Daily Readings for Wednesday, April 15th

Meditation for the Day

I must keep calm and unmoved in the vicissitudes of life. I must go back into the silence of communion with God to recover this calm when it is lost even for one moment. I will accomplish more by this calmness than by all the activities of a long day. At all cost I will keep calm. I can solve nothing when I am agitated. I should keep away from things that are up setting emotionally. I should run on an even keel and not get tipped over by emotional upsets. I should seek for things that are calm and good and true and stick to those things.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may not argue nor contend, but merely state calmly what I believe to be true. I pray that I may keep myself in that state of calmness that comes from faith in God’s purpose for the world.

From Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Communication

Part of owning our power is learning to communicate clearly, directly, and assertively. We don’t have to beat around the bush in our conversations to control the reactions of others. Guilt-producing comments only produce guilt. We don’t have to fix or take care of people with our words; we can’t expect others to take care of us with words either. We can settle for being heard and accepted. And we can respectfully listen to what others have to say.

Hinting at what we need doesn’t work. Others can’t read our mind, and they’re likely to resent our indirectness. The best way to take responsibility for what we want is to ask for it directly. And, we can insist on directness from others. If we need to say no to a particular request, we can. If someone is trying to control us through a conversation, we can refuse to participate.

Acknowledging feelings such as disappointment or anger directly, instead of making others guess at our feelings or having our feelings come out in other ways, is part of responsible communication. If we don’t know what we want to say, we can say that too.

We can ask for information and use words to forge a closer connection, but we don’t have to take people around the block with our conversations. We don’t have to listen to, or participate in, nonsense. We can say what we want and stop when we’re done.

Today, I will communicate clearly and directly in my conversations with others. I will strive to avoid manipulative, indirect, or guilt producing statements. I can be tactful and gentle whenever possible. And I can be assertive if necessary.

From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie

One Big Thing…Part Two

So my idea of “one big thing” per day is working pretty well. What used to be a commonplace activity has become the highlight of the day. And as long as I can do one something out of the ordinary, I think I’ve accomplished my goal.

On Saturday, my one big thing was to mow the grass,,,it was long overdue. The forecast of rain and the man across the street mowing his were enough motivation to get me going. This, despite the fact I’d had problems with my riding mower the last time I had it out. It worked like a charm…at least for a while. I had gotten about 3/4 of the job done when the belt that drives the blades came off. I tried to rethread it, but alas couldn’t remember the path it took. So I went and got my push mower and did the rest with it. Job accomplished and unexpected exercise to boot.

On Sunday, which was Easter Sunday, my one big thing was to reintroduce myself to social media. I had taken a hiatus from it over the time of Lent and although Lent had officially ended several days prior, I’ve always made it my habit to return on Easter Sunday. I was glad to be connected to the virtual world once again and most seemed to be glad to have me back. I realized that in this time of social distancing, social media can play an even more important role.

I will have to admit I didn’t really have one big thing for Easter Monday. It was raining the first part of the day and although the sun eventually came out, I can’t really say that I did a whole lot. I’m thinking that even a new habit needs at least one day off per week.

Today my one big thing has been to get a new router for my home. I had problems connecting on Zoom meetings with my family and upon investigation and a call to a technician, discovered that the router I had was not capable of carrying the full load of bandwith that my service provided. I found out that I could get a new router at the cable store just down the street and so for today, that’s been my one big thing.

I was a little apprehensive switching out the router, remembering times in the past it had been difficult to connect with. But this router plugged in and worked like a charm. I’m hoping that the increased bandwidth will enable me to more fully participate in future Zoom meetings with the family and others.

So my only question now is, what will my “one big thing” be for tomorrow? I’ll ponder on that and see what I can come up with. Creating a one big thing per day is all a part of the fun.

David Lee

Daily Readings for Tuesday, April 14th

Meditation for the Day

I must keep balance by keeping spiritual things at the center of my life. God will give me this poise and balance if I pray for it. This poise will give me power in dealing with the lives of others. This balance will manifest itself more and more in my own life. I should keep material things in their proper place and keep spiritual things at the center of my life. Then I will be at peace amid the distractions of everyday living.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may dwell with God at the center of my life. I pray that I may keep that inner peace at the center of my being.


From Twenty-Four Hours a Day

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Perfectionism

Recovery from codependency is an individual process that necessitates making mistakes, struggling through problems, and facing tough issues.

Expecting ourselves to be perfect slows this process; it puts us in a guilty and anxious state. Expecting others to be perfect is equally destructive; it makes others feel ashamed and may interfere with their growth.

People are human and vulnerable, and that is wonderful. We can accept and cherish that idea. Expecting others to be perfect puts us in that codependent state of moral superiority. Expecting ourselves to be perfect makes us feel rigid and inferior.

We can let go of both ideas.

We do not need to go to the other extreme; tolerating anything people throw our way. We can still expect appropriate, responsible behavior from ourselves. But most of us can afford to loosen up a bit. And when we stop expecting others to be perfect, we may discover that they’re doing much better than we thought. When we stop expecting ourselves to be perfect, we’ll discover the beauty in ourselves.

Today, I will practice tolerance, acceptance, and love of others as they are, and myself as I am. I will strive for that balance between expecting too much and expecting too little from others and myself.

From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie

Daily Card Reading for Monday, April 13th

BREATHE

BREATHE

Essential meanings: Patience; waiting; going slowly; all is well; meditation; trust.

The Oracle’s Message: Patience in all things is called for right now. What do you need to do when you’re in a rush? Slow down, of course. Meditate, and trust. Breathe, and repeat. Humans cannot exist without drawing breath. Now is the time to allow this life-giving element of air to replenish your life, your light, and your very essence. Stop to smell the roses, breathe in the light, release the darkness, and miracles will appear.

Relationship message: Don’t be in too much of a hurry right now. The heart needs time to open. Take a breath, and let nature take its course. Release constriction and anxiety, for there is no need for it. Savor the moment, and don’t let the waiting prove difficult. Your heart knows what the ego often resists learning. Patience pays off in deep and meaningful ways.

Prosperity message: You have worked long and hard, your dreams are coming to fruition, and you want to hurry things along. You are the slow one moving languidly yet still progressing right now, in a rhythm dictated by your authentic nature, the essence of your dream, and the will of the Universe. Slow and steady wins this race. You will indeed win if you relax, stay the course you’re already on, trust your intuition, and breathe.

Shared Reading: From Richard E. Byrd’s “Alone”

“But you must have faith- you must have faith in the outcome, I whispered to myself. It is like a flight, a flight into another unknown. You start and you cannot turn back. You must go on, trusting your instruments, the course you have plotted on the charts, and the reasonableness of events. Whatever goes wrong will be mostly of your own making; if it is to be tragedy, then it will be the commonplace tragedy of human vulnerability.”

Richard E. Byrd in “Alone”