Believe the best in yourself. Then it is easier to believe the best in others.
~ Mardy Kopischke ~
Most of us have struggled—perhaps for years— trying to see the best in ourselves. But our less- than-stellar behavior has muddied our attempts to focus on our positive qualities. We have always had them; however, it may require a careful inventory and our sponsor’s feedback to bring our positive qualities into focus. Why is it so much easier to remember the actions over which we feel shame?
Many of us can’t see the good in ourselves until we can recognize what it looks like. It helps to start by identifying the good in other people; then we can learn to identify it in ourselves. This effort will ensure us many rewards.
It’s really not important how we go about identifying our best attributes. That we come to appreciate them is the goal. And the beauty of this is that by openly expressing our appreciation we strengthen the good in ourselves and in others.
The contribution I can make today is really so easy. All I need to do is focus on a positive quality not only in someone else but also in myself.
© 1994 by Hazelden Foundation
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Page 85 ~
Life Is Not a Dead EndWhen a man or a woman has a spiritual awakening, the most important meaning of it is that he has now become able to do, feel, and believe that which he could not do before on his unaided strength and resources alone. He has been granted a gift which amounts to a new state of consciousness and being.He has been set on a path which tells him he is really going somewhere, that life is not a dead end, not something to be endured or mastered. In a very real sense he has been transformed, because he has laid hold of a source of strength which he had hitherto denied himself.
~ TWELVE AND TWELVE, PP. 106-107 ~
© 1967 by Alcoholics Anonymous ® World Services, Inc
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Believe the best in yourself. Then it is easier to believe the best in others.~ Mardy Kopischke Most of us have struggled—perhaps for years— trying to see the best in ourselves. But our less- than-stellar behavior has muddied our attempts to focus on our positive qualities. We have always had them; however, it may require a careful inventory and our sponsor’s feedback to bring our positive qualities into focus. Why is it so much easier to remember the actions over which we feel shame?Many of us can’t see the good in ourselves until we can recognize what it looks like. It helps to start by identifying the good in other people; then we can learn to identify it in ourselves. This effort will ensure us many rewards.It’s really not important how we go about identifying our best attributes. That we come to appreciate them is the goal. And the beauty of this is that by openly expressing our appreciation we strengthen the good in ourselves and in others.The contribution I can make today is really so easy. All I need to do is focus on a positive quality not only in someone else but also in myself.© 1994 by Hazelden Foundation
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Page 47
Seeing is BelievingThe Wright brothers’ almost childish faith that they could build a machine which would fly was the mainspring of their accomplishment. Without that, nothing could have happened.We agnostics and atheists were sticking to the idea that self- sufficiency would solve our problems. When others showed us that God- sufficiency worked with them, we began to feel like those who had insisted the Wrights would never fly. We were seeing another kind of flight, a spiritual liberation from this world, people who rose above their problems.ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, PP. 52-53, 55
© 1967 by Alcoholics Anonymous ® World Services, Inc
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FILLING THE VOID
We needed to ask ourselves but one short question. “Do I now believe, or am I even willing to believe, that there is a Power greater than myself?” As soon as a man can say that he does believe, or is willing to believe, we emphatically assure him that he is on his way.
~ ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 47
I was always fascinated with the study of scientific principles. I was emotionally and physically distant from people while I pursued Absolute Knowledge. God and spirituality were meaningless academic exercises. I was a modern man of science, knowledge was my Higher Power. Given the right set of equations, life was merely another problem to solve. Yet my inner self was dying from my outer man’s solution to life’s problems and the solution was alcohol. In spite of my intelligence, alcohol became my Higher Power. It was through the unconditional love which emanated from A.A. people and meetings that I was able to discard alcohol as my Higher Power. The great void was filled. I was no longer lonely and apart from life. I had found a true power greater than myself, I had found God’s love. There is only one equation which really matters to me now: God is in A.A.
Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc
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Willing To Believe, p. 219
Do not let any prejudice you may have against spiritual terms deter you from honestly asking yourself what they might mean to you. At the start, this was all we needed to commence spiritual growth, to effect our first conscious relation with God as we understood Him. Afterward, we found ourselves accepting many things which had seemed entirely out of reach. That was growth. But if we wished to grow we had to begin somewhere. So at first we used our own conceptions of God, however limited they were.
We needed to ask ourselves but one short question: “Do I now believe, or am I even willing to believe, that there is a Power greater than myself?” As soon as a man can say that he does believe, even in this small degree, or is willing to believe, we emphatically assure him that he is on his way.
Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 47
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A.A. Thought For The Day
We can believe that God is in His heaven and that He has a purpose for our lives, which will eventually work out as long as we try to live the way we believe He wants us to live. It has been said that we should “wear the world like a loose garment.” That means nothing should seriously upset us because we have a deep, abiding faith that God will always take care of us. To us that means not to be too upset by the surface wrongness of things, but to feel deeply secure in the fundamental goodness and purpose in the universe. Do I feel deeply secure?
