TODAY'S GIFT FOR FAMILY & FRIENDS - OCTOBER

[MajestyJo]

Thursday, October 16, 2014

You are reading from the book Today's Gift

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.
—Matthew 6:34

To worry about something ahead of time is a waste of time and energy that could be better spent on living a full life today.

For instance, if we spend hours today worrying about an important test at school tomorrow, we can't very well concentrate on studying. And if we lie awake tonight agonizing over what we don't know or haven't studied, we're going to be exhausted tomorrow when we take the test.

Wouldn't it be much better to focus on doing all we can today to prepare for the test, and then, knowing we've done our best, let go of it tonight and get a good night's sleep? In fact, if we do that every day of the year, when a big test comes along, we'll know we're as ready as we can be, and won't have a thing to worry about. What a relief it is to know we've done our best today and every day.

What can I do well today so I won't worry about it tomorrow?

My thought when I read the title was do my best, and let go of the outcome. If I spend all the time worrying and fretting, I don't leave much space for data and input for the material I am suppose to be studying or remembering. Worry takes up so much space, doesn't leave much room for anything else in our life.

[MajestyJo]

Friday, October 17, 2014

You are reading from the book Today's Gift

Fear makes strangers of people who should be friends.
—Shirley MacLaine

No one is brave every moment; each of us feels awkward, shy, perhaps even ugly or dumb part of the time. If we could understand that about each other, it would make it easier for us to be friendly and willing to talk to someone new. Instead, we often sit back, waiting to be noticed; waiting for someone to invite us to join in an activity.

We are all so much alike, yet we are so certain we're different. Being self-conscious is normal. Even those who are the most popular suffer the same fears as the rest of us. The better we understand the ways we are the same, the easier it will be to make friends with someone new. And it's through friends that we grow and are strengthened for whatever lies ahead.

What new person can I offer friendship to today?

A good friend in CA told me she goes to her meeting each week as a newcomer. That way she is open to learning and is willing, has an open mind, and can be honest with herself. Self-honest can be difficult. Would I be willing to be my own best friend?

[MajestyJo]

Saturday, October 18, 2014

You are reading from the book Today's Gift

One will rarely err if extreme actions be ascribed to vanity, ordinary actions to habit, and mean actions to fear.

—Friedrich Nietzsche

Sometimes we begin to believe someone close to us is being mean deliberately. This may happen when a good friend suddenly stops inviting us to her house. She may be scared to have others over because her parents are having problems, or for some other reason that has nothing to do with us.

But we often fear that it is because of something we said or did. We find ourselves becoming scared and pulling away. If we ask for God's help in turning our fear around, we can overcome it and ask our friend why she stopped inviting us over. Most times we will find that our friend had no idea her actions affected us the way they did. We can then laugh at ourselves for our fears and applaud ourselves for overcoming them.



What treasure might I find beneath my fear today?

A closer bond to my Higher Power.

[MajestyJo]

Sunday, October 19, 2014

You are reading from the book Today's Gift

All power is a trust. We are accountable for its exercise. From people and for people all power springs, and all must exist.
—Benjamin Disraeli

The sun is power. It warms, and it burns, it feeds the plants without which we could not live. Yet, for all its power, the sun cannot make so much as a rainbow by itself. For that, it needs the rain, at just the right time and angle.

No matter how strong we are - or smart or talented or attractive - we realize our full power only by filtering it through others. Our most meaningful achievements are born of combined efforts. Even when we do something that feels like ours alone - paint a painting, win an award, and hit a home run - there is always a constellation of friends and family and teachers, even enemies, who've been a part of our success.

Like the rain's part in the rainbow, the contributions of others do not detract from our achievements, but enhance them and bring them to their fullest light.

How are others enhancing my growth today?

My sponsor told me many years ago, you can learn two things, "How to work your recovery, how not to work your recovery." What may be right for some people, just may not be right for others, it works both ways.

