Today's Thought - August

[bluidkiti]

August 1

It is what we all do with our hearts that affects others most deeply.

~Gerald Jampolsky

If we vigilantly let our heart determine how we are to respond to every situation or experience in our life and to every person with whom we’re sharing our journey, our path will be less bumpy. We have the opportunity every moment to ensure a smooth trip today. By choosing to see and speak from our heart, we’ll find peace. We’ll be offering the gift of peace to others, too.

Our heart is the home of our Higher Power, whose wish for us is peace, joy, and a constant state of inner well-being. These gifts are ours to experience through the act of sharing our peace, joy, and love with others.

We never need to long for security, stability, or better outcomes in our life. We can learn how these gifts are contained in our own actions.

I desire peace and joy in my life today and I will feel it every moment that I listen and act from my heart.

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

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August 2

I used to think, this is just the way I am. Now I know that I create myself anew—every day.

~Jill Clark

Even when we wallowed in drugs and self-pity, we were in charge of our choices. Try as we might to blame others for our failures, the buck stops here.

The necessity of taking responsibility for our entire life may be one of the hardest lessons we have to learn. We can start accepting responsibility by following the example of others in this circle of recovery. We can quit blaming parents, teachers, siblings, or neighbors for our problems and habitual defects of character.

We must finally accept that we always had choices on how to respond to every transgression against us. As youngsters we may not have felt empowered to stand up for ourselves, but we must take that step now or be forever stuck in the patterns of the past.

Today is a clean slate. I will be me, whoever I decide “me” is. I will become a work of art today.

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

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August 3

The wise person questions himself, the fool others.

~Henri Arnold

We pray for wisdom, and sometimes we achieve it. The strongest and wisest of men are not threatened by questioning their own answers. If we draw conclusions and blindly stick to them, we can never learn anything new. We have often made the mistake of avoiding the appearance of ignorance.

Instead, we are at our best when we give ourselves the privilege of being a learner. When someone tells us something we don’t understand or agree with, our best response is to ask for more information. We can take our ego out of the equation, surrender our need to be right, and simply try to learn what is being told to us. What is it that I don’t understand here? What does the other person see that I am missing? When we attain a moment of wisdom, we are open to learning.

Today, I will give myself the privilege of being a learner.

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

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August 4

AA Thought for the Day

“There was nothing left for us but to pick up the simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our feet by Alcoholics Anonymous. By doing so, we have a spiritual experience which revolutionizes our whole attitude toward life, toward others, and toward God’s universe. The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our Creator has entered into our hearts and lives there in a way which is indeed miraculous. He has commenced to accomplish those things for us that we could never do for ourselves.” Have I let God come into my life?
Meditation for the Day

The moment a thing seems wrong to you or a person’s actions to be not what you think they should be, at that moment begins your obligation and responsibility to pray for those wrongs to be righted or that person to be changed. What is wrong in your surroundings or in the people you know? Think about these things and make these matters your responsibility. Not to interfere or be a busybody, but to pray that a change may come through your influence. You may see lives altered and evils banished in time. You can become a force for good wherever you are.
Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may be a co-worker with God. I pray that I may help people by my example.

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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August 5

Young man, the secret of my success is that at an early age I discovered I was not God.

~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Sometimes, in our families, we try to get parents or brothers or sisters to treat us the way we want them to, to do things we want them to. When they're upset or angry with us, we try to get them to stop, rather than allowing them to be angry.

But our feelings are ours alone, and only we are responsible for how we feel. Those around us are not the cause of our feelings. We are.

This knowledge is a big responsibility, because we know we cannot blame others for our bad moods. But it is a fact. And this fact is also a wonderful freedom for us, for it means that we also have the power to make ourselves happy, no matter what goes on around us.

How can I make myself happy today?

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

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August 6

The future is made of the same stuff as the present.

