It is the calm after the storm. I feel a rainbow where there once were clouds, and while my Spirit dances in gratitude, my mind speculates on the next disaster. Duality. —Mary Casey— Our growth as women is contingent on our ability to flow with the dualities, the contradictions inherent in one’s lifetime, not only to flow with them but to capitalize on them. We are not offered a painless existence, but we are offered opportunities for gathering perspective from the painful moments. And our perspectives are cushioned by the principles of the program. The rough edges of life, the storms that whip our very being, are gifts in disguise. We see life anew, when the storm has subsided. We can enjoy the calm, if that surrounds us today. We deserve the resting periods. They give us a chance to contemplate and make fully our own that which the recent storm brought so forcefully to our attention. We are powerless over the storm’s onslaught. But we can gain from it and be assured that the storm gives all the meaning there is in the calm. I will be glad today for the clouds or the rainbows. Both are meant for my good. And without both, neither has meaning.
Our Folded Hands
Women helping Women. Reaching out to the Sister who still suffers. Helping each other through the Good times and the Difficult times. To get to the SOBER way of life, One Day at a Time.
Daily Readings And Meditations
New Beginnings
Reflections
FOCUSING AND LISTENING There is a direct linkage among self-examination, meditation, and prayer. Taken separately, these practices can bring much relief and benefit. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 98 If I do my self-examination first, then surely, I’ll have enough humility to pray and meditate – because I’ll see and feel my need for them. Some wish to begin and end with prayer, leaving the self-examination and meditation to take place in between, whereas others start with meditation, listening for advice from God about their still hidden or unacknowledged defects. Still others engage in written and verbal work on their defects, ending with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving. These three–self-examination, meditation and prayer– form a circle, without a beginning or an end. No matter where, or how, I start, I eventually arrive at my destination: a better life.
Promise
Getting started can be very hard for people who have trouble with beginnings. After all, where do beginnings begin? —Dorthy Bryant— Most us us have trouble getting started at one time or another. It’s a common phenomenon, whether the project is Christmas cookies, an annual report, or cleaning the attic: ” I just don’t know where to begin.” It’s a good rule to begin with ourselves, in the moment that is. Start the project where we are now. The other things that are necessary—details from the past and plans for the future— will reveal themselves as the project takes shape. Sometimes we will begin, like writers, by talking about how hard it is to begin. This seems to oil the wheels; they start to turn, and before we know it, we’ve begun (though we may have to throw away the first paragraph). Trying to begin at the beginning is a good way to drive myself mad. I will grasp the tools that are at hand: myself and the moment.
Keep It Simple
Words are the voice of the heart. —Confucius— What does my heart have to say today? Am I happy ? Or I’m I troubled? We will find this out if we slow down and listen to our words. We can also hear our spirit in the tone of our words. We are to meditate. Meditation is about slowing down so we can hear what our spirit is trying to tell us. Meditation is listening. Our spirit is but a quiet whisper inside us. To hear we must quiet ourselves. Slowing down allows us to find our center. As we find our center we find our spirit and our Higher Power. Do I take the time needed to slow myself down? Do I take the time ot listen—to listen to my heart? Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, teach me to slow down. Teach me to hear Your whisper as well as Your yells. Action for the Day: Today, I will take a half hour to slow down and listen. I will find a place to relax and listen to my heart and my words.
Thought For The Day
I have charity, another word for love. That right kind of love which is not selfish passion but an unselfish, outgoing desire to help other people. To do what is best for the other person, to put what is best for him or her above my own desires. To put God first, the other person second, and myself last. Charity is gentle, kind, understanding, long-suffering, and full of desire to serve. A.A. has given me this. What I do for myself is lost; what I do for others may be written somewhere in eternity. Have I charity? Meditation For The Day “Ask what you will and it shall be done unto you.” God has unlimited power. There is no limit to what His power can do in human hearts. But we must will to have God’s power and we must ask God for it. God’s power is blocked off from us by our indifference to it. We can go along our own selfish way without calling on God’s help and we get no power. But when we trust in God, we can will to have the power we need. When we sincerely ask God for it, we get it abundantly. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may will to have God’s power. I pray that I may keep praying for the strength I need.
My Thoughts For The Day
🌺 Hello Sunshine❗…🙋🌈🌞…We are Strong resilient Women, we take on a lot of burdens and obligations of our Families, Friends and work…👨👩👧👧 👩❤️👩🏨… and we can sometimes forget about our own NEEDS, we put them off in the routine of things until we find OURSELVES frustrated, irritable, and discontent…🤨🤬😤😩… and we are left drained and with no energy, no open mind and Wondering ,”WHAT HAPPENED❓”…Fighting for our SANITY…⚡🧠🤔😳…So in taking the RIGHT ACTIONS, calling our sponsors, Praying and THANKING our HIGHER POWER for heading US in the right DIRECTION… 📽🗣🤳✨🏃👣… We can BREATHE a sigh of RELIEF, and say to OURSELVES,”GOD’S GOT THIS, and THIS TOO SHALL PASS❗” And know that JOY cometh in the morning…😊🤗🌞💐💝🏋️🦋🐢🦆🦉🦅 YOU are AMAZING… and if no one has told you today,”I LOVE YOU❗❗❗”🕊🌎💖🌟✨👩❤️👩💋💋💋💄