Readings of the Day for Sunday, April 7th

24 Hours a Day

Meditation for the Day

When trouble comes, do not say: “Why should this happen to me?” Leave yourself out of the picture. Think of other people and their troubles and you will forget about your own. Gradually get away from yourself and you will know the consolation of unselfish service to others. After a while, it will not matter so much what happens to you. It is not so important any more, except as your experience can be used to help others who are in the same kind of trouble.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may become more unselfish. I pray that I may not be thrown off the track by letting the old selfishness creep back into my life.

Language of Letting Go

Those Old Time Feelings

I still have bad days. But that’s okay. I used to have bad years.
  —Anonymous

Sometimes, the old feelings creep back in. We may feel fearful, ashamed, and hopeless. We may feel not good enough, unlovable, victimized, helpless, and resentful about it all. This is codependency, a condition some describe as soul sickness.

Many of us felt this way when we began recovery. Sometimes, we slip back into these feelings after we’ve begun recovery. Sometimes there’s a reason. An event may trigger these reactions, such as ending a relationship, stress, problems on the job, at home, or in friendships. Times of change can trigger these reactions. So can physical illness.

Sometimes, these feelings return for no reason.

A return to the old feelings doesn’t mean were back to square one in our recovery. They do not mean we’ve failed at recovery. They do not mean were in for a long, painful session of feeling badly. They just are there.

The solution is the same: practicing the basics. Some of the basics are loving and trusting our self, detachment, dealing with feelings, giving and receiving support in the recovery community, using our affirmations, and having fun.

Another basic is working the Steps. Often, working the Steps is how we become enabled and empowered to practice the other basics, such as detachment and self-love.

If the old feelings come back, know for certain there is a way out that will work.

Today, if I find myself in the dark pit of codependency, I will work a Step to help myself climb out.

There Are No Coincidences

One of my favorite sayings is “There are no coincidences.”

And, at least for me, it’s not just a saying, it’s a way of thinking.

The things of this world are interconnected in ways we may never fully be able to understand. Like a well-written symphony, the many parts of what we see in front of us are intertwined with connections we cannot see.

And so, when by chance, certain events occur, whether they be good or bad, they are meant to be. I like to think of it in positive terms, darkness coming to light.

Here’s an articled that attempts to explain:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/connecting-coincidence/201607/there-are-no-coincidences

More on Bedevilments, the Word of the Day

Bedevilments of the Disease

This is taken from Page 52 in the Big Book.  It is a list of common bedevilments we experience as alcoholics / addicts.  The motivation is to seek “God-sufficiency” over self-sufficiency to be rid of them:

~ We were having trouble with personal relationships

~ We couldn’t control our emotional natures

~ We were a prey to misery and depression

~ We couldn’t make a living

~ We had a feeling of uselessness

~ We were full of fear

~ We were unhappy

~ We couldn’t seem to be of real help to other people

New Word of the Day – “Bedevilment”

I was at a meeting of friends this morning, when someone in the group used the work “bedevilment.” I’ve probably heard the word used somewhere along the way in my life, but this was the first time I really payed attention to it.

So I decided to do a bit of research to see if my own ideas as to what the word means were on the mark.

Bedevilment is a form of the word “bedevil” and so that is where my research turned:

bedevil

Play

 be·dev·il

transitive verb-·iled or -·illed, -·il·ing or -·il·ling

  1. to plague diabolically; torment; harass
  2. to possess as with a devil; bewitch
  3. to confuse completely; muddle
  4. to corrupt; spoil

Webster’s New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

As a verb, it would seem this word is one with a negative connotation. I can think of several things that might bedevil someone, including another person. If you were to have someone constantly bother you, hurling insults your way, I would say that person is bedevilling you. Certainly not someone you would want to spend any time around.

The second definition takes on a much more serious nature, as it would appear that an actual devil can possess you in much the same way. Thoughts of exorcism immediately come to mind when I think of someone possessed by a devil. Certainly, not an experience any of us would seek out.

The third definition seems less harmful. Someone or something that confuses us completely could be said to be guilty of bedevilment. My dog has recently been escaping from the back yard fenced-in area and it’s been a devilment as to how she’s accomplishing this feat.

The final definition would seem to be one of a serious nature. Corruption is rampant in some parts of society today and the one guilty of such acts would be carrying out bedevilment.” One can picture political cartoons in which some public figure is given horns, a pitchfork, and a tail and termed “the devil.”

So there’s the new word for today. I can promise I’ll be using it any time soon, but it’s good to know it’s there, just in case.

David Lee

Image result for bedevilments


Adding Tags???

I’m relatively new to the whole blogging scene and was reading that adding tags to your writings will increase viewers. I see the right panel and where it says “Tags”, but am unsure if I’m doing it right.

So veteran bloggers, do I have to add a hashtag to the tag as I add it, or not?

I also see on the right panel “Categories”…are these the same thing as “tags”?

Do you have any other suggestions for adding tags to your blog entries?

Just looking for some help here….

How to add tags to a post in WordPress?

David Lee