~Simone Weil

We found we didn’t need magic to recover—we needed a miracle! Now we are walking miracles. Part of our miracle is that we see how important today is. We can’t change our future unless we change today. So we live “One day at a time.” By living today well, we make our future better. There is comfort in knowing that the program will be there. Friends will be there. Hope will be there.

Old-timers say sobriety is easy if we go by one simple rule: don’t drink or do drugs and go to meetings. Life can get simpler for us. The rules of life are simple: they don’t change much. Staying sober will be easier for us over time.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, help me keep my sobriety simple. Help me accept the rules of life.
Action for the Day

I will list three things that will be there for me tomorrow and the next day, because I’m working on them today.

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

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August 8

One cannot always be a hero, but one can always be a man.

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

In our former grandiose, all-or-nothing lifestyles, many of us have had a lot of experience being heroes and being failures. Until we had achieved some sanity, we didn’t have much experience with being ordinary, genuine men. Many of us thought there was something fundamentally wrong with us. We tried to be great, and when we failed we felt less than human. Our shame in those experiences seemed to say we would never be normal again.

We are learning that being genuine is far more fulfilling than being great. We no longer have to swing between the opposite extremes of hero and coward. When we become honest with ourselves, we develop an internally respectful relationship with ourselves. That is when we become true men. The courage it has taken for us and others on this journey to become honest is heroic in the deepest sense of the word.

As I find the courage to be honest, I will become more genuine.

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

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August 8

Adapting to the world

“Live only in today; don’t worry about tomorrow.” That’s a fine ambition, we may think, but what does it mean? “Living in today” means dealing only with what is at hand now and the available courses of action. If we are worrying about matters in the past or future, or out of our realm, we can disengage ourselves from them. We cannot bend the world to our will.

Am I learning to fit myself to the world?

Higher Power, help me remember to conquer myself, not the world.

Today I will practice adapting myself to whatever happens by…

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

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August 9

Sharing My Story Helps Me Stay Sober

About five years ago, long after discharge and well into recovery, I had the honor of speaking to a lot of people at a recovery reunion. Telling my story helps keep me sober. And it’s great to meet all these individuals who get it—they understand even though they didn’t go through the exact same things. They’ve got similar struggles. Similar stories.

You get together with guys from all over the country and you talk about all the stuff you’ve experienced—your parents, your military time, whatever—all the insanity that we inflicted on ourselves and others when we were trying to numb ourselves with alcohol. The dishonesty, the craziness. The way we used people.

You hear it all the time: stay connected, stay connected, stay connected. And I do. If I’m having a bad day, I know I can pick up the phone and call any one of them and they’ll be there for me. We’ll talk for fifteen or twenty minutes. It helps, and that bad day is not as bad as it first seemed.

Today I’ll connect with a friend in recovery to thank them for being there for me and to assure them I’m there for them too.

~Joe K., U.S. Coast Guard, 1988–1996

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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August 10

Reflection for the Day

Inventory taking isn’t always done in red ink. It’s a rare day when we haven’t done something right. As I uncover and face my shortcomings, my many good qualities will be revealed to me also, reminding me that they have the same reality as my faults. Even when we’ve tried hard and failed, for instance, we can chalk that up as one of the greatest credits of all. I’ll try to appreciate my good qualities, because they not only offset the faults but give me a foundation on which to grow. It’s just as self-deceptive to discount what’s good in us as to justify what is not. Can I take comfort in my positive qualities, accepting myself as a friend?
Today I Pray

If I find only defects when I look in that Fourth Step mirror, may I be sure that I am missing something—namely my good points. Although my ultra-modesty may be approved socially, may I learn that it is just as dishonest as rationalizing away my faults. Even an out-and-out failure, if examined from all sides, may turn up a plus along with the obvious minuses.
Today I Will Remember

To give myself, if not an A for effort, at least an average B?minus.

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

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August 11

“… our lives had become unmanageable.”

