A.A. Thought for the Day
When we were drinking, we used to worry about the future. Worry is terrible mental punishment. What’s going to become of me? Where will I end up? In the gutter or the sanitarium? We can see ourselves slipping, getting worse and worse, and we wonder what the finish will be. Sometimes we get so discouraged in thinking about the future that we toy with the idea of suicide. In A.A, have I stopped worrying about the future?
Meditation for the Day
Functioning on a material plane alone takes me away from God. I must also try to function on a spiritual plane. Functioning on a spiritual plane as well as on a material plane will make life what it should be. All material activities are valueless in themselves alone. But all activities, seemingly trivial or of seemingly great moment, are all alike if directed by God’s guidance. I must try to obey God as I would expect a faithful, willing servant to carry out directions.
Prayer of the Day
I pray that the flow of God’s spirit may come to me through many channels. I pray that I may function on a spiritual plane as well as on a material plane.
© 1954, 1975, 1992 by Hazelden Foundation
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Archie doesn’t know how to worry without getting upset.
~ Edith Bunker ~Most of us are like Edith’s television husband, Archie. When we worry, we get upset. Problems seem too big for us. We get afraid. We feel powerless.What does the program tell us to do when we feel powerless and our life is upset? We look at the problem honestly. Then we ask our Higher Power to help us with the problem. We take it One Day at a Time. We believe our Higher Power will take care of us and help us.We’ll have problems. That’s life! But we can get through them with care and support. We don’t have to get crazy. We don’t have to make things worse. We can be kind to ourselves and live through problems just fine—with our Higher Power’s help.Prayer for the DayHigher Power, help me do what I can today about my problems. Help me stop worrying.Action for the DayIf I have a problem today, I’ll do what I can— and I’ll leave the outcome to my Higher Power.Copyright © 1988 by Hazelden Foundation
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CAST THY BURDEN
Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the rightious to be moved (Psalm 55:22).
We sometimes hear the expression used, “cast the burden,” and it is useful to consider what this phrase really means. Used intelligently, it is one of the great keys to spiritual victory. To cast the burden means really to insist upon harmony and peace of mind, and to cease from worry and anxiety there and then.
If, when you are faced with trouble, whether it be old or new, you can affirm positively the harmony of being and then refuse to reopen the case, no matter how much fear may urge you to do so, you have cast your burden upon the Lord, and you will win.
© 1931 by Emmet Fox
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Reflection for the Day
“What if…” How often we hear these words from newcomers to the Program. How often, in fact, we tend to say them ourselves. “What if I lose my job?” “What if my car breaks down?” “What if I get sick and can’t work?” “What if my child gets hooked on drugs?” What if—anything our desperate imaginings can project. Only two small words, yet how heavy-laden they are with dread, fear, and anxiety. The answer to “What if…” is, plainly and simply, “Don’t panic.” We can only live with our problems as they arise, living one day at a time. Am I keeping my thoughts positive?
Today I Pray
May I grow spiritually, without being held back by anxieties. May projected fears not hobble my pursuits or keep me from making the most of today. May I turn out fear by faith. If I will only make a place for God within me, He will remove my fears.
Today I Will Remember
I can only borrow trouble at high interest rates.
© 1989 by Hazelden Foundation
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Worry is an addiction
That interferes with compassion.Worry is a problem that seems to be rampant. Perhaps it is due to the nature of our overly advanced civilization; perhaps it is a measure of our own spiritual degeneracy. Whatever the source, it is clear that worry is not useful. It is a cancer of the emotions — concern gone compulsive. It eats away at body and mind.It does no good to say, “Don’t think about it.” You’ll only worry more. It is far better to keep walking your path, changing what you can. The rest must be dissolved in compassion. In this world of infants with immune deficiencies, racial injustice, economic imbalance, personal violence, and international conflict, it is impossible to address everyone’s concerns. Taking care of yourself and doing something good for those whom you meet is enough. That is compassion, and we must exercise it even in the face of the overwhelming odds.Whenever you meet a problem, help if it is in your power to do so. After you have acted, withdraw and be unconcerned about it. Walk on without ever mentioning it to anybody. Then there is no worry, because there has been action.
