Thoughts For The Day~*~Rationalization ^*^*^ March 21
TransitionsDaily
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Rationalization
"There are cases where our ancient enemy, rationalization, has stepped in and has justified conduct which was really wrong. The temptation here is to imagine that we had good motives and reasons when we really didn't. We 'constructively criticized' someone who needed it, when our real motive was to win a useless argument. We sometimes hurt those we love because they 'need to be taught a lesson', when we really want to punish. This perverse wish to hide a bad motive underneath a good one, permeates human affairs from top to bottom."
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 94
Thought to Consider . . .
Recognizing someone else's human dignity cannot cost you your own.
*~*AACRONYMS*~*
A. A.
Absolute Abstinence
*~*^Just For Today!^*~*
Rapture
"What has always
impressed me most about the program and myself is the constant, continuing
challenge to try recapturing some of the true and honest rapture I felt upon
total surrender, when I first came into A.A. For me, that special peace of mind
has never been duplicated. Now, after all the accumulated twenty-four-hour
periods, I realize that it probably never will be. I have come close to it a few
times, but it's never the same."
Des Plaines,
Illinois, USA
1973 AAWS, Inc.
Came to
Believe, 30th printing 2004, pg.
29
MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING
Fear . . . of economic insecurity will leave us.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84
Having fear reduced or eliminated and having economic circumstances improve, are two different things. When I was new in A.A., I had those two ideas confused. I thought fear would leave me only when I started making money. However, another line from the Big Book jumped off the page one day when I was chewing on my financial difficulties: "For us, material well-being always followed spiritual progress; it never preceded." (p. 127). I suddenly understood that this promise was a guarantee. I saw that it put priorities in the correct order, that spiritual progress would diminish that terrible fear of being destitute, just as it diminished many other fears.
Today I try to use the talents God gave me to benefit others. I've found that is what others valued all along. I try to remember that I no longer work for myself. I only get the use of the wealth God created, I never have "owned" it. My life's purpose is much clearer when I just work to help, not to possess.
Copyright 1990
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
Debits and Credits
"Following a gossip binge, we can well ask ourselves these questions: 'Why did we say what we did? Were we only trying to be helpful and informative? Or were we not trying to feel superior by confessing the other fellow's sins? Or, because of fear and dislike, were we not really aiming to damage him?' This would be an honest attempt to examine ourselves, rather than the other fellow."
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"Inventory-taking is not always done in red ink. It’s a poor day indeed when we haven’t done something right. As a matter of fact, the waking hours are usually well filled with things that are constructive. Good intentions, good thoughts, and good acts are there for us to see. Even when we have tried hard and failed, we may chalk that up as one of the greatest credits of all."
1. GRAPEVINE, AUGUST 1961
2. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p.93
*~*^Big Book Quote^*~*
"Abandon yourself
to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to Him and to your fellows.
Clear away the wreckage of your past. Give freely of what you find and join
us. We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the Spirit, and you will
surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of
Happy Destiny."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition
A Vision For You,
pg. 164
*^Twenty
Four
Hours A
Day^*
A.A. Thought for the Day
In A.A., we forget about the
future. We know from experience that as time goes on, the future takes care of
itself. Everything works out well, as long as we stay sober. All we need to
think about is today. When we get up in the morning and see the sun shining in
the window, we thank God that He has given us another day to enjoy because we're
sober, a day in which we may have a chance to help somebody. Do I know that this
day is all I have and that with God's help I can stay sober today?
Meditation for the Day
All is fundamentally well. That does not mean
that all is well on the surface of things. But it does mean that God's in His
heaven and that He has a purpose for the World, which will eventually work out
when enough human beings are willing to follow His way. "Wearing the world as a
loose garment" means not being upset by the surface wrongness of things, but
feeling deeply secure in the fundamental goodness and purpose in the universe.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that God may be with me in my journey
through the world. I pray that I may know that God is planning that
journey.
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