'Someone'

In those days I had no one to whom I might take my troubles.
Today I have.
Today I have Someone who will always hear me;
I have a warm fellowship among men who understand my problems;
I have tasks to do and am glad to do them,
to see others who are alcoholics
and to help them in any way I can to become sober men.
I took my last drink in 1937.

~ Jim S., Akron, Ohio, early member~
- Experience, Strength and Hope, pp. 276-77

Strength & Comfort

Every time I get worried about something I say my prayers more.

Jim Burns

I never outgrow the need for strength and comfort.

That's good news.

It's too awesome to think that I need to know all now, to understand how every detail of living should unfold.

It's quite enough to limit my focus on the details of the next 24 hours.

Let's be vigilant about my search for guidance and comfort.

And let's not forget that I have to listen for the response.

If my mind is filled with worrying, there will be no space for the answers to enter.

Praying for solutions or comfort or 

just a moment of peace will 

change my perspective today. 

When my perspective changes, 

so do my experiences.

 

The Darkest Hour

In the darkest hour the soul is replenished and given strength to continue and endure.  -- H.W. Chosa

A Warrior's Spirit

To open deeply, as genuine spiritual life requires, we need tremendous courage and strength, a kind of warrior spirit.

But the place for this warrior strength is in the heart.

Jack Kornfield
A Path with Heart

 

Dykes Of Courage

We must constantly build dykes of courage
to hold back the flood of fear.

-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Courage doesn't mean putting myself in stressful or unpleasant situations.
Courage doesn't mean controlling my emotions.
Courage is the ability to strengthen myself against the fear and despair of life, rather than be drowned by it.

I can be grateful for my courage and strengthen it.

Let Me Find Strength

Help me in my weakness, Lord.
Do not let my fears, terrors and anxieties conquer me.
Let me find that strength that you promise to
those who suffer for the sake of righteousness,
and let me boast only of the cross of your Son.

-- from Saint Paul: Called to Conversion

Gains And Losses

You have learned something.

That always feels at first as if you had lost something.

-- George Bernard Shaw

A snake must shed its old skin before the new one can appear.
Like furniture, parts of me becomes worn and uncomfortable.
I must replace the old with the new.
For every gain, there must be a loss.
But instead of mourning my losses, I can rejoice over what I have gained.

I can be grateful for all that gains in my life and in my growth.

The losses have allowed me to become stronger and more fruitful.

Trying To Pray Is Praying

I have learn that prayer helps me with my faulty dependence on people, places, and things by giving me the insight and strength to rearrange my priorities.
Prayer doesn't change God, but it changes those who pray.