Attention

Today's Thought

You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.

What a strange pattern the shuttle of life can weave.--Frances Marion

How shortsighted is our judgment about today's experiences! We'll see with clarity where they may lead us only after we've reached our destination. Of one thing we can be certain: Today's experiences, in concert with yesterday's and all that's gone before, are combining to weave an intricate life design, unique, purposeful, and for our ultimate good.

We need not feel remorse over lost chances or unproductive behavior in the past. Our destination remains the same, and our arrival is guaranteed. Our actions and decisions are never wrong. We may veer off course for a time, but the design for our lives will pull us back on the track.

The program is part of the design for our lives. It's helping us to stay on course. In fact, when we're working the Steps, we're at ease with our direction, and we trust the outcome of our efforts to the power of the program. We will add to the richness of our design, today, just as we have every day of our lives. We can anticipate today's experiences with an excited heart.

There is something special going on in my life today. I will give everybody and every event my full attention.

The best way I can ensure I am working the steps and staying on the path is to live each moment as fully as possible. It is in doing the little things in front of me to do each day that the lessons and rewards arrive. When I'm not being present in the moment I will miss the the lessons and rewards. My sponsor taught me this by always saying "be where your hands are." It took me a while to figure out what that meant exactly. It really hit home for me when a bestest friend taught me the lesson of the orange. (Look in my archives to find it). So everyday I try to remember....be with my orange.....

An Inspiration

A man died and went to Heaven.

St. Peter asked, "What denomination are you?" and the man said "i don't belong here, I don't go to church." St. Peter said, "well, we don't make mistakes, you belong here, let's just walk around and you can see where you'd like to stay."

So they walked down the hall, and St. Peter opened a door and there were all these pews with people kneeling and praying and crossing themselves. "who are they?" asked the man. "those are the Catholics," answered St. Peter. "well, I don't want to stay there," said the man and they walked on down the hall.

St. Peter opened the next door, and there were all these pews with people sitting in them staring straight ahead. "who are they?" asked the man. "those are the Protestants," answered St. Peter. "well, I don't want to stay here," said the man, and they walked on down the hall.

The next room they went into, the man smelled coffee as soon as the door opened. The man looked inside and there were all these people laughing and hugging each other. He watched them stand in a circle and say the Serenity Prayer. The man said, "i like these people, who are they?"
St. Peter shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know, they won't tell us."

Author Unknown

Crazy day today. I got a call from the surgeon's office saying they needed to bump my case up. So I'm having surgery on this Friday the 1st. I had a few moments of panic. My head took off and all kinds of crazy thoughts about not being ready popped up. In reality it is a blessing, as the pain gets worse by the day and now I have one less week of that to endure. I found two excerpts of prayers that really helped me to stay focused and in the moment today.

The first is from the book 24 Hours a day for Sept. 7th. It goes like this....human beings, in their troubles and difficulties need nothing so much as refuge, a place to relax where they can lay down their burdens and get relief from cares....."God is my refuge." Say it until it sinks into their soul. Say it until you know it and are sure of it. Nothing can seriously upset you or make you afraid, if God is truly your refuge."

The other was taken from the same book for Sept. 29th. It says, I must face each challenge that comes to me during the day, sure that God will give me strength to face it. For every task that is given me, there is also given me all the power necessary for the performance of that task.

I was reminded to pause when doubtful and ask for guidance (step 11). I did that and took tim to look at those prayers and it made for a great day. I was successful at quieting the circus in my head and I love days like that.

Stay In The Moment

Today's Thought

You are reading from the book Today's Gift.

One must lose one's life in order to find it.--Anne Morrow Lindbergh

We are often so busy trying to control the outcome of the happenings in our daily lives, so intent on projecting our tomorrows that we let life slip by. Life is today. This is all we have for sure--the moments in our lives we cannot hold. Sometimes it feels as if those moments are beyond time and place, gifts from God to receive and give up at the same time. Like a dragonfly that lights on our hand and will either be crushed or will fly away if we try to close our fingers over it.

Life is a series of things to let go of--our friends and loved ones, our children as they grow, our dreams, or our youth. Only we ourselves, our inner selves, are a constant to be found and learned about every day, in the present moment.

How well can I enjoy each moment today?

