TOPICS – April 13
1) Daily Reflections
THE FALSE COMFORT OF SELF-PITY
Self-pity is one of the most unhappy and consuming defects
that we know. It is a bar to all spiritual progress and
can cut off all effective communication with our fellows
because of its inordinate demands for attention and sympathy.
It is a maudlin form of martyrdom, which we can ill afford. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 238
2) A.A. Thought For The Day
Having found my way into this new world by the grace of God
and the help of A.A., am I going to take that first drink,
when I know that just one drink will change my whole world?
Am I deliberately going back to the suffering of that
alcoholic world? Or am I going to hang onto the happiness
of this sober world? Is there any doubt about the answer?
With God’s help, am I going to hang onto AA. with both hands?
3) Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may live in the spirit of prayer. I pray that
I may depend on God for the strength I need to help me to do
my part in making the world a better place.
4) Each Day a New Beginning
The world is a wheel always turning. Those who are high go down low, and those who’ve been low go up higher. –Anzia Yezierska
Everything changes. Nothing stays the same. And letting go of the way things are, anticipating instead what they might become, frees us to live each moment more fully.
Time marches on, and our destiny marches with it. There is purpose in how our lives unfold, the ups and downs serve our growth. We must neither resent the doldrums nor savor too long the elation. Giving too much attention to either state interferes with our awareness of the present. And the present has come to teach us.
We must move with time. We must focus our attention on the moment and accept whatever feelings each experience elicits. Emotional maturity is accepting our feelings and letting them go and facing instead the next moment with fresh receptivity. Our lessons are many, and they accompany the lows as well as the highs. We can be grateful for both.
The program has taught us freedom from lingering lows. It has given us the tools to move confidently forward, trusting that all is well. Nothing lasts forever, and within each struggle is the opportunity for real growth.
The highs will pass away, just as will the lows. They visit us purposefully. I will give them their freedom and find mine as well.