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Time brings summer to a close as well as winter to an end. Time ages the brilliant petals of flowers as well as prepares new buds. . . . we can trust that time will bring the good to us as well as take away the bad.~ Amy E. Dean We can stop worrying. We can stop criticizing other people. But we can’t stop the passage of time. Let’s be grateful for that. Had it been possible to stop time, we might still be in unhealthy relationships, perhaps living on the edge of danger or in a blackout.The passing of time not only moves us beyond the bad, but also advances us beyond the good. We hate to let it go. However, we need to move on and be open to new opportunities. Life is ebb and flow. We’ll have periods when problems seem rampant. At those times it helps to remember that this too shall pass. All will pass when the lesson has been gleaned. Let’s relish whatever this moment gives us and know that its time will soon be gone.Time is my friend today. Each minute brings to me an experience I am ready for.© 1994 by Hazelden Foundation
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WORRY
“When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which never happened.”
–Winston Churchill
I know I can worry myself into the grave. I can project an incident into a calamity. I can make mountains out of molehills.
I worried about what people meant by what they said; I always looked for a hidden criticism; I worried about what people did not say; I worried about what people were thinking or were going to do or were plotting. If I had nothing to worry about, then I worried because I felt I should have something to worry about! I created most of the worry in my life.
Today I have a program that helps me deal with this. Of course I still worry, but I have a “checklist” that keeps me sane and allows me to laugh at the insanity of my projections. Today the worry in my life is less destructive and negative.
Let me bring my worry to You in prayer. Then let me sleep!
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” …(T)here is a substitute …It is a fellowship in Alcoholics Anonymous. There you will find release from care, boredom and worry. Your imagination will be fired. Life will mean something at last. The most satisfactory years of your existence lie ahead.”
– Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 11 (“A Vision for You”), p 152.
Today, if I have not already, let me take the first step toward a life that finally means something other than how bad the next hangover will be or how severe the consequences of my misconduct and, as promised in the Program, a belief and faith that the “most satisfactory years of (my) existence” do, indeed, lay ahead. And if I have taken the first step toward the promise of the Program, let me not squander it on some folly like self-pity or a thought that “just one, this one time” won’t hurt. Whether I have or have not already embarked on my own private journey of recovery, let me believe that sobriety and recovery can provide a life that is better, one that is more satisfactory than the one I have in drinking. Today, let me believe that I am worthy to work toward something better. And our common journey continues.
Step by step. – Chris M.
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A.A. Thought For The DayA.A. teaches us to take it easy. We learn how to relax andto stop worrying about the past or the future, to give upour resentments and hates and tempers, to stop beingcritical of people, and to try to help them instead.That’s what “Easy Does It” means. So in the time that’sleft to me to live, I’m going to try to take it easy, torelax and not to worry, to try to be helpful to others,and to trust God. For what’s left of my life, is my mottogoing to be “Easy Does It”?
Meditation For The DayI must overcome myself before I can truly forgive otherpeople for injuries done to me. The self in me cannotforgive injuries. The very thought of wrongs means thatmy self is in the foreground. Since the self cannot forgive,I must overcome my selfishness. I must cease trying toforgive those who fretted and wronged me. It is a mistakefor me even to think about these injuries. I must aim atovercoming myself in my daily life and then I will findthere is nothing in me that remembers injury, because theonly thing injured, my selfishness, is gone.
Prayer For The DayI pray that I may hold no resentments. I pray that my mindmay be washed clean of all past hates and fears.
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Archie doesn’t know how to worry without getting upset.~ Edith Bunker Most of us are like Edith’s television husband, Archie. When we worry, we get upset. Problems seem too big for us. We get afraid. We feel powerless.What does the program tell us to do when we feel powerless and our life is upset? We look at the problem honestly. Then we ask our Higher Power to help us with the problem. We take it One Day at a Time. We believe our Higher Power will take care of us and help us.We’ll have problems. That’s life! But we can get through them with care and support. We don’t have to get crazy. We don’t have to make things worse. We can be kind to ourselves and live through problems just fine—with our Higher Power’s help.
Prayer for the DayHigher Power, help me do what I can today about my problems. Help me stop worrying.Action for the DayIf I have a problem today, I’ll do what I can— and I’ll leave the outcome to my Higher Power.