[MajestyJo]

Monday, October 20, 2014

You are reading from the book Today's Gift

The bough, which has been downward thrust by force of strength to bend its top to earth, so soon as the pressing hand is gone, looks up again straight to the sky above.
—Boethius

When we are down, low, depressed, why can't we ignore the desire to rise up again? Because we're like plants that need pure air, water, and sun. Because no matter how bent and old, we just keep wanting to grow up. Because there is a natural spring in us like that which makes flowers leap from the earth in May. Because we have hidden wings. And if we listen, we can feel the difference between wrong and right: we know the difference even with our eyes closed. Therefore we should not try putting ourselves down, for we will spring up again, sure as spring.

What is the main way I try to put myself down?

For me, it has always been the feeling that I should do more. What I do is not enough.

The old feeling for me, some is good more is better and I turn it inward and use it to beat myself up and always made myself feel less than, or allowed others to make me feel that way. It originally started by being projected onto me, and I took up the cross and played the role of the martyr.

[MajestyJo]

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

You are reading from the book Today's Gift

Great events make me quiet and calm; it is only trifles that irritate my nerves.
—Queen Victoria

Isn't that always the way? We cope with major events, like births and weddings, fairly well. It is the little things - so inconsequential in the long run - that upset us. If the kids don't pick up their rooms, or dinner is late, or we can't go to the movies because we haven't done our homework, we become irritated and annoyed. Minor things like these upset us much more than they should.

Are they really so important? A messy room is not a terminal illness. A late dinner won't affect our health unless we get so upset about it we make ourselves sick. We'll survive.

If we think back to the last time we were angry or upset, does it seem important now? We probably can't even remember why we reacted that way. How much better life is when we let go of the little irritations.

What irritation can I let go of today?

For me it is the little things, with Fibromyalgia I am sensitive to sounds and smells. I can find myself getting really annoyed and then something will come along and I will find myself over reacting, when in fact, it is an accumulation of a lot of stuff I hadn't let go because I hadn't deemed it as important enough for my attention. Which means, back into the Self, and not a good place to be. As they say, a little prayer goes a long way. The Serenity Prayer goes well in times like these.

[MajestyJo]

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

You are reading from the book Today's Gift

Sometimes it takes a rainy day just to let you know, everything's gonna be alright.
—Cris Williamson

Rainy days let us slow down. We are busy people, driving ourselves to go places and get things done. But rain seems to slow life down, even in our hearts. And slowing down can show us the peace in our lives, the peace of knowing we have all we need right inside us. The pressures of the world can drop away for a time while we reflect.

As the rain soaks into the ground, its serenity enters our hearts. Leaves on trees begin to look more green. Plants and flowers are no longer thirsty. When we slow down, we can be comforted by what we have in our hearts, knowing everything is going to be all right.

What comfort can I find within myself right now?

The comfort within myself is to connect with my Higher Power daily. My son is here helping me clean my hall closet, sort bins and things that are stored away, and he said that posting isn't important and can be left until later. It is one of my ways to connect and to get balanced and centered each day. When I don't do it, something is missing until I can get it done.

[MajestyJo]

Thursday, October 23, 2014

You are reading from the book Today's Gift

I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself.
—D. H. Lawrence

Sometimes when we feel sorry for ourselves we will sit alone in our bedroom. We may even feel so down in the dumps that we decide to stay there, indulging in self-pity, thinking about how the world is against us.

However, if we use our imagination to step outside our own point of view for a moment, we might think differently. If we were deer in the forest, we would be thinking about keeping safe from the wolves, and where our next meal would be coming from.

The animals have no time to feel sorry for themselves, they are too busy doing what has to be done to survive, and each thing that happens presents a new survival problem to be solved.

When we feel blue, it helps to keep this in mind. If we have the time to feel down, and can get physically comfortable while doing it, how bad can the problem really be?

In what ways is my life comfortable, easy, and full of love?

