The Prodigal Son "took his journey into a far country and wasted his substance with riotous living." That's what we alcoholics do. We waste our substance with riotous living. "When he came to himself, he said, 'I will arise and go to my father.'" That's what you do in A.A. You come to your self. Your alcoholic self is not your real self. Your sane, sober, respectable self is your real self. That's why we alcoholics are so happy in A.A. Have I come to myself?
Meditation for the Day
Simplicity is the keynote of a good life. Choose the simple things always. Life can become complicated if you let it be so. You can be swamped by difficulties if you let them take up too much of your time. Every difficulty can be either solved or ignored and some thing better substituted for it. Love the humble things of life. Reverence the simple things. Your standard must never be the world's standard of wealth and power.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may love the simple things of life. I pray that I may keep my life uncomplicated and free.
Today's thought from Hazelden is:
Failure is impossible. --Susan B. Anthony
Failure is an attitude. Having an attitude of failure can't help us. It can only hurt us. If we're not careful, it can grow into a way of life. So, when we feel like failures, we'd better look at our attitudes.
An attitude of failure often comes from making mistakes. But we can learn to see our mistakes as lessons. This turns mistakes into gains, not failures. Sometimes, we try to do things that just can't be done. When we act like we can control others, we're going to fail. When we act like we know everything, we're going to fail. If we try to act like God, we're going to fail.
We can't control others. We can't know everything. We're not God. We're human. If we act human, we've already won.
Prayer for the Day
Higher Power, help me to learn from my attitudes. Whatever the outcome, help me learn.
Action for the Day
Facing our past "failures" is the first step to learning from them. I'll talk to my sponsor about a past failure and the good that came from it.
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Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. ~Buddha
Sick analogy but an old timer described the fourth step as...Lancing a boil!!! We can
t heal until we get rid of the infected, yucky parts of ourselves! Once we have done this we are free to move on!
My life today is all about learning from my mistakes and growing better because of them. Not proud of the past, but thats what is is..The past! Have taken it upon myself to call old friends or send cards just to say hello when they pop into my head! What a treat its been for me! There are alot of loving people in my life who I put on a back burner for a while! Its nice to touch base with them!
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"We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have. "
