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.
This page points out that the kind of day we are going to have does not depend on the weather -- what is outside -- but on our attitudes toward what is happening. We can try to change our attitude, try to be calm and courteous, just for today, so whatever is happening outside of us does not seem overwhelming.
Reminder: I will make up my mind to be cheerful every waking moment of this day. I will not expect too much; this will shield me from being annoyed at little things that don't go just the way I want them to. I will try to accomplish something specific. I will wear a pleasant smile for everyone I meet today.
Quote: What a comfortable feeling it gives me to realize that all I have to deal with is just this one day. It makes everything so much easier.
Positive attitude -- some days it is easier than others to have, but as this page points out, I only need to manage it for today. I remember the days I was just hanging on to sanity by a thread, but once I adopted the slogan One Day At A Time, I was able to hold on and breathe. Nowadays, my life is much more serene, but I still find that focusing on today, and not living in tomorrow, works for me.
Great topic Freetime !!! Once I discovered the "serenity" within, i decided never to surrender it for anyone. I reasoned that i had worked too hard to uncover the peace within so I was not willing to let anything rob me of the feeling . It works .
Alanon tools such as detachment, the slogans and the serenity prayer helped me to maintain my serenity in the face of many huge challenges, one day at a time. Thanks for your service
Thank you Freetime for the daily and your service. Thank you and Betty for your shares and ESH. This reading reminded me of a booklet for training I got many, many years ago from my employee called, Attitude: Your Most Priceless Possession. I am 100% confident that I did a major eye-roll and put it in a drawer considering it silly.
Yet, as I sit here and reflect many years later, I am aware that it is true. When I stay in my own lane, focus on one day only and make a decision to be present and pleasant, my days go so much better. I am also aware that 'life happens' and how I respond to it directly affects my joy, serenity and sanity.
I am grateful for Al-Anon, MIP and recovery! I am off to the golf course shortly - happy Friday all. Make it a great day!
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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
Oh thank youuuu Freetime....Boy I needed to see this....sometimes I have to even break my day down in "chunks" to get past the ODAT.........when I start my day, and stuff immediately out of the starting gate goes wrong, I STOP....breathe.....notice where I am at in my head.....and I restart..restart as many times as I need to to set it right.....I used to keep feeding into the negative energy, keeping it going, continuing it through the day....Now I do not....its all energy IMO...if i keep pausing and breathing and keeping the focus on me and "easy does it" maybe cutting back on tasks that can wait, etc., I CAN overcome the negative energies...if I starve them with non-resistance, they usually dissolve into their own nothingness.....but its a commitment on my part....I am committed to having "livable" days...so if I have to re-boot several times by pausing, doing the grateful list...looking for positive things to notice, I CAN overcome................thank you for this reminder and thank you for your service
But this one always throws me for a loop b/c in it's simplicity the advice is spot on. We create the day we want to have... and there is a way to go about it in a positive manner, even if you are bombarded from the outside with nothing but negatives.
And here is where the "But" comes in... "I will wear a pleasant smile for everyone I meet today."
Since I am a major "people pleaser," I lived my life with a fake smile plastered on my face, with a ready verbal "I'm fine" to match. I was "Faking It Till You Make It." Except I wasn't 'making it.' I was completely disingenuous.
So today, I work at not wearing that mask. Of allowing myself to have those feelings... sometimes even show them!
So for me, it is a delicate balance every day to live geniunely.
TGIF MIP!!
I have a 3 day weekend and I am over the moon!
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"The wolf that thrives, is the one you feed." - Cherokee legend
"Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields... Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness." Mary Oliver
IAH, I can relate to the booklet about attitude. At my workplace, we used to call these types of things "flavor of the month," because periodically the company would come up with new programs for "culture change." Lots of eye-rolling went on. Lasting change didn't happen.
I think the difference is when change of attitude is imposed from outside of us -- it isn't sustainable. But when it comes from within, even just a slight adjustment in how we choose to look at things, that is much more effective. And when we have on-going support from a voluntary program like Al-Anon, it's magic.
-- Edited by Freetime on Friday 31st of August 2018 11:03:22 AM
Freetime - makes sense to me....I love the magic and miracles in recovery and the changes I witness in those who work it!
__________________
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