Most times because I am comfortable in my own skin where ever my skin is at. Even with the Fibromyalgia and the pain, and I may gripe just a little bit and complain about not being able to do what I want to do what I want to do when I want to do it, I can recognize where I am at, and the tools of the program help me to get out of there, that is if I choose to get out or if I choose to stay and wallow for a little bit.

As they say, misery loves company. The one thing I have found that my misery doesn't stick around very long when the sun shines, so if there is no sun, I try to turn on all the lights.

[MajestyJo]

Friday, October 24, 2014

You are reading from the book Today's Gift

Before he closed his eyes, he let them wander round his old room . . . familiar and friendly things . . . which were so glad to see him again and could always be counted on for the same simple welcome.
—Kenneth Grahame

When they moved into the house, the room at the top of the stairs was just a junk room. As the years passed, they slowly transformed the room into a guest room.

When they decided they needed another voice in the house, they transformed the room again: out went the fold-out couch, in came a crib and rocking chair; off went the art gallery prints from the walls, up went Winnie-the-Pooh. It was no longer a guest room, but a place for the baby, a new - and permanent - member of the family.

We always have room for more in our lives. When we are ready for it, what we need for growth will emerge.

What do the rooms inside our homes and ourselves have to tell us about the way we live our lives?

I was told if there is only one voice in a room, only one person was living there. Someone wasn't being allowed to live there. I felt that way for many years, I didn't know I had a right to speak up and have a say about what was there, let alone add another room.

[MajestyJo]

Saturday, October 25, 2014

You are reading from the book Today's Gift

I love him and I cannot seem to find him.
—Ovid

Where can we find the ones we love? Do they always live in our world, or do we have to go out of our way? They often are not at home; we can find them at their work. Their play is different from ours; we could try having their kind of fun.

Too often, we look only for friends who are much like ourselves, and we tend to avoid those who are not. This kind of narrow-mindedness isn't fair to others or ourselves. We are each unique, like the pieces of a puzzle. We are each necessary to the whole picture.

When we go out of our way to know someone else better, we stretch our own boundaries; we give ourselves new space in which to grow.

What part of my life can I discover in someone new today?

Like this, it reminds of what I was told to look for in a sponsor. Someone who had what I wanted. I always looked for sponsors who were very spiritual. I was raised in a religious home and had no concept of what spirituality was and at one year sober went on a spiritual quest. My religious beliefs enhanced my spirituality and my new found spirituality enhanced my religious beliefs.

[MajestyJo]

Sunday, October 26, 2014

You are reading from the book Today's Gift

Whoever is happy will make others happy, too.
—Anne Frank

Anne Frank had good reason to be unhappy, full of fear, and deeply discouraged. Years of her life were spent in a small apartment hiding from the Nazis who wanted to destroy her and her family. Yet even in this little hiding place she had happiness. It was something she had inside which did not depend on what happened around her. She had riches of the heart. She had faith that kept her going. She had love and concern for her family and others, which made even a restricted life very rich with feelings. It is tempting to believe that we will be happy when we have something outside ourselves, which will make us happy. But happiness is not something we have to find outside; the seeds are in our hearts already.

What happiness can I find in my latest setback?

That it is still one day at a time program.

That Step 7 follows Step 6.

That happiness can be a quiet peaceful thing, it doesn't have to be a uproarious thing that shakes the earth.

[MajestyJo]

Monday, October 27, 2014

You are reading from the book Today's Gift

Walk. Don't walk.
—Traffic Light

Signs direct us on our way in life. Traffic lights tell us to walk (or not), Golden Arches point us to dinner, geese flying south herald the coming winter, flashing neon tells us what to buy. We know how to read these signs of worlds and weather; they help to guide us on our journey.