The busyness of our lives keeps us believing that we are in control, that we are managing just fine. And no doubt there are some things we are handling: Meals are cooked. We haven’t missed many days of work. We’re on top of the bills too, maybe. But we aren’t peaceful. What’s wrong?

For many of us, our incessant thinking, running, doing, is what’s wrong. We are on a treadmill of activity that passes for good management. We are desperate to show other people that we are just fine. In reality, we are being managed by our obsession to stay busy. If we are busy, our lives don’t seem so close to falling apart.

What a gift this program is offering us! We can get off the treadmill. We can slow our thoughts to a more natural pace. We can prioritize the things we must do today. We can follow the example of others who understand our obsession.

I will quietly go about my life today. Doing one thing peacefully is enough to accomplish.

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

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August 12


Way down yonder by myself, oh I couldn’t hear nobody pray.

~African American Spiritual

Most of us have experienced, at some time or another, how a simple word of encouragement from another person can suddenly ease our labor. We may have been struggling under the burden of what seemed like an insurmountable task, weighed down by fear, depression, shame, or self-hate. Simple words of reassurance from one other person were all it took to turn us around. Hearing positive words from another gave us faith and confidence. We felt comforted, enlivened, and motivated to continue our efforts.

We, too, have the ability to make a difference by speaking simple words of encouragement. We only need to remember how far we have come and to trust the capacity of our spirits to grow and expand in unexpected and positive directions.

Today, I speak simple words of encouragement to others and to myself.

Today's reading is from the book Glad Day

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August 13

we have done or our part in a problem. Other times, instead of saying “I’m sorry,” what we need to do is work on changing our behavior with a person.

There are times when bringing up what we have done and apologizing for it will make matters worse.

We need to trust timing, intuition, and guidance in this process of making amends. Once we become willing, we can let go and tackle our amends in a peaceful, consistent, harmonious way. If nothing feels right or appropriate, if it feels as if what we are about to do will cause a crisis or havoc, we need to trust that feeling.

Attitude, honesty, openness, and willingness count here. In peace and harmony, we can strive to clear up our relationships.

We deserve to be at peace with ourselves and others.

Today, I will be open to making any amends I need to make with people. I will wait for Divine Guidance in the process of making any amends that are not clear to me. I will act, when led. God, help me let go of my fear about facing people and taking responsibility for my behaviors. Help me know I am not diminishing my self-esteem by doing this; I am improving it.

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

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August 14

the principle is that battles aren’t wars but rather a series of campaigns. No one wins every time, or can expect to. And some battles aren’t worth fighting anyway.

Fighting a battle isn’t hell—our unrealistic expectations are. When we strike out against some old attitude or behavior, we have to realize we’re in for the long haul. When the enemy is some aspect of ourselves, we are up against a formidable opponent that won’t give up easily. We have to expect that there will be many battles—and not a few defeats. The winner is the one who perseveres longest.

Only continued effort wins the war; we can’t lose if we don’t quit.

Today, I pray for persistence in the face of many defeats. I ask my Higher Power for courage to keep at it.

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

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August 15

The human mind treats a new idea the way the body treats a strange protein; it rejects it.

~P. B. Medawar

All of us are guilty of rejecting what seems foreign to us. As active addicts we heard, “You should get sober,” and we rejected the idea. We rejected any idea that got in the way of our using. As our illness progressed, we became closed-minded and rigid. The primitive parts of our brain controlled our lives.

Recovery pushes us to be open-minded—to put ideas before instincts, to place principles before personalities. We are to stop and think about what will happen if we start using again. We call it thinking through the high. One of the most beautiful gifts of recovery is that we get our mind back. Whether we choose to use it or not is up to us.
Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, you gave me a wonderful gift: my mind. Help me to use it to better my life and the lives of others. Help me to not be rigid and close-minded.
Today's Action

Today I will list the ways I became rigid and closed-minded. Because fear most often creates rigidity, I will ask myself what I may be afraid of.

Today's reading is from the book God Grant Me: More Daily Meditations from the Authors of Keep It Simple*