grateful for the way an illness changed his life, or the way a great loss taught him to be a better person? Perhaps today we have to face a difficult challenge or manage a problem that we would never have chosen. The difficulty that we face is part of our unique life journey, and if we allow it to, it will guide us toward becoming a better person.

Today, I will make my plans and still be willing to deal with whatever happens.

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

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June 5

AA Thought for the Day

If you can take your troubles as they come, if you can maintain your calm and composure amid pressing duties and unending engagements, if you can rise above the distressing and disturbing circumstances in which you are set down, you have discovered a priceless secret of daily living. Even if you are forced to go through life weighed down by some unescapable misfortune or disease and yet live each day as it comes with poise and peace of mind, you have succeeded where most people have failed. You have wrought a greater achievement than a person who rules a nation. Have I achieved poise and peace of mind?
Meditation for the Day

Take a blessing with you wherever you go. You have been blessed, so bless others. Such stores of blessings are awaiting you in the months and years that lie ahead. Pass on your blessings. Blessing can and does go around the world, passed on from one person to another. Shed a little blessing in the heart of one person. That person is cheered to pass it on, and so God's vitalizing, joy-giving message travels on. Be a transmitter of God's blessings.
Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may pass on my blessings. I pray that they may flow into the lives of others.

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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June 6

Self-image sets the boundaries of individual accomplishment.

~Maxwell Maltz

The way we think about ourselves determines how we behave and who we become. If Eileen believes she is good at baseball, she will swing the bat more confidently and catch fly balls more easily. And her extra effort will generally pay off. At math, Steve thinks he's a whiz and it makes him proud. He studies so he'll continue to be a whiz.

The image we have of ourselves is like the blueprint the contractor follows when building a house. When we see ourselves sad or angry, our behavior and personality will match it. When we see ourselves withdrawn and afraid, we seem to avoid activities that involve others. How wonderful that we can change our behavior and thus ourselves by changing the picture we carry in our minds.

Do I have a good picture of myself today?

Today's reading is from the book Today's Gift: Daily Meditations for Families*

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June 7

Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once.

~Unknown

Time always seems to pass too slowly or too quickly for us. We want the fun times to last longer. We want the boring or painful times to go faster. But time goes at just the right pace. Any faster, and we wouldn't have enough time to learn as we go. Any slower, and we'd lose interest. In our program, we learn to respect the pace of time. We let go, and we let time go at its own pace. We call this patience.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, thank you for patience. Help me look forward to the future without rushing. Help me live fully in the here and now. Help me make today a good one by doing Your will.
Action for the Day

I'll list five ways I can use time to be healthier in body, mind, and spirit. Which of these five things can I do today?

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

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June 8

Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.

~Helen Keller

When a man looks at his life and at the lives of others, it is clear that pain is part of life. We cannot escape this tragic truth; our growth and our wholeness must include it because our recovery stresses honesty. In our old way of living, we may have been bitter. Many of us felt sorry for ourselves. Some of us cursed God and wasted time in our self-centeredness, thinking life was especially unfair to us. Life is not fair; it just is. It is left to us to choose how we will respond.

People's responses to life inspire us. We not only acknowledge the pain, but we see the heroic lives of others around us. They met their limitations and went forward with a willing spirit and faith. Today, we can be grateful for the progress we have made in overcoming our suffering. We have friends who give us the joy of human contact. We have choices and possibilities where we never saw them before. We have a growing self-respect as men.

I accept the reality of life, and I will respond with faith in the choices I make today.

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

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June 9

Going to meetings

Many of us have many problems: financial, legal, and emotional. If we asked fellow members for advice, they might well say, "Go to a meeting." Going to meetings is not just something we do in our spare time. Meetings are a way to find answers, get support, and generally maintain our recovery.

What kind of advice is that - "go to a meeting" - for practical problems? But it works! For other people, this would not work; but for those of us in recovery, it is the beginning of solutions to our problems. Meetings are not "spare time"; they’re critical "life time."

Am I making the most out of meetings?

Higher Power, help me develop faith in the fellowship and deep respect for meetings.

Today I will make plans to attend the meeting at…

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

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June 10

Rebuilding Trust

In my first years in the Navy, I'd only call my parents to tell about my accomplishments. They didn't know about my drinking problem. But when I got sent to restriction, they couldn't get hold of me to let me know my grandfather was hospitalized. I finally had to tell them.

They both got tired of all the ups and downs after that, so it took a long time for them to trust me again. But after my third duty station and two more alcohol-related incidents, I finally got sober and made amends. They've seen the results. They see how, with God's grace, I’ve grown.

Today is amazing. Now we celebrate my sobriety together. Now we can talk about everything.

Today I am grateful that, in recovery, broken relationships can be healed. Destroyed trust can be rebuilt. Miracles can happen.