We can learn to read the signs of human beings, too, to be detectives of the human spirit. Laugh lines around eyes and mouth, the texture of hands, tension in jaws and shoulders can tell much about a person, if we stop to look. All around us are signs that tell us others feel the pain and joy we feel, others need us as we need them, we are understood, and we are not alone.

The marvelous bonus in learning to read these signs in others is that we can begin to let ourselves be read, also.

Will I make good reading for others today?

Well I make better reading than I use to. I had no fear of telling people where to go prior to go, in today I try to share my experience, strength and hope and what worked for me, and what happened as a result of choices made in my life.

Sometimes people say, "I can read you like a book," and I cringe; yet for the most part, and on most days, my life is an open book and you can read it any time. Not saying it will be interesting, but if it will keep you clean and sober, and if it will help you find a few inner truths about yourself, help you find comfort and some hope, you are welcome to read it any time.

[MajestyJo]

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

You are reading from the book Today's Gift

I feel no need for any other faith than my faith in human beings.
—Pearl S. Buck

We owe each other respect. We cannot expect to be respected if we don't respect others around us. When we respect others, we respect their property and personal belongings as well as their self-esteem and their right to voice an opinion. Respect is a way of cooperating with each other.

We can imagine a submarine where crewmembers did not respect each other's personal belongings or their ability to do the job. The ship would soon stop functioning because of the chaos. In a family we live in close quarters, like a submarine crew. Respect for each other is one of the things, which keep chaos from breaking out. When we grow in respect for each other's property, abilities, and self-esteem, we soon see how valuable each member of our crew really is.

How can I show respect to those around me today?

Sounds like do onto others as I would have them do onto me. Something I learned in early recovery, if you see someone and they are wearing something that you find pleasing to you, compliment them on it, whether in the rooms or outside of it. Several times over the years, on the bus, in the mall, walking down the street, I have said, "Excuse me, I really like your suit/shoes/dress, whatever I like the colour, I like the design, it really suits you." It wasn't done to get strokes, it was done because I meant it. It made me feel good and by the smile on their faces, it made them feel good and not one person ignored me. A few were a little stand offish, but not many but they did acknowledge. I didn't go up all gushy, and I don't do it every day and all over the place, just when the spirit moved me. Just some of those warm fuzzy moments in my life that are priceless.

[MajestyJo]

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

You are reading from the book Today's Gift

There is nothing so moving - not even acts of love or hate - as the discovery that one is not alone.
—Robert Ardrey

Our fears are normal. Some of us fear going to a new school and making new friends. Taking an important test causes jitters in the bravest looking person. Maybe staying alone in the house for the first time has you looking under beds and in closets every time you hear a strange noise. Our fears are merely reminders that we've forgotten to let God help us out.

So often we think we're alone, but we never are. We each have a Higher Power just waiting to be relied on. Nothing is too difficult or fearful for us to handle with the help of our Higher Power. When we develop the habit of letting God ease our way, our fears are gone.

Today, which fear can I replace with trust in my Higher Power?

That my son will choose to carry the message, "To use is to die."

[MajestyJo]

Thursday, October 30, 2014

You are reading from the book Today's Gift

You have three choices: keep on fighting, ignore each other, or make up and be friends.
—John Knoblauch

Once there were four sixth-graders - two boys and two girls - who started to fight even though they'd been friends for years. One morning at the bus stop, the boys started playing keep-away with the girls' shoes and wouldn't give them back. One of the mothers called the school.

Later that day, the counselor called them in and asked them what the fight was all about. They said they didn't really know.

"Well," said the counselor, "it doesn't really matter why you started fighting. Right now, you've got three choices: keep on fighting, ignore each other, or make up."

The group chose to ignore each other, after discussing it among themselves. They were happy to be able to stop fighting. About the time of winter vacation, they decided to be friends again.

What conflicts can I resolve by letting them be?

Most of them, especially when I ask myself, "How important is it?"

I was told to say, "This is what I heard you say, and this is what I took it to mean, is that what you meant and/or wanted to say?"