Meditation For The Day
Like the shadow of a great rock in a desert land, God is your refuge from the ills of life. The old hymn says: “Rock of ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee.” God can be your shelter from the storm. God’s power can protect you from every temptation and defeat. Try to feel His divine power–call on it–accept it–and use it. Armed with that power, you can face anything. Each day, seek safety in God’s secret place, in communion with Him. You cannot be wholly touched or seriously harmed there. God can be your refuge.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may find a haven in the thought of God. I pray that I may abide in that Strong Tower, strongly guarded.
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~ Page 47 ~
Seeing is Believing
The Wright brothers’ almost childish faith that they could build a machine which would fly was the mainspring of their accomplishment. Without that, nothing could have happened.
We agnostics and atheists were sticking to the idea that self- sufficiency would solve our problems. When others showed us that God- sufficiency worked with them, we began to feel like those who had insisted the Wrights would never fly. We were seeing another kind of flight, a spiritual liberation from this world, people who rose above their problems.
~ ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, PP. 52-53, 55 ~
© 1967 by Alcoholics Anonymous ® World Services, Inc
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“HOLD YOUR FACE TO THE LIGHT”
Believe more deeply. Hold your face up to the Light, even though for the moment you do not see.
~ AS BILL SEES IT, p. 3
One Sunday in October, during my morning meditation, I glanced out the window at the ash tree in our front yard. At once I was overwhelmed by its magnificent, golden color! As I stared in awe at God’s work of art, the leaves began to fall and, within minutes, the branches were bare. Sadness came over me as I thought of the winter months ahead, but just as I was reflecting on autumn’s annual process, God’s message came through. Like the trees, stripped of their leaves in the fall, sprout new blossoms in the spring, I had had my compulsive, selfish ways removed by God in order for me to blossom into a sober, joyful member of A.A. Thank you, God, for the changing seasons and for my ever- changing life.
Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc
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Willing To Believe, p. 219
Do not let any prejudice you may have against spiritual terms deter you from honestly asking yourself what they might mean to you. At the start, this was all we needed to commence spiritual growth, to effect our first conscious relation with God as we understood Him. Afterward, we found ourselves accepting many things which had seemed entirely out of reach. That was growth. But if we wished to grow we had to begin somewhere. So at first we used our own conceptions of God, however limited they were.
We needed to ask ourselves but one short question: “Do I now believe, or am I even willing to believe, that there is a Power greater than myself?” As soon as a man can say that he does believe, even in this small degree, or is willing to believe, we emphatically assure him that he is on his way.
Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 47
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“Believing people can soar beyond ordinary life.”
–Fools Crow, LAKOTA
We are created by God to be vision people. First we set the goal and then we see. If we create within ourselves a picture or vision and we hold that picture or vision in our mind, whatever we picture will show up in our reality. If we can see ourselves being educated, then schools and teachers will show up in our lives. If we picture in our mind a positive, spiritual person to be in our lives, we will attract this type of person in our relationships. How big can our dreams be?
Great Spirit, let my visions today be Your vision. Put within me a vision of the being you would have me be. Then help me to keep the vision in my min
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They are able because they think they are able.~ Virgil For most of us, addiction was full of doubt. We stopped believing in ourselves. Our thoughts had turned to “stinkin’ thinkin’.” We didn’t believe in much of anything. We didn’t take risks. We always looked for the easier, softer way.In recovery, we start to believe again. We believe in the program. We believe in a Higher Power. We believe in people. And, over time, we believe in ourselves again. We become better at taking risks.We are able to stay sober because we believe, because we take risks. As we stay sober, we can face almost anything—with the help of others.Prayer for the DayHigher Power, I have learned to believe in You. Help me believe in myself. I have something to give to this world. Help me give it freely.Action for the DayToday, I’ll list ten good points about myself. I’ll go over these good points with a friend.Copyright © 1988 by Hazelden Foundation
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12
December
GOD ISOpen your eyes and the whole world is full of God.~ Jakob Bohme When I was a child, my family never talked about God. I never knew the light of God, never felt His love or power, or recognized His presence in my life. When things were rough, I could only see the darkness. When I was lonely, I didn’t know He was with me all the time. When I was weak or scared, I thought I had to overcome and be strong, and not be afraid. I didn’t feel His presence with me, or believe that He was watching over me. Then, for twenty years I was married to a religious man who did talk about God. I tried so hard to believe as he did, but his words soon lost their meaning. The abuse began to overshadow the hope that things would change, and the belief that God would make everything okay, if only I believed like my husband. For years I have struggled with my faith, trying to believe in a God that was willing to light my way, love me, and protect me … not just in the good times, but in the painful times.When I first came into recovery, I was still struggling, but I became “willing to believe” that God cared about me. I started watching for signs that He was there, ready to light my path when I could see only the darkness, ready to enfold me in His arms when I felt unlovable, and ready to protect me when I was scared. I became willing to recognize His presence in my day-to-day life.Now that I am willing, I can find God’s love everywhere … in a friendly smile, in the kind words of a friend, in the beauty of a flower, and in a child’s eyes. Sometimes, when life gets rough, I have to look a little harder, but it’s there. I only have to remain open and willing to see it and accept it. Wherever I am, God is there with me, ready to love and protect me.One Day at a Time . . .I will be willing to see God’s presence in my life, and know that wherever I am, God is. I will let go, and let God be there.~ Debbie K.
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