Copyright © 1988 by Hazelden Foundation
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CAST THY BURDENCast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the rightious to be moved (Psalm 55:22).We sometimes hear the expression used, “cast the burden,” and it is useful to consider what this phrase really means. Used intelligently, it is one of the great keys to spiritual victory. To cast the burden means really to insist upon harmony and peace of mind, and to cease from worry and anxiety there and then.If, when you are faced with trouble, whether it be old or new, you can affirm positively the harmony of being and then refuse to reopen the case, no matter how much fear may urge you to do so, you have cast your burden upon the Lord, and you will win.
© 1931 by Emmet Fox
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Time brings summer to a close as well as winter to an end. Time ages the brilliant petals of flowers as well as prepares new buds. . . . we can trust that time will bring the good to us as well as take away the bad.
~ Amy E. Dean ~We can stop worrying. We can stop criticizing other people. But we can’t stop the passage of time. Let’s be grateful for that. Had it been possible to stop time, we might still be in unhealthy relationships, perhaps living on the edge of danger or in a blackout.The passing of time not only moves us beyond the bad, but also advances us beyond the good. We hate to let it go. However, we need to move on and be open to new opportunities. Life is ebb and flow. We’ll have periods when problems seem rampant. At those times it helps to remember that this too shall pass. All will pass when the lesson has been gleaned. Let’s relish whatever this moment gives us and know that its time will soon be gone.Time is my friend today. Each minute brings to me an experience I am ready for.
© 1994 by Hazelden Foundation
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Reflection for the Day
I’ve begun to understand myself better since I’ve come to the Program. One of the most important things I’ve learned is that opinions aren’t facts. Just because I feel that a thing is so doesn’t necessarily make it so. “Men are not worried by things,” wrote the Greek philosopher Epictetus, “but by their ideas about things. When we meet with difficulties, become anxious or troubled, let us not blame others, but rather ourselves. That is: our ideas about things.” Do I believe that I can never entirely lose what I have learned during my recovery?
Today I Pray
May I learn to sort out realities from my ideas about those realities. May I understand that situations, things—even people—take on the colors and dimensions of my attitudes about them.
Today I Will Remember
To sort the real from the unreal.
© 1989 by Hazelden Foundation
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Reflection For The DayIf I live just one day at a time, I won’t so quickly entertain fears of what might happen tomorrow. As long as I'm concentrating on today’s activities, there won’t be room in my mind for worrying. I’ll try to fill every minute of this day with something. Then, when the day is ended, I’ll be able to look back on it with satisfaction, serenity and gratitude. Do I sometimes cherish bad feeling so that I can feel sorry for myself?Today I PrayThat I will get out of the self-pity act and live for today. May I notice the good things from dawn to nightfall, learn to talk about them and thank God for them. May I catch myself if I seem to be relishing my moans and complaints more often than appreciating the goodness of my life.Today I Will RememberToday is good.
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Worry is an addiction
That interferes with compassion.
Worry is a problem that seems to be rampant. Perhaps it is due to the nature of our overly advanced civilization; perhaps it is a measure of our own spiritual degeneracy. Whatever the source, it is clear that worry is not useful. It is a cancer of the emotions — concern gone compulsive. It eats away at body and mind.
It does no good to say, “Don’t think about it.” You’ll only worry more. It is far better to keep walking your path, changing what you can. The rest must be dissolved in compassion. In this world of infants with immune deficiencies, racial injustice, economic imbalance, personal violence, and international conflict, it is impossible to address everyone’s concerns. Taking care of yourself and doing something good for those whom you meet is enough. That is compassion, and we must exercise it even in the face of the overwhelming odds.
Whenever you meet a problem, help if it is in your power to do so. After you have acted, withdraw and be unconcerned about it. Walk on without ever mentioning it to anybody. Then there is no worry, because there has been action.
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Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrec
WORRY“When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which never happened.”
–Winston ChurchillI know I can worry myself into the grave. I can project an incident into a calamity. I can make mountains out of molehills.I worried about what people meant by what they said; I always looked for a hidden criticism; I worried about what people did not say; I worried about what people were thinking or were going to do or were plotting. If I had nothing to worry about, then I worried because I felt I should have something to worry about! I created most of the worry in my life.Today I have a program that helps me deal with this. Of course I still worry, but I have a “checklist” that keeps me sane and allows me to laugh at the insanity of my projections. Today the worry in my life is less destructive and negative.