~Elora K., U.S. Navy, 1997–2007

Today's reading is from the book Leave No One Behind: Daily meditations for Military Service Members and Veterans in Recovery*

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June 11

Reflection for the Day

Many of us have had difficulty ridding ourselves of the ravages of guilt. In my own case, during the early days in the program, I either misunderstood certain of the Steps or tried to apply them too quickly and too eagerly. The result was that I increased my feelings of guilt and worthlessness, rather than freeing myself as the Steps intend. Soon, though, I became at least willing to forgive myself, and I made a new beginning. I undertook all the soul-searching and cleansing Steps in our program as they were intended to be taken, and not from a below-ground position of crippling hate and guilt. Have I made amends to myself?
Today I Pray

May I forgive myself as my Higher Power has forgiven me. May I know that if I am hanging on to an old satchel full of guilt, then I am not following the example my Higher Power has shown me. If my Higher Power, who has demonstrated forgiveness by leading me to this healing place, can forgive me, then so can I. May I not begrudge myself what a Higher Power has so generously offered.
Today I Will Remember

My Higher Power forgives; so must I.

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

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June 12

Surrendering to God's caring plan eases our walk today.

When first introduced to the idea that a Higher Power is in charge of our lives, the lives of our loved ones, and all the situations we've struggled so hard to control, we balk. We don't want to turn over the reins to anyone. After all, how can we be certain our loved ones will stop drinking if we quit pleading? Or who is going to make sure the children don't get into drugs if we aren't nagging them about their friends and their whereabouts all the time?

How lucky we are to have discovered, at last, the peace that comes with surrendering. There is a plan for our lives. There is a plan for our companion's life too. And for our friends' and associates' lives. No one of us has been left out of the divine plan. But we couldn't see this before. We were too intent on trying to run lives as though we were all-powerful. Now we can breathe easier, knowing God will take care of all those people we tried to manage but couldn't.

As Step Three suggests, I will turn my will and my life over to God today and enjoy these twenty-four hours.

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

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June 13

Everyone has a talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark places where it leads.

~Erica Jong

Sometimes, when we're in the midst of working out a problem, creating something new, or attempting to make a major change in our behavior, we feel as if we’ve "hit a wall." The enthusiasm we felt at the beginning of the project, relationship, or recovery program seems to have evaporated. We wonder if we have the energy and inspiration to continue.

This is exactly the moment when we must hold on and persist in our efforts. Our fears of failure are like voices talking to us from the past. We can turn around and face them. We're different people now. We have a network of support we can draw upon. We have enough faith to persist, one day at a time, in what matters to us, even though we’re not sure of the outcome.

Our confidence and self-esteem are bolstered by our persistence. Our abilities grow as we refuse to let today's problems discourage us.

Today, I don't surrender to the voice of discouragement. I am persistent.

Today's reading is from the book Glad Day

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June 14

Commitment

As we walk through life, there are many things and people we may lose, or lose out on, if we are unwilling to commit. We need to make a commitment for relationships to grow beyond the dating stage, to have the home or apartment we want, the job we want, or the car we desire.

We must commit, on deep levels, to careers - to goals - to family, friends, recovery. Trying something will not enable us to succeed. Committing ourselves will. Yet, we need never commit before we are ready. Sometimes, our fear of commitment is telling us something.

We may not want to commit to a particular relationship, purchase, or career. Other times, it is a matter of our fears working their way out. Wait, then. Wait until the issue becomes clear.

Trust yourself. Ask your Higher Power to remove your fear of commitment. Ask God to remove your blocks to commitment. Ask God for guidance.

Ask yourself if you are willing to lose what you will not commit to. Then listen, quietly. And wait until a decision seems consistently right and comfortable.

We need to be able to commit, but we need never commit until we are ready. Trust that you will commit when you want to.

God, guide me in making my commitments. Give me the courage to make those that are right for me, the wisdom to not commit to that which does not feel right, and the patience to wait until I know.

Today's reading is from the book The Language of Letting Go: Daily Meditations on Codependency*

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June 15

The truth shall make you free.

~From John 8:32

Some of us have been so angry for so long that we don't even know we're angry anymore. Much like the effect of prolonged hunger - over time, the perception of hungriness changes to a more generalized perception of sickness. We tend to blot out what doesn't get acknowledged or resolved. Or we translate it into something else.

Because good children didn't act out anger (or so we thought), we learned very early to turn anger into hurt. And there it may well have stayed for many years, mislabeled and unrecognized. As recovering adults, we are becoming aware that a hard core of anger is under all those layers of hurt feelings. We see now that it has come out sideways for years, bruising the people we love and damaging our relationships.

Thank God we're finally able to name the problem. Naming it is the first step to doing something about it.

I will strive to see the truth, no matter how disagreeable, and name it what it is.

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