Readings

saving space to do later today

Yesterday's For Today:

"Only god can fully know what absolute honesty is. Therefore each of us has to conceive what this great ideal may be - to the best of our ability." Bill W.

"Truth is always the same; honesty changes with my awareness. Honesty has many facets. There is cash-register honesty, usually accompanied by making sure other people know about it. There is let-me-tell-you-for-your-own-good honesty, which is hurtful, perhaps dominating. There is one-sided honesty, which is a recitation of my spouse's or lover's or friend's wrongdoings, sometimes dumped on a hapless OA meeting.
And there is self-honesty, which serves the purpose of keeping my life in order, and personal honesty, which is a sharing of feelings, experiences and strengths without egotism, self-pity or exaggeration.

For today: A fundamental principle of this program is to be as honest as possible with myself and everyone my life touches.

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Yesterday's Voices of Recovery:

Oh, this is so true.

"Surrener, then, is an unconscious event. It is not willed by the individual. It can occur only when one becomes involved with one's unconscious mind in a st of circumstances which signal the undeniable need for an external greater power. The definition of surrencder can be understood only when all its unconscious ramifications and true inner meanings are glimpsed. observed by others, such an individual manifests an inner calm and a 'live and let live' attitude." OA Sedcond Edition p. 289

...tools tools tools
..."About thirteen months after my first meeting, surrender happened one July morning. i just quit. I got sick and tired of being sick and tired. I called an abstinent program friend, asked her what she did, and adopted a plan of eating. I've been imperfectly abstinent every since.
I made that phone call more than twenty years ago, and what worked then still works today. I'm grateful to OA and pray for continued surrender, abstinence, and a wonderful life one day at a time."

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Yesterday's In This Moment

"In This Moment, I say goodbye to a wonderful vacation.

..."Thanks to my Higher Power, today I go from one good thing to another. my life and my decisions are my own, and with my Higher Power's help, I know everything is going to be OK."

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Yesterday's The Language of Letting Go:

"Control

Sometimes, the gray days scare us. Those are the days when the old feelings come rushing back. We may fell needy, scared, ashamed, unable to care for ourselves.
When this happens, it's hard to grust ourselves, others, the goodness of life, and the good intentions of our Higher Power. Problems seem overwhelming. The past seems senseless; the future, bleak. We feel certain the things we want in life will never happen.
In those moments, we may become convinced that things adn pepole outside of ourselves hold the key to our happiness. That's when we may try to control people and situations to mask our pain. When these 'codependent crazies' strike, others often begin to react negatively to our controlling.
When we're in a frenzied state, searching for happiness outside ourselves and looking to others to provide our peace and stability, remember this: Even if we could control things and people, even if we got what we wanted, we would still be ourselves. our emotional state would still be in turmoil.
People and things don't stop our pain or heal us. In recovery, we learn that this is our job, and we can do it by using our resources: ourselves, our Higher Power, our support systems, and our recovery program.
Often, after we've become peaceful, trusting, and accepting, what we want comes to us - with ease and naturalness. The sun begins to shine again. Isn't it funny, and isn't it true, how all change really does begin with us?
I can let go of things and people and my need to control today. I can deal with my feelings. I can get peaceful. I can get calm. I can get back on track and find the true key to happiness - myself. I will remember that a gray day is just that - one gray day."

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