This was what I needed to hear today and what I need to concentrate on in the next few weeks. Staying in the moment will be my survival. I have a surgery coming up on Dec. 8th and it's gonna take all my energy and help from my Higher Power to get through this. I'm doing my part, the footwork necessary to get there, and now I have to let go of control and place my faith in God's hands. I don't know the outcome...I have a plan and that is all I can do. Stay in the moment, rely on my Higher Power, trust in the fact that my faith tells me I will be given the tools to get through this, let go. I'm gonna "hang in there" and look at fear as Face Everything And Recover.

Two Days

For the rest of my life there are two days
that will never again trouble me.
The first day is yesterday with all it's
blunders and tears, it's follies and defeats.
The other day is tomorrow with it's pitfalls
and threats, it's dangers and mystery.
Until the sun rises again, I have no stake in tomorrow,
for it is still unborn.

by Og Mandino, in The Return of the Ragpicker

I am so grateful that I have learned this lesson. By staying in today life is so manageable. I owe a debt of gratitude to those who have gone before me and shared this lesson with me. By living one day at a time I have found serenity, and I'm happy, joyous and free. I am especially grateful to Mable for the lesson of the orange that I have been able to put into use daily and that I have been able to pass on to others.

Life Is For Living

Life is for Living
by Author Unknown

Life is a gift we're given each and every day.
Dream about tomorrow, but live for today.
To live a little, you've got to love a whole lot.
Love turns the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Life's a journey always worth taking.
Take time to smell the roses... and tulips...
and daffodils... and lilacs... and sunflowers...

Count blessings like children count stars.
The secret of a happy life isn't buried in a treasure chest...
it lies within your heart.
It's the little moments that make life big.

Don't wait.
Make memories today.
Celebrate your life!

When I waslked through the doors of AA I was given a choice for the first time I can remember to live life. I try everyway but the AA way and I only got glimpses of what life could be like. When I finally made the descion to live life it came with hurt, pain, shame, tugh times, struggles and many more of the things I'd experienced all my years. Than I learned it came with some things I knew nthing or very little about and those things made me come back today and I pray everday. Those things are love, joy, freedom, serenity, peace, humility, sharing and many more.......Today I choose to live life to the fullest because I see it as a gift from a power greater than myself. Thanks to all of you for showing me the path to life.

The Daffodil Principle

The Daffodil Principle:
Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come to see the daffodils before they are over. "I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead. "I will come next Tuesday", I promised a little reluctantly on her third call. Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren. "Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these cloudsand fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive another inch! "My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother." "Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her. "I was hoping you'd take me over to the garage to pick up my car." "How far will we have to drive?" "Oh...just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "But I'll drive. I'm used to this. "After several minutes, I had to ask, "Where are we going? This isn't theway to the garage!" "We're going to my garage the long way," Carolyn smiled, "by way of the daffodils." "Carolyn," I said sternly, "please turn around.""It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience." After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that read, "Daffodil Garden." We got out of the car, each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and it's surrounding slopes. Thef lowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, and saffron and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted in large groups so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers. "Who did this?" I asked Carolyn. "Just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well kept A-frame house, small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house. On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking" was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and one brain." The third answer was, "Began in1958." For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop. Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary magnificence, beauty, and inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration. That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time--often just one baby-step at time--and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magniicent things. We can change the world. "It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve! "My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said. She was right. It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use today?" Use the Daffodil Principle.
Stop waiting.....
Until your car or home is paid off
Until you get a new car or home
Until your kids leave the house
Until you go back to school
Until you finish school
Until you clean the house
Until you organize the garage
Until you clean off your desk
Until you lose 10 lbs.Until you gain 10 lbs.
Until you get married
Until you get a divorce
Until you have kids
Until the kids go to school
Until you retireUntil summer
Until spring
Until winter
Until fall
Until you die...

There is no better time than right now to be happy. Happiness is a journey, not a destination. So work like you don't need money, Love like you've never been hurt, and, Dance like no one's watching.

I got this today from someone very special and it was exactly what I needed to hear today. I am working on happiness one memory at a time and this was just the story I needed to get up and keep on going. Thank You, I love ya chickie.