Let me bring my worry to You in prayer. Then let me sleep!
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WORRY
Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today.
It’s already tomorrow in Australia.
Charles Schultz
Worry…that’s a topic I’m really good at! Since working the Twelve Steps, however, I am beginning to see some things about worry that, hopefully, will soon make it a thing of the past in my life. After all, why should I worry? What has worry ever done for me, except mess up my life?
I am seeing that when I am worrying about something, I have not turned it over to my Higher Power, and I am continuing to act from my own self-will. Or, I did turn it over to my Higher Power, but didn’t really trust Him to take care of it, and so I took it back!
I had a breakthrough, just a couple of days ago, concerning worry. I was concerned about a decision my husband and I had to make and it was so far beyond my ability to see into the future that I gave up and prayed for help. Somehow I let go and let God. Suddenly a beautiful stillness and peace came over me. I felt calmer than I had in years … very calm and still and at peace. I felt completely reassured that God was handling my “decision” and that God was completely competent to do so.
One Day at a Time . . .
I abandon worry. I let go and let God, and enjoy the serenity and peace of trust in God.
~ Lynne T.
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Worry is an addiction
That interferes with compassion.
Worry is a problem that seems to be rampant. Perhaps it is due to the nature of our overly advanced civilization; perhaps it is a measure of our own spiritual degeneracy. Whatever the source, it is clear that worry is not useful. It is a cancer of the emotions — concern gone compulsive. It eats away at body and mind.
It does no good to say, “Don’t think about it.” You’ll only worry more. It is far better to keep walking your path, changing what you can. The rest must be dissolved in compassion. In this world of infants with immune deficiencies, racial injustice, economic imbalance, personal violence, and international conflict, it is impossible to address everyone’s concerns. Taking care of yourself and doing something good for those whom you meet is enough. That is compassion, and we must exercise it even in the face of the overwhelming odds.
Whenever you meet a problem, help if it is in your power to do so. After you have acted, withdraw and be unconcerned about it. Walk on without ever mentioning it to anybody. Then there is no worry, because there has been action.
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DEALING WITH WORRY
Dealing with Feelings
There’s nothing like a siege of worry to spoil our day. It matters little whether the worry is about a real problem or something we’re imagining. In either case, worry makes us unhappy, depressed, and even fatigued.
It doesn’t help to be urged not to worry. We may even know worry is harmful, yet be unable to stop it. In fact, one of the things we may have sought in the bottle was an easing of worry.
The best answer to worry is in the Twelve Step program. If we have turned our will and lives over to our Higher Power, the real direction of our lives is out of our hands. We must think of ourselves as passengers in a divinely guided vehicle.
Some will think this philosophy is preposterous and irresponsible, but in reality we are taking right actions in an orderly way, as our guidance continues. We need only prove to ourselves that our program works. Worry is merely a signal that we need to work our program.
If I catch myself worrying, I’ll remind myself that my Higher Power is in charge of all outcomes. I’ll do my best and expect the best.
© 1996 by Hazelden Foundation
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Worry and Stress
“Make plans but don’t plan results.” This is a simple phrase cautioning us against unnecessary worry and #stress.
If our plans involve other people, we would be wise to work joyfully toward realizing our dreams, but we should not expect or worry if others do not want the same goals. Nor should we worry if others are not as enthused about our ideas as we are. We know, by applying the Serenity Prayer, that we can only change ourselves; we cannot force changes in others.
Another cause of unnecessary stress in planning results comes from our ingrained habit of regarding ourselves as inadequate. All too often, those of us who make plans give up on ourselves when we predict the outcome of our dreams on the basis of our past experiences. We falsely conclude that because we failed or felt empty in the past, we’ll most certainly not succeed in the future; thus, we quit too soon and rationalize our resignation with a “Why bother to try?” attitude.
TODAY I will make plans but not plan results. I will work out my plan, one day at a time, knowing that my past performance is NOT an infallible indicator of my present or future success. I will look forward with hope, not despair.
From the book:
The Reflecting Pond by Liane Cordes. © 1981 by Hazelden Foundation
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