Thursday, December 3, 2015
Dec. 3, 2015 - Photo gallery: World AIDS Day 2015 in photographs
Dec. 3, 2015 - Commentary: Gay men, we have a drinking problem
Dec. 3, 2015 - Online exhibit honors artists lost too soon to AIDS
Dec. 3, 2015 - Commentary: The problem when people assume you're gay
Dec. 3, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation
Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015
Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:
The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey
A man and his son headed to market with their donkey. A man on a horse passed them and asked, "Why aren't you riding your donkey?"
The man placed his son on the donkey, and they continued on their way. They passed by a family working in their fields. A young girl said. "Look at that lazy boy riding while his father is walking."
The man told his son to get off the donkey, and he climbed on. They passed a group of women and one said, "What a selfish man, making his son walk while he rides."
The man asked his son to climb up on the donkey with him. They passed a traveler on the road, who said, "That poor donkey is carrying too much weight."
Not knowing what to do, the man and his son began to carry the donkey. But the donkey kicked so violently they released their hold and the donkey ran away.
The Moral of the story: In striving to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one.
Striving to be a people-pleaser can make you feel as if what you are doing is never right, and you lose your ability to make your own decision.
I will choose to do what is right for me.
The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey
A man and his son headed to market with their donkey. A man on a horse passed them and asked, "Why aren't you riding your donkey?"
The man placed his son on the donkey, and they continued on their way. They passed by a family working in their fields. A young girl said. "Look at that lazy boy riding while his father is walking."
The man told his son to get off the donkey, and he climbed on. They passed a group of women and one said, "What a selfish man, making his son walk while he rides."
The man asked his son to climb up on the donkey with him. They passed a traveler on the road, who said, "That poor donkey is carrying too much weight."
Not knowing what to do, the man and his son began to carry the donkey. But the donkey kicked so violently they released their hold and the donkey ran away.
The Moral of the story: In striving to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one.
Striving to be a people-pleaser can make you feel as if what you are doing is never right, and you lose your ability to make your own decision.
I will choose to do what is right for me.
You are reading from the book:
Morning Light © 2011 by Hazelden Foundation
Dec. 3, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step
Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015
"The explanation that alcoholism was a disease of a two-fold nature, an allergy of the body and an obsession of the mind, cleared up a number of puzzling questions for me. ...
"The obsession of the mind was a little harder to understand, and yet everyone has obsessions of various kinds. The alcoholic has them to an exaggerated degree. Over a period of time, he has built up self-pity, resentments toward anyone and everyone who dares to cross him, vanity and a critical attitude are character defects that gradually creep in and become a part of his life. Living with fear and tension inevitably results in wanting to ease that tension, which alcohol seems to do temporarily."- Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, "They Stopped in Time," Ch 10 ("It Might Have Been Worse"), p 380.
Today: "The alcoholic has (obsessions) to an exaggerated degree." If today I catch myself critical or resentful of something or someone, myself included, let me remember that I might be feeling an exaggerated emotion that is one of my spiritual defects that began long before my drinking. If resentment comes easily to me even in sobriety or if my expectations of myself are unrealistic, let me see that I may also expect too much of others and that I may resent them if they do not meet my standards. Today, grant me honesty and knowledge to determine if the disproportionate feelings I harbored in my drinking days have carried into my sobriety and, if so, to find my answers in my moral inventory. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2015
Dec. 3, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015
AA Thought for the Day
There is some alcoholic thought, conscious or unconscious, that comes before every slip. As long as we live, we must be on the lookout for such thoughts and guard against them. In fact, our AA training is mostly to prepare us, to make us ready to recognize such thoughts at once and to reject them at once. The slip comes when we allow such thoughts to remain in our minds, even before we actually go through the motions of lifting the glass to our lips. The AA program is largely one of mental training.
How well is my mind prepared?
Meditation for the Day
Fret not your mind with puzzles that you cannot solve. The solutions may never be shown to you until you have left this life. The loss of dear ones, the inequality of life, the deformed and the maimed, and many other puzzling things may not be known to you until you reach the life beyond. "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." Only step by step, stage by stage, can you proceed in your journey into greater knowledge and understanding.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be content that things which I now see darkly will some day be made clear. I pray that I may have faith that someday I will see face to face.
Hazelden Foundation
Dec. 3, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time
Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015
Reflection for the Day
Our ancient enemy, self-will, wears a mask, confronting me with this sort of rationalization: "Why do I have to lean on God? Hasn't He already given me the intelligence to think for myself?" I have to pause when such thoughts creep into my mind, remembering that I've never really been able to bring about the results I wanted simply by relying on my own devices. I'm not self-sufficient, nor do I know all the answers; bitter experience alone teaches me that.
Do I know that I need God's guidance? Am I willing to accept it?
Today I Pray
I pray that, as I become stronger in my conviction and in my sobriety, I will not begin to shrug off my dependence on a Higher Power. May I continue to pray for guidance, even when things seem to be going along smoothly. May I know that I need my Higher Power as much in times of triumph as in times of trauma.
Today I Will Remember
Self-sufficiency is a godless myth.
Hazelden Foundation
Dec. 3, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener
Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015
I feel good today and I ought to. I slept like a baby last night, had a fine breakfast that I relished, the wife and kids kissed me as I left the house, I arrived at the office whistling and didn't give a damn whether the boss was in a good humor or not. The work, too, seemed so much easier to do and the gang in the office seemed so much friendlier. It's payday, too, and I drew a whole week's pay and I haven't borrowed a cent from a soul in the office. The whole envelope can go home unopened.
AA gave me all this. To me, an alcoholic, this is heaven.
Hazelden Foundation
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
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