Life

Today's thought is:

Life

Make each day count! Give yourself to every dawn of renewed hope. Look for love, forgiveness, and righteousness. Don't squander this day on cynicism, hate, envy, fault-finding, pessimism, gossip, doubt, or anger. Let the days of life not add up to years, but to moments of joy and love and happiness.

Doesn't everyone deserve this? Don't I deserve this?

Today, I will take time out to cherish my life.

I was once given a lesson with an orange. It is a lesson I treasure and remember often. Whenever life gets crazy and I'm feeling rushed and overwhelmed I remember my orange. If for some reason I don't remember it, my friend gently asks me the question: Where is your orange? The lesson of the orange is to stay in the moment. When I stay fully in the moment, using all my senses than life becomes only moments which I can get through without being overwhelmed. Today I am grateful for the lesson of the orange.

Slow Dance

Slow Dance

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask How are you?
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?

You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say,"Hi"

You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away.

Life is not a race
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

Unknown Author

Something I have learned in the program is to slow down and to live each day to the fullest. Sometimes the day isn't always the most pleasant and the feelings that arise are difficult for me to deal with. By staying in the day and feeling those things, and knowing that it will all pass and a new day will dawn is learning to live life on life's terms. When you know what suffering is than you can truly enjoy freedom. When you know what sadness is than you can truly enjoy hapiness. I spent a whole lifetime tryong to never feel pain, sadness, hurt, abandonment and many other unpleasant things but all I got out of it was the inability to really feel all the happiness, joy and freedom that life can bring.

Stress Management

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised
a glass of water and asked,"How heavy is this glass of water? "
Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.
The lecturer replied,"The absolute weight doesn't matter.
It depends on how long you try to hold it.
"If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem.
If I hold it for an hour,
I'll have an ache in my right arm.
If I hold it for a day,
you'll have to call an ambulance."
In each case, it's the same weight,
but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.
"He continued,"And that's the way it is with stress management.
If we carry our burdens all the time,
sooner or later,
as the burden becomes increasingly heavy,
we won't be able to carry on. "
"As with the glass of water,
you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again.
When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden. "
"So, before you return home tonight,
put the burden of work down.
Don't carry it home.
You can pick it up tomorrow.
Whatever burdens you're carrying now,
let them down for a moment if you can. "
"Relax; pick them up later after you've rested.
Life is short.
Enjoy it!

And then he shared some ways of dealing with the burdens of life:
* Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
* Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
* Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
* Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.
* If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
* If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
* It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
* Never buy a car you can't push.
* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.
* Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
* Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
* The second mouse gets the cheese.
* When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
* Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
* You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
* Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
* A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

This was passed on by a friend today. It is so true. So often I hang onto the stress until I'm exhausted and I can't see straight. I'm gonna try setting it down for a while and see what happens.

Thoughts For Today

My thoughts for the day.......most of them stolen from others.....

"The Lord is a good psychologist: he knows the way our minds run. Turmoil can be the Lord's way of tapping us on the shoulder and saying, 'Don't forget me.'"-- Eknath Easwaran

"It takes a lot of experience of life to see why some relationships last and others do not. But we do not have to wait for a crisis to get an idea of the future of a particular relationship. Our behavior in little every incidents tells us a great deal." Eknath Easwaran

"Patience can't be acquired overnight. It is just like building up a muscle. Every day you need to work on it." Eknath Easwaran

"Through meditation and by giving full attention to one thing at a time, we can learn to direct attention where we choose." Eknath Easwaran

“The best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time.” -Abraham Lincoln

"Someone was hurt before you.....beaten before you; humiliated before you; raped before you; yet someone survived." by Maya Angelou

"There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside of you." by Maya Angelou

"Love is that condition in the human spirit so profound that it allows me to survive, and better than that, to thrive with passion, compassion, and style." by Maya Angelou

"Self-pity in its early stages is as snug as a feather mattress. Only when it hardens does it become uncomfortable." by Maya Angelou

"If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded." by Maya Angelou

"Alone, all aloneNobody, but nobodyCan make it out here alone." by Maya Angelou

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain." by Maya Angelou

"You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it." by Maya Angelou

"Nothing will work unless you do." by Maya Angelou

"The real difficulty is to overcome how you think about yourself. If we don't have that we never grow, we never learn, and sure as hell we should never teach." by Maya Angelou

"One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest." by Maya Angelou