The material presented
here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method
to exchange
information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal
level.
Today's reading in Courage to Change is about the beauty we each hold inside. The author shares that, after living with a disease of attitudes for a lifetime, they did not think that anything good would come out of their efforts, because they didn't have self confidence or self esteem.
The author learned through watching their son's silkworms (fat, greedy creatures who out of their own substance create beautiful silk threads) that it is possible to turn something negative into something positive.
Changing self-defeating attitudes allowed the beauty that the author was born with to emerge. Gratitude is the author's cornerstone, and this allows the loveliness that was hidden to emerge into full view.
Today's Reminder: Today I can spin a little silk and let it grace everything I touch. I don't have to look back at past ugliness except to learn from it, to enhance the present, and to release whatever beauty is trapped behind old secrets and self-defeating attitutes. One day at a time I can delight in the splendid person I am becoming.
Today's Quote: "Sometimes it is necessary to reteach a thing its loveliness...until it flowers again from withing..." Galway Kinnell
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I can so relate to today's reading. When I first came to AlAnon, I did not recognize the person I had become. slowly, little by little, I have released my self-defeating attitudes and other character flaws, and I am beginning to find something beautiful underneath - the person I recognize as myself. Now, I can focus on sharing myself with others through little things, a smile, a hello, a card to let a friend know I am thinking of them. I am thankful to my program and the time I have spent working the steps. My fifth time through now, I think, and I'm beginning to feel like myself again!
I hope everyone makes today a wonderful day
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Skorpi
If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present. - Lao Tzu
Thanks Skorpi for your service and the daily. I'm working to make today as best I can. I can relate that no matter what is going on and how I feel about it, my life, outlook and attitude today is significantly improved compared to before recovery. Things in my world go so much better when I can stay present and focused on myself and being of service. (((Hugs)))
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Practice the PAUSE...Pause before judging. Pause before assuming. Pause before accusing. Pause whenever you are about to react harshly and you will avoid doing and saying things you will later regret. ~~~~ Lori Deschene
Love this reading as it assured me that buried under all my destructive tools were all the supportive compassionate gentleness that i buried under negative attitudes so long ago in an effort to survive the the insanity of this disease .
Love the quote as I believe that alanon and my sponsor did" reteach " me how to "flower" once again and i am oh so grateful.
Have a great day and thanks so much for your service.
Thanks for all the ESH and the daily. I like this reading so much, and especially Today's Reminder, because it is certainly part of my personal history. When i started working with my sponsor several years ago, part of my work with her was to list an asset of mine each day. WHAT???? An asset of mine daily? Surely this would be an impossible task. Maybe I could come up with a couple and then I would be lost. ODAT I learned about me with my sponsor's help. By the time I finished this assignment, I had pages of assets! I now regard myself as imperfect, making progress, but I see many, many positives that I could never recognize before. I call it making lemonade from lemons, but it's the same idea as the silk worms. Today I especially want to give thanks to my sponsor. Lyne
